When the going gets tough.... First seen in Series I form in 1948, the ubiquitous Land Rover has been around for more than 60 years selling more than four million units in the process. Originally designed for farm and light industrial use, the first prototype was built in the summer of 1947 before being officially launched in April 1948 at the Amsterdam motor show. The vehicle was originally Changes in EU regulations however designed as a short term project mean that from January 2011 the to keep the Rover car company shorter wheel-base, heavy-duty busy until the depressed post-war 3,500kg Land Rover 110 can no market started to pick up. In longer be sold, replaced by the common with the Land Rover's light-weight 3,050kg Land Rover 110 that followed, the Series I used a or the more expensive and longer box section steel chassis and wheelbase 3,500kg Land Rover 130. aluminium bodywork due to the Mounting an aerial lift onto the Land rationing of steel and the Rover poses its problems, abundance of aircraft aluminium. particularly when it comes to high The Series II was introduced in speed on-road handling and stability 1958 and visually remained when cornering - caused by a high virtually unchanged for the next centre of gravity, relatively narrow 25 years. The Defender – launched track and long travel suspension. in 1983 and not radically different There have been many instances of on the outside - was available in Land Rover platforms toppling over 90” and 110” at roundabouts. wheelbase form with the most While most, if not all installations recent vehicles using the 110 and use at least one set of outriggers, 130” wheelbase. Despite its there are many that also use the ‘Britishness’ the company was front axle and wheels of the vehicle sold to BMW in 1994, Ford in Over the years there have been a a 12 to 14 metre platform. This to provide additional stability in place 2000 and finally its present number of manufacturers offering does not mean the vehicle is ideal – of a second pair of legs. However if owners, Tata Motors in 2008. special-build Land Rover-based in fact it has some major flaws. not done well this can lead to an platforms using various ‘off the Leaving the ageing design, lack of Its all set to change unstable feel to the platform when shelf’ booms/superstructures from driver space and comfort to one The Land Rover is renowned for its the weight in the basket is close to trailer lifts or mounts. side, along with the stability off-road capabilities, qualities that its maximum. However, given that the bulk of the problems already mentioned, first attracted specialist powered The shorter 110 wheelbase vehicle demand for such lifts comes from operators of most Land Rover-based access manufacturers looking for a does have advantages in the UK, with some in the Middle platforms also have to climb up onto rugged, go-anywhere chassis to manoeuvrability and price, but East and that annual sales are said the vehicle to access the basket or mount a platform that combined 4x4 with its demise, most current to range between 100 and 150 the controls to telescope the boom off road capability with a decent manufacturers will have no choice units, there has been a surprising to ground level. working height. but to offer the Land Rover 130, recent surge in the launch of new Latest additions It is thought that the first Land although those with lighter booms or models. Until relatively recently Allan Rover-based platform was the L25 booms manufactured specifically for Problems? Access was one of the few built by Simon in 1957 which the chassis may be able to fit their The Land Rover’s popularity as a companies manufacturing this type continued in production until 1978. lifts to the 110 lightweight chassis basis for an off-road platform of machine using the Niftylift trailer In all, more than 2,500 were sold but to offer any platform capacity the probable stems from the fact that lift boom until it went into although not all on Land Rover chas- vehicle would have to be close to there are very few 3.5 tonne GVW, administration and ceased trading sis. The company also built a 100ft 2,800kg leaving barely 200-250kg true 4x4 vehicles capable of taking almost two years ago. Since then high camera mast on a Land Rover! for tools etc. 40 cranes & access August/September 2010 the other main manufacturer, longer available, it could be the only Versalift, has been concentrating boom that can be mounted on the & land rovers more on the mounted side of its lightweight (3,050kg) chassis. c a business which along with the Currently the A314 has an overall demise of Allan, left the door open, weight of 2,880kg giving the at least slightly, for new platform a class-leading 620kg of manufacturers. There are currently total payload capacity and a very at least six models on the market, good 225kg platform capacity. The including Cumberland Industries, unit also uses its four outriggers to Gardner Denver, Isoli, Niftylift, totally support the vehicle. Skyking and Versalift. Early units “To prove the stability of the A314 used short booms taken from a we carried out the 150 percent variety of trailer lifts and small overload test over the front of the articulated self propelled lifts and cab after taking off one front wheel then ‘made to fit’ the Land Rover and the unit did not move,” said chassis, very little changed over the Cumberland’s Paul Murphy. “The years until now! first sign of any movement in the Versalift launched its new Versalift chassis was when there was more ET36LF short wheelbase (110) Land than 400kg on the boom.” Rover-based platform at Bauma “The amazing stability has been with a 14 metre working height. achieved by designing both the A version mounted on the long boom and mounting position from wheelbase 130 is also available and The Unimog is the ultimate 4x4 off-road vehicle features an articulated jib which provides 16 metres working height. time and development costs but is Both models are available with up likely to involve some compromises. to 10kVA of insulation making them Italian truck mounted lift ideal for electricity companies and manufacturer Isoli first showed its contractors. MPT 140 at SAIE 2009. Using the At the same time Kettering-based larger Land Rover 130 chassis the Cumberland Industries, aiming to platform is just under three metres take advantage of what it sees is a high and has an overall length of gap in the market launched its A314 just 4.88 metres. The boom can be Land Rover at this year’s Bauma. mounted on a wide range of chassis The company’s recent appointment - including a Nissan Cabstar, , as UK distributor for Italian aerial lift Mercedes, Ford Transit and Renault manufacturer Socage is paying – and in Land Rover form offers dividends as it uses a totally 14.0 metres working height, 6.5 metres outreach with a platform bespoke A314 boom designed by The Cumberland A314 has a 225kg platform capacity both companies and built by Socage capacity of 200kg. Recently it has specifically for the Land Rover also tailored the unit towards utility chassis. This means that the new scratch. The combination of workers by introducing a 1,000 kVA Land Rover 110-based platform has lightweight bespoke boom and insulated platform version. The new a very low overall height of 2.56 mounting it further back on the GRP platform measures 1,250 x 710 metres, which the company says chassis not only gives good stability x 1,100mm and includes 180 delivers a low centre of gravity that but a very low centre of gravity. The degrees of platform rotation. provides confident cornering ability basket can also be telescoped out Mounted on most 3.5 tonne chassis and excellent off-road handling. It from controls at the side of the the length is less than five metres. machine from its travel position so also believes that when the 3.5 Another new entrant is the Skyking that basket access can be gained tonne Land Rover 110 chassis is no The Overland 130 with V145 platform AT136 which uses a Matilsa trailer from the ground. The unit is also lift boom. This machine has been a unique in that it is the only one that 1 2 long-time in the making with a has all its hydraulics and electrics prototype version seen at SED last routed internally.” year. Getting a Land Rover-based Other manufacturers of Land Rover- platform ready is obviously not an based platforms tend to employ an easy process. Working height and existing boom from another outreach are both in line with other application rather than designing models but it includes platform specifically. This obviously saves rotation. Gardner Denver originally launched 3 4 Pic 1: A two man capacity LH28; its VM135 three years ago aimed at Pic 2: The Skyking AT136 was launched the utility and forestry sectors. at this year’s Vertikal Days The new VM135 is designed for Pic 3: A Priestman Land Rover dating mounting to the long wheelbase back to 2000 models and offers 13.5 metres work height and 6.4 metres working Pic 4: An L25 Land Rover on a outreach with a 200kg lift capacity railway track while the overall height is relatively low at 2,880mm.

