Fendt wins silver for hydraulic coupling

Fendt won yet another Agritechnica innovation award at the 2013 edition, this time for its new flat-sealing hydraulic coupling system. The system got the silver medal in the innovation competition sponsored by DLG, Deustche Landwirtsgesellschaft.

Fendt's man in charge of hydraulic development, Jürgen Knobloch, said that, "with this new system, we are entering a new era in the area of hydraulic couplings. The new coupling is not only environmentally friendly and energy efficient, it also permits extremely easy connecting and disconnecting."

The device can be coupled under full pressure on both sides and avoids contamination of the ground with oil. Pressure loss can also be reduced substantially, and as a result fuel consumption. Traditional hydraulic couplings are also difficult to keep clean. It is almost impossible to stop dirt from contaminating the whole system.

"In contrast, the absolutely flat design of the surface of the newly developed, flat-sealing hydraulic couplings permits easy cleaning and extends the filter change interval, since contamination through dirt is extremely low," said Knobloch.

"With our system," said Knobloch, "the hydraulics can be fitted with couplings of various seizes according to what has to be done. The most frequently used is the half-inch, but we also offer the ¾-inch and the new flat 5/8th inch. This means that users don't have to move over to the new coupling at once, but can do so gradually."

He added that, with the new system, "customers can fit their hydraulic blocks with different coupling sizes to meet their requirements. In addition to the most often used ½-inch coupling, it is also possible to use ¾-inch couplings and the new flat-sealing 6/8-inch coupling. In this way, farming enterprises do not need to change over to the new system overnight, but can convert step by step," explains Knobloch.

He also pointed out that "time-tested features" of former couplings have been kept and adapted for the new ones, including effortless lever operation for connecting and disconnecting and the proven colour-coded connections for the new hydraulic coupling system.

There is also a coupling shield to prevent mix-ups when connecting the hoses and "to guarantee that the coupling shield is connected properly, we have added centring bores to our new system," Knobloch said.