Drum Cutters – Where Traditional Methods are Unsuitable or too Expensive
From trenching to tunneling, demolition or refurbishment, there are very few use cases where the range of Erkat Drum Cutters doesn’t play a vital role in finishing jobs quickly and efficiently. Particularly where conventional excavation tools and attachments would simply be unsuitable or too expensive.
Today, we’re looking at the Erkat Drum Cutter Attachments. Alongside our hydraulic hammers, these are one of our most popular products here at BAEG.
Why Erkat?
Since the 1st of February 2017, the Erkat brand has been part of the Epiroc Group, a long-time & trusted supplier of our products, making them a strong partner in business. With high reliability and a track record of performance, we are able to offer global support for Erkat products.
We’ve partnered with Erkat, because we know their products are high-quality systems with exceptional cutting force with a central fixing system that allow these transverse drum cutters to rotate through 360° without having to be disconnected from the excavator.
When you invest in your business with an Erkat attachment, you want to have peace of mind, and security in the knowledge that you can push our products harder, deeper, and further, through soft rock, limestone, and even hard rock.
With local servicing and a stock of spare parts, we can keep you running for longer, making sure you’re getting a high return on investment from your hydraulic attachments, that will last for years to come.
What is a Drum Cutter?
A drum cutter is a popular excavator attachment where drums equipped with picks positioned around the outer diameter, are rotated by a hydraulic motor at several hundred RPM to cut through rock, concrete, and even frozen soil. Luckily, we very seldom have to deal with the latter here in Australia.
Check out the video below from our YouTube Channel.
The Drum Cutter – Popular Use Cases
Typically, drum cutter attachments are used for rock excavation, demolition, underground scaling, tunnel profiling, trenching, and even underwater applications allowing use at up to 30m in depth without requiring additional modifications.
Let’s briefly investigate these.
Trenching
One of the most popular use cases for the Erkat Drum Cutter is for the purpose of trenching. In some cases, we’ve observed a production rate of approximately 70 m3/hr in hard limestone, making quick work of the job at hand.
The low vibration and the quiet operation of these units allows them to be used even in sensitive areas, such as next to service pipelines.
Tunneling
The low vibration given off by these units has also seen the Erkat drum cutter range being applied to cut through tough rocks when excavating tunnels.
Nearby gas pipelines, could easily be interrupted by high levels of vibration, presenting a risk to infrastructure and potentially to human lives.
The Erkat drum cutter has been recorded working in sensitive applications where vibration levels remained below 0.3 mm/sec. This ensures minimal risk to nearby pipelines.
Demolition & Refurbishment
Whether used horizontally or vertically, these rock drum cutters are an excellent choice for rock excavation or concrete wall and surface demolition.
Making easy work out of taking down retaining walls, removing contaminated concrete from house walls, or even quarrying demolitions.
Furthermore, with a special universal console featuring an integrated water spray system, dust created during the operation can be efficiently reduced, attributing to better working conditions, and a safer environment, for your team and the surrounding public.
Quarrying & Excavating
It goes without saying that the Erkat drum cutter range with its exceptional hydraulic power, is a favourite in the fields of quarrying and excavating, easily biting its way through hard and abrasive sandstone.
In some quarries, we’ve seen an achieved production rate of 55 m3/hr. With the material being produced having the ideal grain size allowing it to be sold without the need for additional material handling or crushing, saving you time and money.
Underwater & Steel Industry Applications
Whether you’re building drainage channels, or making shipping channels deeper for super tankers, the Erkat range of Drum Cutters can operate at depths of up to 30m without requiring additional modifications.
Since 2005, 30 drum cutters from Erkat have been working at a salt mining location, without interruption, in a 100% brine solution. Truly marvellous engineering.
Similarly, these units have been used in the Steel Industry in environments with a surrounding temperature of 250°C speaking volumes about their toughness.
Rotating Cutter Technology
Sometimes, a job just requires added mobility. This is where the Erkat Rotating Drum Cutter range (ERU) comes in.
The ERU range from Erkat represents a new generation of rotation units, tough enough for use with drum cutters in tunnelling, trenching and profiling applications. The rotation units are long-lasting, reliable, and low maintenance.
All rotation units have a hydraulic swivel joint as standard allowing endless rotation and this swivel joint can be retrofitted to non-rotating Erkat units, as well as drum cutters from other manufacturers.
Longitudinal Drum Cutters
Longitudinal drum cutters are driven by a powerful radial piston motor creating extremely high cutting forces and are designed to be mounted on excavators from 3 to 50 tons.
By exchanging the cutter head, the Erkat longitudinal cutter can be easily converted into a powerful ADU auger drive unit for vertical and horizontal holes.
Erkat Drum Cutters Australia
Here at BAEG, we’ve been looking after the sales, servicing, replacement of spare parts, and hire of the Erkat Drum Cutter range in Australia.
We’ve done the research and coupled it with our own industry knowledge and experience, to make sure we’ve partnered with the best to keep you working on the job for longer.
Speak to our friendly team at either of our conveniently placed locations in Perth or Brisbane, to find out how the Erkat Drum Cutter range can assist you with your next big job.