The History of Montabert Hydraulic Hammers

Montabert hydraulic hammer, known in the United States and other countries as Tramac, originated in France.  They are often credited with inventing the first hydraulic hammer with their BRH line, introduced in the 1970s.  To the best of our knowledge, Montabert was acquired over a decade ago by Doosan/ Ingersol-Rand/Melrose /Bobcat.  It is now believed that Montabert/ Tramac is owned by Komatsu of Japan. 

The Design of Montabert Hydraulic Breakers

Nearly all of their models are considered to be hydraulic hammers. This particular design of hoe rams and hydraulic breakers does not use nitrogen to generate impact power.  Instead, it uses hydraulic power to lift the piston on the upstroke, and hydraulic power, gravity and momentum on the downstroke to bring the piston against the demolition tool.  As with all fully hydraulic breakers, they utilize a nitrogen filled accumulator at the top to protect them from hydraulic spikes.  Unlike nitrogen fired breakers, the nitrogen in these units does not contribute much to impact power.  

There is no such thing as permanently sealed accumulators-also known as the nitrogen chambers-despite marketing material to the contrary.  If they did, the hydraulic hammers’ nitrogen chambers would not have a port or require a charge kit to add nitrogen.   Each accumulator has at least one rubber diaphragm inside, which requires replacement from time to time.   Most Montabert / Tramac and other fully hydraulic hammers require that the top bracket and the entire accumulator assembly be removed to add nitrogen, and all of them require this removal-or at least major disassembly of it-to replace the diaphragm as the nitrogen inlet and its inflating screw are located on the center of the top of each accumulator.  

What Makes Montabert Hydraulic Breakers Unqiue?

As most of the Montabert/Tramac hydraulic breakers utilize a fully hydraulic design, they are less tolerant of backpressure from the skid steer, mini excavator or excavator-often only tolerating half the amount of nitrogen fired designs.  As with all hydraulic hammers, if backpressure/ return line pressure to the carrier exceeds the breaker’s tolerance, it will cause the strike piston to kind of hesitate in the bore as high backpressure will slow the piston’s downward momentum.  The heat generated by excessive backpressure / return line pressure can also reduce the life of the internal seals.  As with all hydraulic hammers of any design, a flow test of the carrier’s hydraulic system should always be performed before installing any hydraulic breaker to ensure that the four values: oil output, working pressure, backpressure and relief are within the specifications of the hammer that is being installed.  Anyone that tells you that a hydraulic breaker “takes what it needs”, is not looking at longevity.  If proper oil delivery was not important, why does every manufacturer publish the operating range of each unit?

Other fully hydraulic hammer designs are used by Rammer, Indeco, Sandvik, some newer Stanley breakers, early Caterpillars and others.

Montabert / Tramac hydraulic hammers are nearly all green in color, with most models using a boxed or silenced design.  This design encases the power cell/main body in a steel box from top to bottom that is held in place by various buffers and pads.

Discover More of Montabert at Gorilla Hammers

Montabert / Tramac hydraulic breakers have had many different series, makes and models over the years.  They begin with the BRH series-the most famous model being the BRH501.  This was followed by the BRP, M and N series of hydraulic breakers.  Tramac later added the BRV series, and currently offers the SC, V, SD and XL series of hoe rams.      

At Gorilla, we carry demolition tools in chisel, moil or blunt working ends, as well as seal kits, diaphragms, upper and lower bushings and other hydraulic hammer wear parts to support Montabert and Tramac hoe rams, rock breakers, hydraulic breakers and hydraulic hammers.  With the largest dedicated hydraulic hammer repair shop in the United States, we have repaired hundreds of  Tramac breakers over the years, and have all the necessary manuals, torque tools and experience to get yours done the right way, the first time.

Contact one of Gorilla Hammers team members today at 888-814-6745 for any of your Montabert hydraulic breaker needs.