Creating DEUTZ Australia’s new TCD 7.8 Power Pack has been a labour of love for Wasantha Perera. It has taken time, patience, attention to detail and the support of the entire DEUTZ Australia team to bring his vision to life — but the end result has been worth all the challenges.
DEUTZ factory-built Power Packs are compact, ready-to-install engine solutions for a range of mobile machinery – from de-watering pumps and wood chippers to oil field pumps, construction machinery and irrigation pumps.
Each unit includes a cooling package and mounted exhaust, designed to be robust, reliable, ‘dropped in’ and ready to run.
Since January 2022, Wasantha and his team have been developing a Power Pack specifically tailored to the TCD 7.8 L6 engine. The prototype is undergoing testing and Wasantha expects the design to perform with flying colours.
“The 7.8 engine is one of the newer engines manufactured by DEUTZ and we have used that base engine and analysed the applications. We conducted a feasibility test to estimate all the costs involved in developing the Power Pack and decided the numbers added up,” says Wasantha.
“We also felt there would be demand because, with a power band of 225kw, this engine fits into a promising area. It’s going to be a pretty competitive product in the market.”
Initially, the TCD 7.8 Power Pack was developed virtually and once the specifications and design were finalised, Wasantha ordered the first engine from DEUTZ Germany and began sourcing additional parts needed to complete the Power Pack.
The cooling system has been supplied by DEUTZ USA and a controller was also sourced from a US manufacturer.
“The muffler, some piping and sheet metal work were produced by one of our local manufacturers. We designed what we needed and those manufacturers provided those parts and accessories,” says Wasantha.
“We made a prototype wiring harness to connect all the parts. The key challenges were sourcing the parts from overseas because in recent times it has been hard to get containers through from Europe and the US, but that situation is resolving itself now.”
The prototype TCD 7.8 Power Pack was completed in June and testing is under way. The engine is being tested on the dynamometer which will measure the power, torque and rotational speed (RPM) of the engine.
“It will be set up and run at full load and our technicians will prove all the parts are capable of delivering 225kw and we’ll also measure the inlet and muffler performances,” says Wasantha.
Assuming that testing is successful, subject perhaps to some minor adjustments, Wasantha says the next step will be to ramp up production of the TCD 7.8 Power Pack. There are also plans to soon develop and finalise the TD 2.2 L3, TD 2.9 L4 and TCD 3.6 Power Packs. These smaller engines are ideal for welders, small agricultural machinery, trenching equipment, irrigation pumps and scissor lifts etc.
“We have some base engines in stock already and a number of engines on order from DEUTZ Germany. We have engines ready to be developed,” says Wasantha.
“Everyone here at DEUTZ Australia is happy with the end product. We all recognise the benefits and we expect this Power Pack to do well in the market.”