Meticulous testing and problem-free operation: Calaf liked what they saw – the Black Bruin X-series

Calaf Trenching, named after the town by that name in Catalonia, Spain, has been developing and manufacturing efficient trench opening systems for 40 years, and the company is proud of their machines for all and any terrain. There are two kinds of technologies available, chain trenchers and trenchers on tyres. Black Bruin X-series hydraulic motors are now the power behind some of Calaf’s chain trenchers.

A cost-efficient drop-in replacement

“When we got the opportunity to use the Black Bruin X-series motors in our chain trenchers, we seized it – after meticulous testing, of course,” says Joel Jorba, Design Engineer of Calaf Trenching and continues: “The change was really smooth, because the Black Bruin X-series features similar technical specifications and dimensions as the hydraulic drives previously used in Calaf’s chain trenchers. Although competing solutions can provide good service in Spain, what we want to avoid is the risk of frequent service breaks, costs, and the resulting downtime. That’s what we fear might happen with electric motors in our heavy-duty environment as well.”

Very positive feedback

Trenching is a very suitable technological solution on long-distance routes and in places of special environmental interest. Calaf trenchers are working throughout Spain and in all kinds of terrain, softer and harder, clay, slate, dolomite, gneiss… The applications include water canals, sewer systems, and solar and wind energy generation parks; wherever you need to sink huge pipelines underground to make the system operational. The trenchers typically do 200-400 metres of trenches per day at 1.5 to 3.5 metres depth and 45-160 centimetres width.

Calaf has 8 types of trenchers in their fleet weighing 18-45 tons, and so far the Black Bruin X-series motor is powering one of them, a trencher for big pipes – with excellent results: “After 1025 hours of work in difficult terrain, our staff reports no problems. At first, we kept on checking for the problems that we habitually see with other motors – such as pressure drops and hydraulic oil leaks causing poor performance – and were happily surprised when all went smoothly. Everything has been working perfectly right from the easy drop-in assembly,” Joel Jorba declares. “The Black Bruin X-series motor has proven highly reliable and economically competitive. That’s why we are seriously considering starting to use this compact power source in all our chain trencher models. The dimensions, functions, and tasks are the same. It really makes a lot of sense.”

Seeing is believing

Lara Esteban of Interfluid Hidráulica, the Black Bruin distributor in Spain, has more to say about how Calaf and Black Bruin found each other: “I had been talking about Black Bruin motors to Calaf before and Joel had seen Black Bruin wheel motors in action on a farm, but the arrival of the X-series really got them interested. Calaf wanted to learn more about this compact and cost-efficient alternative and see it working in their chain trencher.” The compactness, of course, is the result of the direct drive concept needing no gearbox between the motor and the shaft it is driving. The Black Bruin X-series further features a patent-pending structure in which the wear-resistant piston design and large hydraulic fluid channels are utilized in a compact frame size. This enables improved fluid distribution with less pressure and fluid speed reduction. Simply: a small motor packed with power.