Two Dutch companies lead in the development of state-of-the art sugar
beet harvesters, and both have been using Brevini wheel drives and
planetary gearboxes for some years. We find out why the company has been
so successful in this competitive sector
The world's annual consumption of sugar is now around 120 million tons
and is actually rising at the rate of 2 million tonnes per annum. Around
30% of this consumption is derived from sugar beet, much of which is
grown in the European Union, one of the world's top producers. The fact
that Europe is such a large producer has spawned a strong industry sector
devoted to the harvesting of the crop. Leading in the field are Dutch
companies such as Agrifac/WKM with its Hexa 12-row machine, which has
achieved new levels of efficiency in the harvesting process, and Vervaet,
which has been building big-tank sugar beet harvesters capable of
topping, lifting, cleaning, loading and transporting sugar beet (in a
single continuous process) for over 30 years.
Beet harvesting is a tough, arduous and generally very dirty process;
environmental conditions are rarely optimal, with harvesting machines
having to work either in rain-sodden, muddy fields, or in extremely dry
conditions where dust poses a constant problem to equipment. Clearly such
conditions place a premium on the performance of power transmission
equipment used in the operation of the harvesters.
Undaunted by these challenges, power transmission specialist, Brevini
established a position in this market almost twenty years ago. The
company has been supplying Agrifac/WKM with wheel drives since 1988, and
Vervaet, since 1996. Both companies use the drives for several reasons.
As they are wheel mounted in a package with a hydraulic motor, they
provide a much neater design solution compared with axle drives as well
as ensuring greater clearance for rough terrain operation; the absence of
an axle also permits the fitting of ultra-wide terra tyres. And with no
standard axle to take into consideration, the space under the harvester
is free and can be used to transport beets from the front to the back of
the equipment. The wheel drives can be supplied fully equipped with
dynamic disc and parking brakes, enabling the harvester manufacturer to
conform easily to the specific laws in each country where the equipment
is to be sold.
In addition to the wheel drives, Brevini also supplies Vervaet with
planetary gearboxes and Agrifax with planetary gearboxes and BZ splitter
boxes. The BZ units allow from one to four hydraulic pumps to be driven
from a single prime mover and can be 'fitted and forgotten'. The
essential requirement for gearboxes used on beet harvesters is high
reliability and high torque from a small operating envelope.
The planetary gearboxes supplied to both Agrifax and Vervaet are standard
ED series units equipped with special seals and seal holders, and offer
direct fitting for hydraulic motors. To cope with the adverse working
conditions, the gearboxes are fitted with a static sealing O-ring at the
input and a special seal cover that allows shaft play of 0.5mm. These
protective measures combine to prevent the damage that the ingress of
clay or other debris can do to the gearbox output seals.