Shandong Zhongju Intelligent: Excavator Tie Changer, New Era
Writer： admin Time：2025-10-24 11:32 Browse：℃
I. Introduction
With the continuous expansion of China's railway network and the growing demand for transportation, the efficiency and quality of railway line maintenance are directly related to driving safety and transportation efficiency. As a professional manufacturer of excavator and skid steer loader attachments in China, Shandong Zhongju Intelligent Equipment Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Shandong Zhongju Intelligent") has officially launched its independently developed excavator attachment tie changer based on years of technical accumulation and market insights. The launch of this innovative product not only fills the efficiency gap in traditional railway tie replacement operations but also promotes the transformation of the railway maintenance industry from "manual-led" to "intelligent and efficient" with intelligent and mechanized solutions, injecting new impetus into the upgrading of China's railway infrastructure maintenance.
II. Product Launch
In mid-October 2025, Shandong Zhongju Intelligent held a new product launch conference for the excavator attachment tie changer at its production base in Jining, Shandong. The conference was attended by more than 100 people, including technical directors of relevant railway units, industry experts, partners, and media representatives. At the conference, the general manager of Shandong Zhongju Intelligent detailed the product's R&D background, core technologies, and application value, and demonstrated the tie changer's operation process in a simulated railway ballast bed environment on site. The entire process, from old tie extraction, ballast bed cleaning to new tie laying, was completed in one go, winning high recognition from the on-site guests. This new product launch marks Shandong Zhongju Intelligent's official entry into the railway maintenance equipment track and provides a more cost-effective mechanized solution for the railway maintenance industry.
III. Product Advantages
(1) Efficient Operation: Significantly Shorten Construction Period and Reduce Time Costs
Traditional manual tie replacement requires the collaboration of multiple people, with a single team replacing only 30-50 ties per day on average, which is greatly affected by physical strength, weather, and other factors. However, the excavator attachment tie changer developed by Shandong Zhongju Intelligent, relying on the stable hydraulic power system and precise control design of the excavator, can complete the replacement of 1-2 ties per minute, and the time for a single operation (including ballast bed pretreatment, old tie extraction, and new tie laying) is only 3-5 minutes. Calculated based on 8 hours of operation per day, a single equipment can replace 400-600 ties per day on average, with an operation efficiency 8-12 times higher than that of manual work. This can effectively shorten the railway "window period" (reserved time for line maintenance) and reduce the impact on normal railway transportation.
(2) Safe and Reliable: Multiple Protection Designs to Avoid Operation Risks
Safety is the core prerequisite for railway maintenance. Shandong Zhongju Intelligent has integrated multiple safety protection mechanisms into the design of the tie changer: First, it adopts a double hydraulic clamp synchronous clamping structure to ensure that the ties have no risk of falling during grasping, lifting, and transferring. The clamping force of the clamps can be automatically adjusted according to the tie material (wooden, concrete). Second, the bottom of the equipment is equipped with railway track positioning wheel sets, which can be firmly fixed on the rails during operation to avoid safety accidents caused by equipment displacement. Third, the operation panel is equipped with an emergency stop button. In case of emergencies, the operator can cut off the power instantly to ensure the safety of operators and lines.
(3) Strong Adaptability: Adapt to Multiple Scenarios and Break Environmental Limitations
In view of the complex and diverse characteristics of China's railway lines, the tie changer focuses on "versatility" and "flexibility" in design: In terms of railway types, it can adapt to the tie specifications (including common lengths such as 2.5m, 2.6m, 2.7m) of different lines such as ordinary-speed railways, high-speed railways, and freight dedicated lines. In terms of geographical environment, by optimizing the equipment chassis structure and power output, it can operate stably in special scenarios such as mountain railways (slope ≤ 30°), tunnels (minimum net height ≥ 4.5m), and bridges. In terms of ballast bed conditions, it is equipped with an adjustable ballast cleaning device, which can not only handle the ballast collection of loose ballast beds but also deal with the crushing and cleaning of compacted ballast beds without the need for additional special equipment, reducing the complexity of construction.
(4) Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection: Low-Carbon Operation to Respond to Green Development
Under the background of the "dual carbon" goal, Shandong Zhongju Intelligent has integrated the concept of energy conservation and environmental protection into product R&D: The tie changer does not need to be equipped with a separate power source and is directly driven by the original hydraulic system of the excavator. Compared with traditional special tie changing equipment (equipped with diesel engines), it can reduce energy consumption by about 60%. At the same time, the hydraulic drive method avoids exhaust emissions and noise pollution caused by engine operation (operation noise ≤ 75 decibels, far lower than the industry standard of 90 decibels), which can not only protect the health of operators but also reduce the impact on the ecological environment along the railway, in line with the development requirements of green railway construction.
IV. Working Principle
(1) Travel System: Dual-Mode Switching for Flexible Transition
The tie changer adopts a dual-mode design of "railway track travel + road tire travel": When operating on railway lines, the track wheel sets on both sides of the equipment are lowered, and the track wheels are driven by hydraulic motors to move along the rails to achieve precise positioning. When transitioning on roads, the track wheel sets are retracted, and the equipment travels on the rubber tires at the bottom (suitable for ordinary roads and construction access roads) without relying on special transport vehicles, reducing transition costs and time. The two travel modes can be switched with one click through the operation panel, and the switching process only takes 2-3 minutes, improving the mobility of the equipment.
(2) Ballast Bed Pretreatment: Precise Cleaning to Ensure the Foundation for Tie Laying
Ballast bed pretreatment is a key link in tie replacement. The front end of the tie changer is equipped with a liftable large shield plate and a ballast shovel: First, the large shield plate is lowered to the surface of the ballast bed, and the ballast around the tie to be replaced is pushed to both sides to form an operation space with a width of about 50cm and a depth of about 30cm. In case of compacted ballast beds (ballast caked due to long-term rolling), the ballast shovel can start the crushing function (driven by a hydraulic hammer) to crush the compacted ballast before cleaning. The cleaned ballast is temporarily stored in the ballast storage box of the equipment. After the new tie is laid, the ballast is backfilled into the ballast bed through the unloading device of the ballast storage box, reducing ballast waste and the workload of later ballast bed finishing.
(3) Old Tie Extraction: Stable Grasping to Deal with Complex Situations
The old tie extraction link relies on the hydraulic clamping mechanism in the middle of the tie
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