GOS Takes 100th Doosan Excavator for Railway Conversion
Based at Blaenavon in South Wales in the UK, GOS Tool & Engineering Services Ltd has just taken delivery of the latest new Doosan DX170W-5 Stage IV compliant 17 tonne wheeled excavator for conversion for road/rail applications, the 100th Doosan excavator to be purchased by the company for this purpose.
The arrival of the DX170W-5 coincides with the 50th anniversary of GOS, which is a privately-owned and managed market-leading company specialising in converting excavators and other equipment for use as road/rail equipment. The company also manufactures a wide range of rail trailers and trolleys; steel and concrete sleeper layers; lifting beams; cable decoilers and grabs for the railway industry.
The work on the 100th Doosan machine is the latest development in a long-standing relationship between GOS and Doosan that stretches back to the days of the Daewoo range which was the forerunner to the current Doosan excavator range. As well as the DX170W-5, GOS also makes products based on the new Doosan Stage IV DX140LCR-5 15 tonne crawler excavator.
Doosan Excavators Ideal for Rail Applications
Neil Gregory, Director of GOS, said: “Two of the key aspects of rail equipment are lifting capacity and hydraulic flow and we have found the specifications of Doosan excavators are the best in this respect, providing us with ideal base machines and the optimum adaptability for adding piling, lifting and digging equipment for us to produce a wide range of equipment solutions for the rail industry.
“In addition to the UK and Ireland market, GOS exports worldwide – there are quite a few Doosan excavators, for example, in Australia where our welders are popular and we are hoping to expand these sales worldwide as we can adapt many of our designs for use on most standard rail gauges around the world.”
In anticipation of the launch of the previous Stage IIIB and the current Stage IV compliant machines from Doosan, GOS engineers made two visits to the Doosan excavator plants in South Korea in the last six years, working closely with Doosan engineering and manufacturing teams on the specifications of the machines to be supplied to GOS.
The specially prepared Doosan excavators arrive without counterweights and supplied with the appropriate additional components and services to meet GOS specifications in readiness for the extensive modifications needed to convert them into products such as the DX270HS rail excavator with long dipper and the GOS flash-butt welders which are both based on the DX170W-5 excavator.
GOS offers fully compliant variants available to Network Rail, London Underground, Irish Rail and other worldwide engineering specifications, standards and approvals.
An extensive range of optional equipment can be fitted, including a twin operators cab; extra hydraulic services; the ability to work under live OLE; hydraulic and air trailer braking outputs; offset booms; MEWP basket attachments; fire suppression systems; ’tandem lift’ capability; a rear facing CCTV system and rail lifting accessories. All machines can be equipped with the sector-free GKD 3rci RCI system, fitted as standard with tandem lifting, ‘virtual wall’ and data logging capability.
Targetting the High Reach Excavator Market
Doosan and GOS are hoping to extend the collaboration further with an expanded focus on the market for bespoke machines such as high reach excavators for the demolition industry and long reach excavators for special applications in civil engineering such as coastline and river work.
From the standpoint of performance, the DX170W-5 from Doosan has as standard 10% more engine power, 5% more engine torque and 5% more traction force compared to the previous generation Stage IIIB model. The swing speed can now reach 10.8 rpm/minute and swing torque has been increased by 4%. Main pump capacity has increased by 9% and thanks to the increased pressure in the new Negacon hydraulic system, there is a significant increase of 10% in the bucket force and 3% in the arm force. In the DX170W-5, the over the front lifting capacity has increased by 10%, whilst the lifting capacity over the side has gone up by 6%.
At the heart of the new DX170W-5 excavator is the well-proven 6-cylinder, turbocharged Doosan DL06P water-cooled diesel engine which offers convenience and lower costs by meeting Stage IV emission regulations without the need for a diesel particulate filter (DPF), through the use of cooled exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and selective catalyst reduction (SCR) after-treatment technologies. The DL06P engine provides an output of 113.3 kW (152 HP) at 2000 rpm, an increase of 10% in engine power.
The DX140LCR-5 is powered by the Perkins 1204F engine, which combines reduced fuel consumption with the power and torque of larger engines with a smaller displacement. The new Perkins 1204F engine provides a 6% increase in power with an output of 85.9 kW (115.3 HP) at 2000 rpm and a 3% increase in torque. Swing torque has also been boosted by 28%.
Fuel consumption has been lowered by up to 10% compared to the previous generation machine. As well as the Stage IV engine, new systems and functions have been incorporated to achieve this significant result.