2023 green manus® - trailer coupling


Description of application

Industry: Agricultural engineering
Customer requirements: corrosion-free bearing points, no lubricants, functionality in dirt and weather
igus solution: individually manufactured wear insert made of iglidur material

Rockinger Agriculture GmbH receives the green manus for a wear insert made of iglidur high-performance plastic.

No more lubricating: For balers, loader wagons, manure spreaders, tippers, and field sprayers, Rockinger Agriculture GmbH is developing a ball coupling called the KS80 using an iglidur series high-performance plastic that igus developed specifically for the company. The coupling consists of a coupling ball and claw installed in the height adjustment system.

As usual, the coupling claw is positioned on the ball head from above. It is secured against inadvertent decoupling with a hold-down device and creates a clearance-free connection. What is special about this coupling becomes apparent only upon inspection of the inside of the coupling claw. It contains a wear insert made of high-performance plastic whose wear resistance has been proven in laboratory tests.

In a fatigue test, the inserts survived two million load changes – with a support load of 4.5 tons. Rockinger Agriculture GmbH calculates that if a third of the tractors in Germany were equipped with a KS80 and wear insert, around 8,300 couplings would require no lubrication. Eight tons of grease could be saved each year.

More about individual components made of iglidur materials

Overview of all 2023 manus award winners
Agricultural vehicle with Rockinger trailer coupling