August/September 2010 cranes & access 41 flexibility for mounting platforms. land rovers & Both Cumberland and Versalift have Versalift’s c a recently shown new new Iveco Daily 4x4 4x4 platforms. The Daily is the ideal solution for general ‘off road’ duties. For most electrical companies and contractors, it can carry out 80 percent of 4x4 work that might have needed a heavier chassis vehicle – ie a Unimog- based platform - but at about half the cost of the Unimog. The Cumberland Iveco Daily 4x4 is Skyking’s fitted with a Socage boom which AT136 uses a Matilsa gives 20.3 metres working height boom and a nine metre outreach with 225kg of platform capacity. Because more and more operators With the company facing drastically are not able (on a standard driving declining sales in 2000/01 - which Cumberland uses € the 20.3m Socage license) to drive a vehicle with a resulted in a loss of 301 million - boom on its Iveco GVW of more than 3.5 tonnes, 4x4 Santana introduced a new model at Daily vehicles such as the Land Rover will the 2002 Madrid Motor Show continue to be popular, particularly known as the 'PS-10' (outside with contractors looking for true ‘off Spain) or 'Anibal' (within Spain). road’ ability. However the Land Rover The plan was to sell more than does have competition. 6,000 units per year directly into Land Rover's home markets. The Land Rover The Spanish alternative offers great off-road The origins of the Santana company The PS-10 is in fact a very thinly- manoeuvrability does not go as far back as 1947 but disguised Land Rover, powered by can be traced back to the formation an Iveco 2.8-litre 4 cylinder An alternative of Metalurgica de Santa Ana, S.A. turbodiesel engine. 2006 saw the 4x4 platform? in Linares, Spain in 1955 with the release of a short wheelbase help of the Spanish government. version with a new Iveco three litre Although initially building agricultural diesel and a six speed gearbox - equipment, it was anxious to again set to lock horns directly diversify production, and with the with the Defender. Later that year help of the Government a licensing Santana and Iveco signed an agreement was reached with Rover agreement to work together to Overall cargo payload is 640kg. The A type to build the Land Rover at its Linares develop new light 4x4 vehicles and For ultimate off road capability the produce the Iveco Massif - a replaced plant. Unimog is virtually unbeatable, the Simon rebadged and restyled PS-10 – the In 1959, just a year after the Series II however the 5.5 tonne GVW Iveco L25 series following year. in 1978 became available, the first Spanish- 4x4 looks like a good compromise built Land Rovers were launched, 75 Iveco also produces the Daily 4x4, a between performance and price. percent locally manufactured, with a 5.5 tonne GVW chassis which has However for a ‘go anywhere’ 3.5 choice of 2.25-litre petrol engine or just been made available in the UK tonne GVW, the Land Rover is still two litre . and offers builders increased the one to beat.

