Hird client can chill – machine move is no sweat for extending crane
Hird’s machinery moving service used the chassis-extending capability of the company’s Valla V130RX pick and carry crane to lift a cooler into place at a chilled food warehouse.
The combination of the narrow width of the crane and its impressive reach – made possible by the its chassis extension technology – meant the mini crane was the ideal choice for the lift.
The Valla V130RX is one of the latest V Series cranes to be added to the Hird pick and carry crane hire fleet, and is impressing Hird machine moving teams and the company’s crane hire customers, alike.
Lifting within restricted headroom
The project involved removing a cooler unit, weighing 2.1t, from a raised platform inside the temperature-controlled warehouse in Kettering, Northamptonshire.
The plant, which was 4.5m long, 2m high and 1.5m wide, was then replaced with a new cooler unit, weighing 900kg, which was 3.5m long, 1m high and 1.2m wide.
Space inside the busy warehouse was significantly restricted. Also, there was limited headroom between the raised platform and the building’s ceiling. These were two reasons the Valla V130RX pick and carry crane was selected for the project.
The mini crane is just 1,525mm wide, yet has a maximum safe working load (SWL) of 13t, a maximum working height of 10.5m (SWL: 6t), and a maximum radius of 6.2m (SWL: 1.7t).
With its hydraulic fly jib deployed it has a maximum radius of 8m (SWL: 1.1t) and a maximum working height of 12.5m (SWL: 3.5t).
Chassis extension boosts maximum load
The narrow width of the crane’s chassis allowed it to be positioned as close as possible to the lift point in a main access route inside the warehouse, while still leaving space for forklift trucks to move past.
With the crane’s fly jib deployed and the chassis extended, Hird’s mini crane operator could boom out to a radius of 5m, and a maximum tip height of 4m, while providing a maximum SLW of 2.8t.
This was comfortability within the limit needed to safely carry out both lifts.
As with several other of Hird’s Valla V Series cranes, the V130RX is operated with a wireless remote control, so the crane operator can stand in the optimum location to manage the lift.
Ideal for indoor-outdoor crane lifting
Other elements of the machinery moving project involved the redundant cooler unit being taken out of the building on moving skates, and the new unit being transported to the lift point in the same way.
Hird’s machinery moving team has access to the largest fleet of Valla V Series cranes in Europe, with SLWs from 3.6t to 21t. Hird also operates a fleet of Valla E Series cranes with SWLs from 2t to 25t.
Both types of pick and carry crane are battery electric, so are ideal for working in both indoor or outdoor spaces, or where loads need to be moved between the two environments.
They also provide near-silent, fume-free lifting with a low carbon footprint.
Find out more
Hird is one of the most experienced national machinery removal and installation specialists in the UK. Its teams work across all sectors, including data centres, factories, dockyards, heavy engineering plants and aerospace sites.
Talk to us about our machinery moving services. We will carry out a free, no-obligation site survey before every lifting project.
Email: [email protected]. Telephone : 01482 227333.
