The Swedish tiltrotator manufacturer will no longer offer the older, industry-standard S-type quick hitches in the sizes S45-S80, which date back to the 1980s.
The growth in the use of hydraulic attachments on construction sites has led Engcon to make its EC-Oil automatic hydraulic connection system a standard fitting on installations using the DC2 control system.
The new QS quick hitches, which are backward-compatible with the Scandinavian ‘S’ geometry will still pick up attachments using this standard – but they will automatically connect hydraulic and electrical power from an excavator to its attachments using EC-Oil.
"We're constantly hearing tragic news about people injured or even killed due to unsafe quick hitches and incorrect operation. I think this is unacceptable, so I’ve taken the decision to switch entirely to our own safety hitch and locking system," said Stig Engström, Engcon’s founder.
Engcon's QS quick hitches and QSC locking system are designed to eliminate the potential for human error that can occur when attaching or detaching buckets and other attachments. Because the bucket’s axles are independently detected by electronic sensors, swinging or half-connected buckets are not possible. Ground-pressure sensing further eliminates the possibility of operator error by requiring the attachment to be grounded before the hitch can be opened and it is also possible to disable the digger’s boom and slew functions when the hitch is in an unsafe state. As well as preventing operator error or misuse, the system also has boom-mounted audible and visible alarm to warn nearby operatives when attachments are being changed or the hitch is in an unsafe state.
"This is part of our safety initiative and zero-tolerance for swinging or dropped buckets. Q-Safe is one of the safest hitches in the world, and using it to replace the old, much less safe S-type hitches is a natural step for us," Stig Engström said. "Automatic quick hitches are now our standard, and thanks to their safety functions I can confidently declare we have the market's safest, smartest quick hitch system."
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