by Richard Cosgrove | Mon 06 Jan 2025
RotoTop speeds up sewer construction work
Kranzfelder from the German town Zusmarshausen have been using the RotoTop from the German manufacturer Holp since 2020. As a result of theri postive experience with the rotatory drive they plan to now equip all larger excavators with it.
Founded almost 70 years ago, Georg Kranzfelder GmbH & Co. KG is a well-established construction company in the region of Zusmarshausen (near Augsburg) that currently employs 55 people. The third-generation family-run company offers its customers a wide range of services in earthworks and civil engineering, road and path construction, site development, landscaping and hydraulic engineering, with a particular focus on sewer and pipeline construction.
Johannes Kranzfelder, one of the three managing directors, explains that the company’s machinery is always kept up to date in order to enable employees to carry out their work as efficiently and comfortably as possible. This is particularly important in times when skilled labour is hard to find. Employees have the right to make suggestions when it comes to optimising processes with the help of new equipment. Before being purchased, these are then tested by both sides, the boss and the employees concerned. ‘It's important to us that the employees really get on well with their machines and equipment, it’s the only way to achieve good work results,’ says Kranzfelder.
The idea of using a RotoTop came from Helmut Berchtenbreiter who is a trained mechanic and machine operator with 25 years of professional experience and has been working at Kranzfelder for eight years. He also enjoys travelling to trade fairs and exhibitions to keep up to date with innovations in the industry. Helmut explains: ‘I am always on the lookout for equipment that will help us at Kranzfelder. The standard of our machinery is really very high. With us, every excavator operator gets the equipment he needs to work well and economically.’ Helmut also visited Holp at the trade fair and put the RotoTop through its paces before his boss purchased it in 2020 for the Hitachi ZX 225 short-tail excavator he was driving.
Johannes Kranzfelder has found out that by using the RotoTop, his employees have to carry out significantly less manual labour, because the excavator's reach is noticeably increased by the endless rotation capability and it is possible to work in all directions as well. This not only simplifies and speeds up processes, but also reduces costs, he explains: ‘Less manual labour not only reduces the strain on our employees and the overall processing time on site, but also the downtime of the machine. In addition, we always save on the rotary motor when purchasing new attachments and can therefore save even more costs.’
Helmut Berchtenbreiter adds: ‘Before we had the RotoTop, I only had the swivelling function available for sewer construction. That wasn't enough freedom of movement to reach everywhere. With the RotoTop, this works very well and, in my opinion, is also more practical than with a tiltrotator, because I don't get stuck anywhere thanks to the flat and narrow construction, and there is no loss of power due to the low weight.’ The low superstructure with 55 cm from pin to pin also makes it possible to use larger buckets as the excavator is not restricted by the weight of the rotary drive. As a result, Helmut gets all tasks with his excavator done without any problems, working on canal constructions up to 4-5 metres deep, with the excavator also standing offset to the side in urban areas and still reaching every corner of his working area.
For him it is not easy to quantify the time savings achieved by the RotoTop as a percentage; the main thing is that the manual labour of the constantly shrinking teams can be significantly reduced. There is also no longer anyone who can do this manual work on the construction site. ‘Thanks to the endless manoeuvrability, I am fully flexible and can use my excavator to place all the material and equipment right at people's feet or even pull it away from there.’ With the exception of very few cases, the turning movement is completely sufficient, e.g., when placing chippings: here the material can be trickled in with pinpoint accuracy.
Johannes Kranzfelder is also sure that the RotoTop is particularly practical in canal construction with shoring because it has no cylinder and no protruding parts that could hit the shoring box or sheet piling and cause damage. For excavators with an operating weight of over 30 tonnes it’s the only way to work with rotary drives. According to him a tiltrotator cannot withstand the high tensile forces in this area in the long term. The quality of the RotoTop has proven to be particularly robust, valuable and durable.
According to Johannes Kranzfelder it always depends on which machine operator is sitting in the cab: ‘The RotoTop makes work much easier without reducing the excavator's tear-out force, if you get involved and understand the principle of the wrist on the excavator. And Helmut Berchtenbreiter adds that, of course, you have to familiarise yourself a little to be able to use all the advantages of endless rotation, but after a short time you won't want to do without the RotoTop. ‘Personally, I am fully convinced that the RotoTop is perfectly adequate for my work, I don't need or want anything else. I've been doing everything with it since 2020, it's stable, easy to operate, brings enough oil to the attachment and fulfils all his tasks every day.’
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