Hydraulic Shears: Limitless Shredding

Hydraulic shears are manufactured as stationary or mobile machines or machine components. They are characterized by the targeted application of great force and chip-free cutting work.

Types of Hydraulic Shears

Hydraulic shears are manufactured for cutting and shredding steel, concrete, or as combination tools. As a stationary variant, hydraulic shears are frequently used in the production and processing of soft metals. The so-called “cropping shear” removes the irregular and unusable end pieces from rolled aluminum slabs.

Further applications for stationary hydraulic shears are primarily found in the processing of scrap steel. They cut large products into small portions that can subsequently be pressed or shredded. However, highly precise sheet metal shears with hydraulic drive are also available.

Mobile Hydraulic Shears

The mobile variant is mounted on construction vehicles. Material handlers, excavators, telescopic excavators, or specialized demolition excavators are typically used for their deployment. Hydraulic shears are an indispensable tool, especially in the demolition industry. They reliably cut through steel beams, reinforcing mesh, pillars, or other load-bearing structural elements. The demolition of a building can thus be carried out with just a single operator if they have an appropriately equipped demolition excavator.

Hydraulic Concrete Shears

Concrete shears work technically on the same principle. They are not only useful for demolition work. Concrete shears that can reliably remove the casing around steel reinforcement are important tools in the construction industry. With their help, concrete piles driven into the ground can be freed of concrete at the tips. The exposed reinforcement can subsequently be connected to a structure. According to this principle, for example, heavy wind turbines are reliably anchored in muddy and very low-bearing soil.

Hydraulic Shears in Rescue Operations

Particularly small hydraulic shears are used in rescue services. They are designed as handheld devices. With their help, crashed cars are cut open to quickly rescue accident victims. Technically, these handheld devices do not differ from the larger mobile or stationary counterparts.

Construction of Hydraulic Shears

Hydraulic shears consist of either one rigid and one movable element, or two movable elements. The blades of the shear are moved by hydraulic linear cylinders.

The cylinder and the hydraulic shear are equipped with quick couplings. For their operation, the hydraulic shear requires very high working pressures. This necessitates powerful hydraulic pumps and correspondingly powerful drives.

Stationary hydraulic shears are often mechanically assisted. For example, with the aforementioned scrap or cropping shears, often only the lifting movement, i.e., the opening of the shear, is hydraulically assisted. The work is performed by a counterweight and gravity. For mobile shears, this solution is not practical.

Technical Characteristics of Hydraulic Shears

Hydraulic shears are highly stressed tools and therefore consist of hardened steel. This makes them quite susceptible to surface rust. Although they are very massively constructed, they should be well maintained and serviced.

By replacing the bearings and the hydraulic unit, even an older hydraulic shear can be made operational again with just a few steps. Demolition shears and shears are also very popular rental tools due to their robustness. Their high durability makes ownership not necessarily required. They can be rented as needed at any time. This helps reduce operating costs.