I take it the hydraulic pump(s) is electrically driven? If so, twas a good move. If this kind of technology becomes a main-stay, and I'm sure it will, the days of having to rev up your engine to use hydraulics may just become an obsolete practice, which would certainly help with fuel costs. An engine that revs up only when its needed is the best thing you could have in anything that has hydraulically-actuated components. I've operated electric forklifts(15 000 lb Raymond Dock-Stockers and 20 000 lb Raymond Reach-Pickers) and I like them, but I'm honestly still kind of excited for the possibilities of a hybrid forklift. A forklift that couples the benefits of internal combustion with the benefits of electric drive/braking, electrically-driven hydraulic pumps and an engine with a dynamic load-based throttle would be a dream machine for me. The biggest draw-back of any electric forklift is their sketchy battery-pacs. Plus, in a warehouse that uses them, you need to have an entire section of warehouse space devoted to the battery charging racks and the huge machine that takes old batteries packs out and puts new ones in. The machinery and racking required for charging those massive battery packs don't exactly have a small-footprint by anyone's standards, and I bet that their power bill just for recharging batteries is probably sky high. Hybrid-Drive may not be a great thing in cars, but in heavy equipment with proper engineering behind it, it could be the next big thing.
Maybe you already know, but STILL and Linde do offer Diesel or Gas hybrid forklifts up to 8 tonnes. No idea about the other manufacturers tho. Drove a smaller diesel one recently and it's a weird experience if you only drove conventional cars before. You press the pedal down, the engine revs to max and the machine accelerates constantly, just to reduce rpm once top speed is achieved.
@@fabianrudzewski9027 I was not aware that they existed already. As for the strangeness of operating them, if you've ever operated a decent all-electric forklift, you already know the score. Hybrids are like electric forklifts that use the engine to generate electricity rather than having a battery store it all. Like I said, if you've ever driven an electric one, a hybrid one will be like putting on a set of old shoes. As for me, I prefer electric forklifts, specifically the 10 000 lb Raymond Dock-Stocker (stand-up drive), so hearing about hybrid ones is just the treat. You get all the power of those electric motors with none of the drawbacks and massive weight of those battery packs that account for about 80% of the weight on a Dock-Stocker. Without the battery pack sitting tall in the frame, you could also ballast the bottom of the chassis to have a lower center of gravity, which is always good.
@@MFKR696 Of course the acceleration wise it's no difference to the normal electric ones, but having the engine do it's thing so different to what you hear while driving home after work is strange in the beginning. The battery doesn't really hurt the STILL forklifts. It's part of their counterweight and sits on the bottom of the frame anyways, so center of gravity is pretty low. You can see the hybrid guys having a larger rear end, to compensate for the missing battery.
Are hybrid diesel LHDs the future of LHDs industry? On the contrary to the benefits due to increase of productivity, what are the limitations of the new electric technology when comparing cost analyses on the scope of maintenance and power efficiency ?
I sure hope mining operations aint designed as shown on the video for loaders. Travelling backwards instead of forwards with the bucket full gives you better visibility, saving you from possible crashes and you wont be throwing rocks under your tires
Disappointed to see that the letourneau name did not feature ok the hard hat like the rest of komatsus other acquisitions. Especially since SR drive was patented and developed by them.