Over the last several years, Bailey International has worked to develop an alternative to the tie-rod cylinders which have existed in the agricultural equipment industry for decades. The company’s goal was to create a hydraulic cylinder with a simplified, welded design which would be user friendly in the field and strong enough to work in the same applications as tie-rod cylinders.
Enter the AT (Alternative to Tie Rod) Hydraulic Cylinders which are available in various bore sizes and can be used in any application where tie-rod cylinders are currently used.
By going to a welded cylinder design, it is possible to overcome the entanglement and contamination issues the occur in some applications. A traditional tie-rod cylinder is two pieces of cast iron held together by four bolts and nuts; sticks, rocks and other objects can get wedged between the cylinder’s tube and tie bolt, explained Matt Grussing, Director of Sales - Western USA at Bailey International. The welded design of the AT cylinder, however, helps overcome this while also providing a modern, aesthetic look.
He said Bailey put a lot of engineering effort into ensuring the AT hydraulic cylinder provides a drop-in replacement option for tie-rods which is easy to use and install. Essentially, the company wants customers to view the AT as just a different version of a tie-rod cylinder he said.
In this interview with Power & Motion, Grussing discusses the design of the AT hydraulic cylinder and the benefits it can provide to agricultural equipment and other machine applications in which tie-rods are typically used.
