Good, Good, Good.... Good Vibrations!

Hand arm vibrations are becoming more and more important when choosing the right machine for a job. Often the vibration level is a limiting factor for how long an operator can work with a machine.

 · 2 min read

The problem is that bench testing and testing in real situations can often yield very different results. So although the manufacturers stated figures give you some idea, the only reliable way to ensure that a machine is producing low enough vibration levels for your operators to use, is to test it yourself in a realistic situation. 


We have heard horror stories of weed brushes that gave respectable figures on their bench test, yet when tested in a real situation could only be operated for 15 - 20 minutes. When you have miles of highway to edge, this is obviously not going to work. Kersten machines are different. We have taken great care to reduce the vibration of our machines as much as possible, so they are comfortable to use for extended periods in all kinds of situations.


We recently held a demonstration day with Stevenage Borough Council, who had their own testing device, which they put onto the machine while we were carrying out some path edging work. Here's what we found;



The vibration levels on the day that were taken on the right hand grip of the machine-



Vector Sum:0.80ms²


Partial A(8):0.40ms²


Exposure points:3



What this means is that the vibration level will not meet the action level in 24 hours use, this is the point where vibration control measures need to be implemented. The action level is 2.5ms². The limit level is 5.0ms².



The council were very happy with this result. This is great news for the machine operators, as they can comfortably get a full day of path edging work out of the machine without exceeding the action level.   The council has many miles of cycle paths which need edging, so it is really important to find a comfortable machine that will do the job effectively.


For more information on the UBS Hydro ii 13 we used for this demonstration, please click here



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