Two powerful planetary drives from Bonfiglioli are used in the Falcon Winch Assist from the New Zealand DC Equipment

The New Zealand engineering and manufacturing company DC Equipment is achieving international success with its hydraulic winch assist machine that achieves outstanding safety, reliability and efficiency assisting a tethered earthmoving machine to haul felled trees on slopes up to 45 degrees.

DC Equipment uses a pair of compact but torque-dense, 85,000 Nm capacity, Bonfiglioli 715C crawler drives in its Falcon Winch Assist, which can be fitted to a broad range of excavators over 30 tons. 

The twin drives 715C in each Falcon Winch Assist unit are incorporated into an open loop, single-drum hydraulic system featuring brake safety. The Falcon Winch Assist has a primary hydraulic braking system for maximum control to achieve consistent rope tension minimize tension spikes. An emergency backup braking system utilizes two Bonfiglioli integrated planetary gear box brakes for a double redundancy backup braking system. The hydraulic and electrical safety system of the Falcon Winch Assist were designed to ensure the system remains in a safe operating stat and to prevent shock loading, thanks to a system communication monitoring, drum speed control and alerts that warn of machine failures and activate automatic emergency braking.