Wander Slew Emergency 110v Plug Basket Type Lead (Degrees) Decent At Basket Standard Cumberland A314 Optional 700 Electric Standard Aluminium Tubular or Plastic Isoli MPT 140 No 250 Hand Pump Standard Fibreglass Niftylift V130 No 360 Hand Pump Standard Fibreglass Gardner Denver TVM135 Yes 360 Hand Pump Standard Fibreglass Skyking AT136 No 360 Hand Pump Standard Steel Tubular A 1990 Land Versalift LAT-39-TB Optional 360 Electric Standard Fibreglass Rover 110

Kerb Spare Platform Overall Working Working Platform Walk In Weight Payload capacity Height Height Outreach Rotation Basket (kg) (kg)* (kg) (mm) (m) (m) Cumberland A314 2880 370 225 2560 13.5 6.5 No Yes Isoli MPT 140 3000 250 200 2995 14.0 6.5 Yes Yes Niftylift V130 3100 150 Estimated 200 13.3 6.5 No No Gardner Denver TVM135 3000 250 200 2880 13.5 6.4 No Yes Skyking AT136 200 13.0 6.5 Yes No Versalift ET36LF 3000 250 200 3600 14.5 7.5 Optional Yes (16.0 with jib on LWB) * After 250kg allowance for driver, passenger and fuel 42 cranes & access August/September 2010 the original

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The National Crane 800D gets too rough on Cat logger offers a go anywhere crane and platform With the safety authorities in many countries For locations where Land Rovers and other road- Given that the crane needs to drive through having warned utility companies that they will going wheeled vehicles such as Unimogs begin to thickly wooded areas, a patented internal anti- be increasingly tough in enforcing the European struggle, one solution is to move to off-road two-block design was conceived, which routes Work At Height Rules for tower vehicles designed for extreme ground conditions. the wire inside the boom to avoid snagging. and pole work, the need for work platforms, One such machine, supplied by National Crane Company owner Ken Locke said: “The crane not to mention cranes, that can reach some of distributor, Shawmut Equipment to New England- has been out working since mid-May and has the more challenging locations is growing. The based Locke Crane Services, mounts a 23 tonne been performing very well. We have been very alternative of using helicopters is expensive and National Crane 800D on a Caterpillar 574 logging pleased with the carrier’s performance and still requires men to climb on the towers and in chassis. The crane features a 30.5 metre four coupled with the National Crane this machine the equipment hierarchy is hardly the safest. section boom with two man platform attachment. is the perfect solution for us.”

One of the larger tracked installations, a fully insulated The big Finns Bronto SI 125HDT working in Alaska Finnish aerial lift manufacturer Bronto specialises in providing large lifts for utility applications and transmission work. Its range includes fully insulated platforms and special devices for washing insulators. It has also mounted a number of units on special tracked vehicles for work in some of the most inhospitable locations such as Alaska. Its fully insulated range with up to 500Kv insulation - to allow bare hand live line work - offers working heights of up to 60 metres and combined lift capacities of 860kg with a 600kg load handling device to help install or replace insulators etc.

And something smaller Crawlers go all the way Finally something a little more modest For locations where wheels simply cannot go, tracked machines was introduced by British specialist come into their own. If the distance to the location is not too far platform producer Cautrac, at the recent from a road or track, then larger spider lifts and crawler cranes Vertikal Days event. It marries a 15 metre can be ideal, being standard products that can be purchased Niftylift articulated boom with a Marooka economically or even rented. Spiders can not only cross the most MST300 chassis, resulting in a vehicle, challenging of ground conditions, but also level up on steep slopes that weights less than 3,000kg, can climb and with heights of up to 50 metres can cope with most towers. a 57 percent slope, travel at up to nine When the distances are greater or the capacity requirements are kilometres an hour and is just 1.64 metres higher, then special vehicles come into play. Earlier this year US-based wide and less than four metres long. Altec announced a partnership with Prinoth to install cranes and work With so much going on in the utility and platforms on the Go-Tract range of tracked vehicles, offering cranes transmission field we have planned of up 34 tonnes and insulated boom another, more in depth look at the sector lifts to 46 metres. The first unit is an Once in position in the New Year. Altec AC38-127S on the new Prinroth working heights of GT4500 chassis which offers a up to 50 metres is The 15m Nifty on Marooka chassis enough for most payload of 20 tonnes. The AC38 towerstowers offers a maximum tip height of 58.5 metres and a two man platform. The machine can climb a 60 percent slope or traverse a 40 percent incline with a ground pressure lighter than a human footprint, even when fully laden.

Spiders can handle tough ground conditions

44 cranes & access August/September 2010