ZOOMLION’S WHEELED SUGARCANE HARVESTER ENHANCED WITH POCLAIN HYDRAULICS MOTORS

Headquartered in Changsha City, Hunan Province, China, Zoomlion is China’s largest construction equipment manufacturer. In 2014 the company made a strategic move into the Ag market to profit from Beijing’s drive to promote rural modernization.

The acquisition of a stake in Chery Heavy Industry Co Ltd is enabling them to diversify into sugarcane harvesters and other Ag equipment.

Symbridge, one of the leading distributors of European hydraulic components in China, is a good match for Zoomlion, as both have a strong culture of excellence as well as international interests. Soon after Zoomlion entered the Ag market, Symbridge succeeded in securing the supply for the hydraulic transmission on their wheeled sugar harvester, the AC60. Their system is comprised of Poclain Hydraulics wheel motors.

Symbridge, a major Chinese distributor of European hydraulic components

Founded in 1985 in Taiwan, Symbridge opened a branch in mainland China in 1995. Today it totals ten branches in China and one in Indonesia. It represents several European manufacturers including Danfoss, its number one supplier, Reggiana Ridutori, Marzocchi, and Poclain Hydraulics. The company is 110 employees strong, with a quarter working in sales and applications. The distributor serves the construction equipment, environmental, agricultural, marine and manufacturing industries; its principal customers are XCMG Group, Sany Group, Longma and MacGregor.

Symbridge introduces Zoomlion to the Poclain Hydraulics technology

Symbridge recently integrated Poclain Hydraulics into their catalogue, when they acknowledged that a direct drive motor would add value to their hydraulic systems. They converted Zoomlion’s wheeled sugarcane harvester from a high-speed and gearbox assembly to MS motors sizes 11 or 18, depending on the harvesting speed required. Zoomlion was impressed by the performance and simple design of the motor. Beyond this Symbridge brought along their system expertise and offering, packaged together with the motors a pump, a control system and valves. They also committed to short lead times, keeping an inventory of the motors in their warehouse.

Close to 100 sugarcane harvesters integrating Symbridge’s hydraulic system are in operation today, and the OEM is very satisfied. On its side, Symbridge is looking forward to doing more business with Poclain Hydraulics. “They are very hard-working and communicate with us all the time. We want to further our training in their offering and hope to be able to service their motors in the future,” adds Mr Jian YANG, Symbridge’s Sales Manager for China.