Four-part Hemos ORCA boom: more flexible operation and more compact folding

ARTICLE

GARDEN AND PARK TECHNOLOGY

MARKET & CURRENT AFFAIRS

Broer de Boer, Monday 23 December 2024

217 sec

Boom has a reach of 8 meters

After the ORCA with a three-part boom, Hemos Machinebouw in Meppel now also delivers an ORCA version with a four-part boom. Here too, the machine builder uses the proven 'over-ride-chassis-attachment' system (the acronym for ORCA).

The four-part version is available with boom lengths of 2.65, 1.85, 1.75, or 1.60 meters. These parts give the boom a total reach of almost 8 meters. That's half a meter more than the three-part version. However, a boom that consists of four parts can be folded much more compactly and offers extra flexibility when working. Even with a 5.5 meter wide mower basket, you can move in the transport position on public roads with a nicely compact unit.

Even with a mower basket, you are compact on public roads

'In just a few minutes, you can detach the entire chassis, with boom, swivel column, tool, and pump unit, complete with integrated counterweight, from the tractor,' explains Director Foppe Mosterman about the ORCA system. 'The hydraulic hoses between the pump unit at the back of the tractor and the attachment, for example, a mower, run through the chassis and booms. This minimizes the chance of damage. The swing arm is mounted on the right side of the tractor and can swivel 225°. Depending on the brand and type, adjustments to the tractor may need to be made. For instance, we clear the right side and move the exhaust to the left side. The heavy turntable with double ball rows is made of chrome-molybdenum steel and features a special heavy-duty swivel motor, commonly used in excavators. Here, the gearings are sealed and run in grease. The hydraulic hoses run from the chassis through the center of this turntable to the boom. The front axle suspension and oscillation can be locked by means of two hydraulic cylinders, which you connect to the double-acting valves of the tractor.'

Operation

The controls are identical to those of the ORCAs with a three-part boom. The driver has a joystick and touchscreen at his disposal. Standard communication occurs via a Parker-IQAN canbus control system. The levers are from Danfoss and each have four proportional functions and five buttons. The ORCA is equipped with a tenfold proportional control valve for operating the various functions of the boom and attached tools. Hemos Machinebouw has equipped all three cylinders of the four-part boom with position sensors. This allows you to link the boom movement of the intermediate sections to the movement of the articulated boom. With the boom extended, the three cylinders are always fully extended. Compared to the full stroke of the articulated boom cylinder, a partial stroke of the intermediate booms can be set. Mosterman: 'The driver can easily perform this by retracting the articulated boom cylinder, then placing the intermediate booms in the desired retracted position, and then touching the memory button on the touchscreen. When activating the "FOLLOW ARTICULATION" button, the intermediate booms will then follow the boom movement of the articulated boom, evenly distributed over the set stroke of the intermediate cylinder.'

A boom guard is optionally available

A boom guard is optionally available. When working over the left side of the tractor, there is a risk of hitting the engine hood. A position sensor in the lifting cylinder prevents the boom from coming too low. This protection also activates when you are in float mode. Hemos Machinebouw also installed position sensors in the articulated boom cylinders to correct the float mode pressure relative to the boom position. You can easily store float mode values for three different tools at up to five positions of the articulated cylinder. The values between these set positions change smoothly.

The pump unit

The pump unit, which you can also choose to have mounted on the front of the tractor, features a 200-liter oil tank with return filter(s), an oil cooler, a heavy gearbox, a K80 trailer hitch, a boom support, and a storage area. The oil cooler is equipped with a hydraulically driven fan. This fan is temperature-controlled and features a reversing valve. This allows the fan to prevent the cooling block from getting clogged by grass or dust. The driver can set both the reversal time and the duration of the reversal cycle. If desired, the direction of rotation can also be changed at the touch of a button on the screen. In the electronics cabinet of the pump unit, we find a separate controller that communicates with the ORCA via a Parker-IQAN canbus system, using an EBS spiral cable. The program is loaded into the memory of the touchscreen via this cable. Any malfunctions, such as a loose plug, are displayed on the display, so the driver immediately knows where the problem lies.

The ORCA system is also suitable as a mowing-suction combination

The Hemos ORCA is designed for the attachment of various tools, such as a flail mower, stump grinder, forestry mulcher, rotary mower, disc mower, branch saw, and verge mower. It is also very suitable as a mowing-suction combination. The suction pipe can be very easily mounted to the boom. The mown material can be transported from the cutting head of the flail mower to the suction on the following wagon. The driver's view is not obstructed by suction hoses and/or pipes next to the boom.

A year of experience

BeZee B.V. Contracting Company in Zeewolde has been working with this four-part boom from Hemos for a year now. 'We were one of the first to purchase such an over-ride attachment chassis back in 2009,' says Director-Owner Hendrik Jan Beekhuiszen. 'We now have four of them. We had this four-part boom mounted on a new Steyr. A major advantage of such a robust ORCA system in general is that the heavy torsional forces are not exerted on the tractor. If anything were to be twisted, it would be the frame, but that has never happened to us. ORCA spares your tractor!'

With the four-part boom, the height stays under 4 meters

BeZee made this purchase primarily because of the height in the folded state: 'We can get under obstacles of 4 meters with it,' says Beekhuiszen. 'Folding takes a bit calmer than with a three-part boom, but you get used to it quickly. Otherwise, working with it does not differ from the other three-part booms from Hemos. We are now fully engaged in mowing-suction in the verges; there are already 1,800 operating hours on the counter. We hope to finish this work before Christmas. In the second week of January, we start the new season. Traditionally, that's when we begin the major maintenance of all machines!'

This article was previously published on December 23, 2024, on the Stad + Groen website.

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