A CONTRACTOR from Mel-Ray Industries has installed a dual-line air/hydraulic braking system from Australian Brake Controls in his tractors and trailers.
According to Ray Galdes, towing a heavy trailer around worksites can be a potentially hazardous, high maintenance undertaking.
Trucks, tractors and specialized machinery can be subjected to loads that will place unusual stresses on standard components, including high demands on braking systems in situations where operators need to selectively and powerfully apply stopping and holding power.
Examples include going down a one-in-four slope with a 90-degree turn at the bottom. Gravity will see the trailer trying to push straight ahead, off the road. Galdes says he helped increase the responsiveness and control over the vehicles with the Australian Brake Controls system.
His latest system enables the driver to simultaneously control both the tractor’s hydraulic brakes and trailer’s air brakes from the same brake pedal. The operator can also operate the trailer brakes separately using an in-cab hand control.
Galdes says air brakes are the most effective, as other types of brakes get burned out quickly on slopes.
Australian Brake Controls engineered a system which incorporates a tractor-mounted half horsepower electric compressor feeding a nine litre pneumatic holding tank linked by airlines to the trailer brakes.
This pneumatic system is synchronized with the tractor’s hydraulic system via a reaction valve that automatically senses the amount of pressure being applied to the hydraulic system and turns this into an air signal for the trailer’s air system when the brakes are applied.
http://www.myfen.com.au/Article/Australian-Brake-Controls-air-hydraulic-brakes-keep-tractors-and-trailers-controlled/512696.aspx
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