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Heavy equipment review
BRANDT,
CANADA
I
n the two and a half
years since Brandt
Equipment Solutions
entered the Canadian
pipelayer market with its low-mount
sideboom design, the company has
experienced considerable success.
Developed in co-operation with
John Deere engineers, Brandt’s line of mid-
sized and large-sized pipelayers have built
a reputation for providing operators with
safety, stability, and productivity.
The Brandt design currently takes two forms:
a newly-released mid-sized attachment for John
Deere’s 850K and 850L dozers, and a heavy-duty
unit for large-diameter applications based on Deere’s
factory-optimised 1050K-based PL170K and PL220K
pipelayer-ready tractors. These models will soon be
joined by an additional model, purpose-built for small-
diameter applications.
“There have not been a lot of changes to sideboom
design over the past 50 years,” says Neil Marcotte, Senior Vice
President, Sales – Manufactured Products at Brandt Industries.
“Our experience with these new products to date shows
that the industry is ready to embrace a new approach that
demonstrates significant performance advantages.”
Looking to improve on the designs that have dominated
the industry for decades, Brandt built on the solid foundation
of Deere’s oval driveline configuration. Its low-profile design
allowed Brandt to create a sideboom attachment that
features the industry’s lowest boom winch placement. The
result is a lower centre of gravity that provides improved
stability and operator visibility, longer cable life, and
maximum productivity in all working conditions.
Stability monitoring is an area where the
industry has been slow to innovate. With safety
a key concern for pipeline contractors, Brandt
responded with its patented SmartLift
TM
Dynamic Stability Monitoring System to
address the gap. SmartLift is an all-new OHSA
1926.1401-compliant approach to load
monitoring that replaces traditional static
monitoring systems with a continuous
stream of real-time terrain and machine
data, designed to allow operators to
effectively monitor and manage
capacity under all conditions.
As the angle of the dozer and
boom tip vary due to changing
ground conditions, so does
the available capacity of
the boom. SmartLift
automatically adjusts,
providing operators
with an accurate real-time capacity rating, that can ensure safe
operation.
“Until now, managing lifts has always been an inexact
science,” adds Marcotte. “So, we took a list of the challenges
that operators face, a clean sheet of paper, and we created
a whole new approach. Starting with a series of hardwired
sensors, our system continually analyses total load, hook block
distance from the machine, and slope the machine is working
on, and then displays it in real-time on the dash-mounted
monitor. Operators love it because now they always know
instantly what percentage of maximum capacity the machine
can lift, no matter the terrain slope they are travelling on.”
Building on the success of the machine in Canada, Brandt
has turned its focus to the US, building partnerships with
American Deere C&F dealers. Brandt unveiled and demonstrated
the new machines for US John Deere dealers at Deere’s training
facility in Sacaton, Arizona, in early 2019. The first of the
US-bound machines entered service in June 2019, as the result of
a collaboration between Brandt and Kansas-based Deere dealer
Murphy Tractor & Equipment Co.
Brandt BPL100K LGP lowering in 24 in.
pipe up a slope.
The lowering in of 24 in.
pipe by the Brandt BPL100K LGP.
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