Gradall, Kinshofer enter agreement to expand equipment versatility

Written by Jenifer Nunez, assistant editor
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Gradall Industries, Inc., has entered into a business agreement with Kinshofer Crane and Excavator Attachments to make new options available for railways, municipal transit systems and others who purchase Gradall Railway Maintenance Machines.

 

Gradall machines can be used to build and repair railroad crossings, clean up landslides, control vegetation and replace crossties. The company’s railway maintenance machines feature telescoping booms that can tilt 220 degrees and work on low-profile sites inside tunnels and under bridges.

The heart of the Kinshofer option offering is the Nox-Tiltrotator – a boom-end hydraulic quick coupling device that expands the Gradall boom tilt by offering a 360-degree continuous attachment rotation and additional tilting angles up to 55 degrees in each direction.

The quick coupler and attachments are controlled with two joysticks, affixed to the standard Gradall operator joysticks. Using the Noxprop control system, tilt and rotation are managed with proportional solenoid valves that can be run simultaneously and monitored with a separate display module.

The system is engineered to facilitate the control of 10 valves and offers a choice to configure the control system using a laptop computer or a smart phone and a special Kinshofer app.

Using the Nox-Tiltrotator, a large variety of attachments are available. Among them is the RUS Sleeper Layer, a tool to grab and position ties during construction and repair work. The ties are clamped together at their centers at the same time by hydraulic grippers and then laid into the ballast bed.

The RUS2 Sleeper Layer is also dedicated to the clamping and positioning of nearly all types of ties, but this tool clamps them at the ends instead of the centers.

Some other attachments include the ballast brush, running backward and forward to level and distribute ballast on tracks. Ballast tampers are available in single or double configurations, with or without vibrating units. Rail clamshell buckets can be used to excavate ballast between rail ties.

Gradall excavators with on/off highway wheeled undercarriages are said to have a low center of gravity and excellent stability, enabling them to dig, lift and carry material while working at the front, rear or either side of the carrier.

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