Hydrostatic Wheel Drives for Trucks and Other Vehicles

This paper discusses hydrostatic drives for heavy duty trucks. These have been employed on auxiliaries such as cranes, transit mixers, and winches on a production basis for several years, and they are now moving into the drive area. Typical among these would be front wheels, rear wheels, utilizing both powered axles and powered wheels. This paper discusses these drives, both fixed and steerable, and makes some comparison between the powered wheel and the powered axle. Some typical components and circuits are discussed and the future of this drive is outlined.