Steelwrist celebrates 20 years of tiltrotator innovation

Steelwrist is celebrating 20 years of designing, building, and promoting tiltrotators, quick couplers, and work tools that make excavators more efficient. Founded in Sweden 2005, the company first set up a shop in a garage north of Stockholm. Since then, Steelwrist has delivered products to thousands of customers worldwide. 

"During my 20 years developing our Steelwrist product portfolio we have continuously been at the forefront of our industry," says Markus Nilsson, CTO and co-founder of Steelwrist. "Our innovations have resulted in products that are safer and more productive for the excavator operator. With a combined focus on hardware as well as software we have made the tiltrotator become an integrated part of the excavator. I look forward to 2025 with confidence, presenting our latest developments."

Why does your excavator need a tiltrotator?

The tiltrotator has proven to be the key that truly unlocks the efficiency of an excavator, and it is the centrepiece in the Steelwrist offering, says the company. With endless rotation and 45 degrees tilt in both directions, the tiltrotator allows the operator to do more types of jobs, be faster, and work with greater precision.

The transformation of an excavator into a true tool carrier significantly boosts worksite efficiency and safety, says Steelwrist. By reducing costs and enabling more tasks to be completed directly from the cab, the need for ground personnel is reduced, making operations smoother and safer. Fewer machine movements mean time savings, reduced fuel consumption, and less machine wear.

Continuous evolution of tiltrotator technology

The tiltrotator concept is deeply rooted in the Nordic region where contractors and operators have demonstrated motivation to adopt and invest in cutting-edge products and technologies.

Steelwrist introduced its first tiltrotator, the X18, in 2006, and the early years saw an expansion of the sales organization to the Nordic countries and the United Kingdom. A milestone was reached in 2011, when the company launched the X07 model for compact excavators, the world's first fully steel cast tiltrotator. Steel cast components make it possible to minimize the weight and at the same time increase the strength, and the use of high-tensile steel casting has been a cornerstone in the design of the couplers and tiltrotators ever since.

In 2012, the company became an industry pioneer by introducing the patented Front Pin Lock in its couplers, increasing operational safety in excavators using the device. Today, Steelwrist offers a comprehensive tiltrotator range for excavators weighing from 1.5 to 33 tonnes.

The third-generation tiltrotator lineup

In 2024, the third-generation tiltrotators were launched with the introduction of several new key features. The XTR20, the first model in Steelwrist's third-generation tiltrotator lineup, features steel cast components throughout, including the upper coupler, gearbox, and the lower coupler beneath the tiltrotator. 

Building on Steelwrist's tilt geometry, the XTR20 delivers a smoother and more refined user experience for operators according to the company. Also maintenance and lubrication have been made considerably easier with the introduction of OptiLube, a built-in onboard system for automatic lubrication, ensuring consistent performance.

In terms of safety, the new generation marks a major advancement in solutions for secure work tool changes on excavators. The XTR20 is equipped with Steelwrist's patented wireless LockSense technology — a cutting-edge, sensor-based system that provides real-time confirmation of whether the work tool is securely locked during coupling.

Upgrading interfaces for faster tool switching

The new tiltrotators, as well as all other Steelwrist products, are available with interfaces following the symmetrical standard (S standard), which is the fastest growing standard internationally. Thanks to their modular design, products can be easily upgraded from the S-type to the SQ-type interface.

Introduced in 2017, Steelwrist's SQ technology enables operators to switch between hydraulic-powered work tools in just seconds without ever leaving the cab. This high-performance automatic oil connection technology offers exceptional flow capacity with minimal back-pressure, making it ideal for even the most demanding hydraulic work tools and applications across the industry.

The Open-S Alliance

In the process of developing the SQ products the idea of presenting an open interface for automatic quick couplers was born. The advantage of avoiding a proprietary solution is clear: it frees customers from being tied to a single manufacturer's system. This vision became a reality at the end of 2020 when Steelwrist and Rototilt founded the Open-S Alliance, an independent organization dedicated to developing a global industry standard for automatic couplers for excavators. 

"Open-S is all about delivering benefits to contractors and machine operators," says Stefan Stockhaus, CEO of Steelwrist AB and Board Member of the Open-S Alliance. "The goal of the standard is to make it possible to freely choose between and mix different brands of products, without losing any functionality, safety features or the warranty, and not be locked into a proprietary solution that limits options. This idea made us take the initiative to start the work to build an international and open industry standard five years ago."

The ambition is to give machine operators and contractors the freedom to combine quick couplers, tiltrotators and work tools from different manufacturers that follow the standard. Today the organization has 14 members, both attachment manufacturers and global OEMs. All Steelwrist SQ products follow the Open-S standard for automatic couplers for excavators.

An exciting year ahead

The journey of innovation continues in 2025, and the company is set to launch several new products, all designed to further enhance the productivity and efficiency of excavators.

• The XTR15 and the XTR23: First, the XTR20 will be followed by the XTR15 and the XTR23. These new models, easily upgradeable from S to SQ, come with all the features that were presented when the XTR20 was launched, including OptiLube and LockSense.
• The SQ40 coupler: The SQ40 enables quick and effortless changes of high-flow-powered work tools for smaller excavators, offering the same efficiency and convenience as the larger SQ coupler sizes. The SQ40, upgradable to the SQ-type, will be complemented by a range of powered work tools specifically optimized for this interface. 

All new products will be shown in the Steelwrist stand at bauma in Munich, April 7–13, 2025.

"I am extremely proud of what our team has accomplished since Steelwrist was founded, and the 20 year anniversary will be highlighted throughout 2025. I have myself been running the SQ40 size for over a year on my own excavator and I am really looking forward to presenting the SQ40 solution which will bring efficiency to new levels also for the smaller excavators," says Stockhaus.