by Nick Drew | Tue 26 Mar 2013
Xcentric attachment continues to rip up a storm
The Xcentric Ripper was first introduced to the public at Bauma 2010, and has certainly attracted a lot of interest in the past 3 years, with over 300 units in operation out in the field around the world.
Anyone like me, who has sat at the controls of an excavator fitted with a conventional hydraulic breaker, will tell you it can be a long and tedious job. However, this exciting and innovative product certainly looks like it could speed the whole process up considerably. The Spanish manufactured attachment is sold and serviced in the UK & Ireland by ECY Haulmark, who describe it as a 20% demolition tool and 80% quarrying tool for use on soft to medium fractured rock.
The Xcentric ripper is designed to enable faster and more efficient excavation and demolition, with much lower costs and is far more environmentally friendly in terms of noise impact to workers and the surrounding area. According to ECY Haulmark the Xcentric ripper is far more productive than any hydraulic breaker available on the market in around 70% of job applications.
The Xcentric ripper features a closed energy chamber, which cannot be affected or damaged from the outside by ingress of dust, water or dirt, enabling it to work in some of the most hazardous site conditions in the world. This exciting new attachment can even work under water which makes it especially useful for work in harbours and during canal work.
Check out this video which features the mid-range XR40 model in action in a limestone quarry in York.
The current range consists of 9 models, ranging for the XR10 which is suitable for 8 ton class excavators, up to the XR120 which is suitable for excavators in the 150 ton class. At next month’s Bauma, the company will display 6 new Xcentric ripper models for the first time. You can find them on booth 831/3 in the open air area F8. I will certainly be paying them a visit during my trip to the show. Maybe one day I will manage to get some “stick time” at the controls of an excavator with one of these rippers installed. It will be interesting to see for myself how it compares with a conventional breaker.