top of page
Jan 26, 20222 min read

Saving Time and Money with Hydraulic Quick Couplers

Updated: Mar 22




If you need to make frequent attachment changes to your excavator, and you are tired of having to manually drive out and insert the mounting pins for every change, you may be interested in a quick coupler.


Quick couplers are devices installed at the outer end of the dipper arm of the excavator. The coupler does not touch the working surface – it is a quick link to the hard-working attachments like buckets, grabs, hammers etc. They facilitate the quick change of excavator attachments.


There are three kinds of quick couplers.


Manual

The operator needs to get out of the cab, grab his tools and manually change the attachment. As you can imagine, the amount of value that is added is minimal.


Semi-automatic

The degree of manual intervention is minimal but does require the operator to leave the cab to remove and then reinsert the safety pin. The safety pin acts as a safety precaution to prevent attachments from being released through human error.


Automatic

This type uses the hydraulic system of the machine to operate the main attachment mechanism and have an internal safety device. As with semi-automatic systems the safety device is designed to prevent the release of the bucket or attachment in the event of a failure of the hydraulic system. In this case however, the internal security device is activated from within the cab and the operator never needs to leave his seat.


Suppliers

Many of the manufacturers of quick couplers are small, flexible and innovative, leading to the wide variation in design concepts. Many Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) of construction equipment market a range of quick couplers. Some of these are designed and manufactured by the OEM but more often they are the products of one of the quick coupler manufacturers branded by the OEM and sold through the OEM's distribution chain or installed by the OEM in their factory.


Comments

bottom of page