Takeuchi’s dual power Hybrid

by Nick Drew | Mon 02 Nov 2015

Takeuchi’s dual power Hybrid

CBL Plant Sales Ltd have recently sold what is believed to be one of the first examples of Takeuchi’s TB216 Hybrid excavator in the UK, the Digger Man Blog was invited to visit the company’s Maidstone depot to take a look.

Japanese mini excavator manufacturer Takeuchi has been offering Hybrid versions of its excavators for a number of years now, but we first caught sight of the new TB216 Hybrid at the Intermat show which was held in Paris earlier this year. Equipped with a conventional diesel engine and a powerful electric motor the machine offers the end user a choice of power sources, making the machine ideal for working in noise and emissions sensitive areas.

The Takeuchi machines electric power source is manufactured and fitted as a conversion in Germany by DMS Technologie GMBH. In electric mode, all functions of the excavator operate in a very similar way, but according to DMS with 20 percent more power compared to the diesel engine.

I operated the machine briefly in the yard area and it was a very strange feeling operating the excavator with no noise coming from the engine, but once you become accustomed to the lack of a “backing track” sound it all seems quite normal and one could imagine that in an indoor location where these machines are designed to work it would be a real blessing to have no noise and more importantly no fumes.

According to DMS the compact electric motor is completely maintenance free. Thanks to the intelligent motor technology and control, the hydraulic pump can be powered directly. Thus, no gears are necessary to adjust speed and torque. Operation of the hybrid excavator is intuitive: In electric mode, switching on and off is done via the ignition key in the conventional way as well as the variable speed adjustment on the throttle.

For easy access to maintenance points on the diesel engine, the complete electric engine unit can be unlocked without the need for any tools by using a handle and be swung to the side. The motor conversion mounted on the back does in all fairness look a bit vulnerable, but it is protected by some strong impact protection bars which should do the job in most of the tight sites this machine is likely to encounter.

Total weight of the TB216 Hybrid is 1905kgs. Power output from the diesel engine is 11.1kW @2400 rpm Power output from the electric motor is 10.6kW @2400 rpm Electrical connection is 400 V/50 Hz Safeguard 32A The following video explains the functions of the machine in a bit more detail. [youtube width="725" height="344"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMV_wieBU-4 [/youtube] And finally in this video we see the machine in action in a typical jobsite location [youtube width="725" height="344"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHnLdUhQVX4[/youtube] The Digger Man Blog would like to thank CBL Plant Sales for inviting us along to see this machine prior to its delivery to an unnamed customer. If I get the chance I will cover this machine in more detail in a future edition of Earthmovers Magazine.

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