It used to take the British industrial grain dryer manufacturer Alvan Blanch five workers, four forklifts and three hours to move just one of its pieces of equipment onto low loaders for transport.
But thanks the recent purchase of a Combilift Straddle Carrier, the procedure can now be completed in just 10 minutes by a single operator.
Grain driers are big, bulky pieces of industrial equipment that resemble long boxes, except they are tapered and their weight can vary at the front and back, making them difficult to move.
Engineers from Combilift customized the carrier used by the company so that it can lift various sizes of the units with stability.
“The inside of the 35-ton capacity Combi-SC’s fram measures five meters, as opposed to the standard 4.3 meters,” the company stated in a news release. “This gives ample space for the larger driers, and the front and rear spreader beams enable the position and also the length of the chain slings to be adjusted according to the size of the units being lifted, which also caters for the differing sizes at the end. A choice of lifting points also ensures that the chains do not come into contact with the units, avoiding the risk of any damage to the paintwork of the panels.”