Product of the Month 2019 Roundup

January – Genie Z45/25 articulating boom

Our first PoTM was the Genie Z45/25 aerial boom, or cherry picker.

As we said at the time, it’s a workhorse, but a pretty smart one as well. With a maximum working height of 15.87m and outreach of 7.62m, plus zero tail swing it works well in a tight spot and is great for a wide variety of tasks, including building maintenance, steel erection, cladding, roofing, and telecommunications mast installation.

In February we showcased the spider crane with hidden powers.

How can such a slim looking mini crane do what it can do – namely give our clients a maximum safe working load of 2.9 tonnes.

Small is definitely beautify, and tough when it comes to the UNIC URW-295 spider crane.

We likened it to a special forces soldier. You wouldn’t know it from the outside, but this spider crane is hugely flexible, and it can pack a huge lifting punch.

One of the biggest bugbears on a building site, is moving materials across potential rough terrain.

Our PoTM for March solves many of those problems. The Winlet ErgoMover is an electric trolley for moving materials weighing up to 1.5 tonnes across construction sites. It comes from the same company that makes the world beating Winlet glazing robots, also available from Hird.

The ErgoMover does not take loads up but along. It is just as good at transporting bricks, bags of sand, ballast, or concrete, or pipes, tiles, ducting, and electrical equipment.

Materials handling just got safer and easier.

Low level working at height is one of the fastest growth areas for powered access. No wonder, when you consider the benefits.

One of the most popular low-level scissor lifts was our PoTM for April, the Genie GS-1932. It has a maximum working height of 7.8 metre and a lifting capacity of 227kg.

We told how 35 people died in workplace falls from height in the UK in 2018. Many involved falls from ladders. Is it time to revise ladder use and consider using low-level access platforms?

We made the point in May that it is one thing being able to lift a heavy load. It is quite another to then carry it about with ease.

That is just what the Valla 20E TRX, a tracked pick and carry crane can do. The mini crane has a maximum safe working load of 2 tonnes.

It can also lift 0.4 tonnes at its maximum radius of 2.7 metres and 0.8 tonnes at a maximum tip height of 4.4 metres.

And as a highly compact industrial crane (just 950mm wide) it can be driven through a double doorway with ease.

Remember the song Stuck in the Middle With You? It plays on our fear of having something that’s not the biggest and best.

Our PoTM for June, the Woods Powr-Grip MRTA8 vacuum lifter, is right in the middle of the Hird vacuum lifter range. But there is nothing middle-of-the-road about it.

The vacuum lifter has a maximum lifting capacity of 635kg, can rotate its load through 360 degrees and tilt it though 90 degrees. The MRTA8 also has the Intelli-Grip system that optimises safety and productivity. It was Stealers Wheel by the way.

July – Genie GS3369 RT scissor lift

Boom! July’s PoTM arrived with a bang. Because we compared the Genie GS3369 RT scissor lift to a Challenger main battle tank, and the Genie scissor lift came out on top.

How could a scissor lift beat one of the world’s most fearsome weapon of war on the battlefield? You’ll have to read our thorough and objective review to find out. But its excellent performance over rough terrain and maximum working height of 11.57m played a key role. Enough to make any tankie run for cover.

And speaking of weapons of war, who said “the curve is more powerful than the sword”? Well, it was Hollywood movie legend Mae West.

Curves can be troublesome if they appear in glass, though. Our PoTM for August, the Hydraulica 600 Curved vacuum lifter, provides the solution.

Its 90 suction cups can lift curved loads up to 900kg in weight, allowing it help build unusually-shaped buildings sprouting up all over the world, like the Emporia shopping centre in Malmo, Sweden.

Lots of things about life are getting more complicated.

The antidote to that process is the Wienold MFC750K counterbalance floor crane, our Product of the Month for September. In full set-up, it has a maximum SWL of 750kg yet is just 1800mm long.

In its ‘Shorty’ mode (MFC750Ks), with extension legs removed, it’s even more petite yet can still lift 500kg.

As Confucius once said, “Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” And that was 2,500 years ago.

In full set-up, it has a maximum SWL of 750kg yet is just 1800mm long. In its ‘Shorty’ mode, with extension legs removed, it’s even more petite yet can still lift 500kg. As Confucius once said, “Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” And that was 2,500 years ago.

Hird doesn’t just supply the best lifting equipment. We also supply the best services, and that includes IPAF working at height training.

Which is why in October our PoTM was IPAF training. We have three IPAF training centres, in Hull, Doncaster and Redhill.

All are excellent, modern and provide a fantastic environment to train to use MEWPs, instructed by the best trainers in the UK. But we were particularly pleased to showcase our new training facilities in Hull. Brand new classrooms and rest facilities are combined with a large and clean practical training area.

The octopus is one of the most intelligent animals on earth.

It can even manipulate multiple objects (well, it does have eight legs) to create a shelter for itself. November’s PoTM, the Oktopus GL-CC777600 glass manipulator, is just as smart.

It is a vacuum lifter that can be combined with Hird’s spider cranes or pick and carry cranes, and moved through a myriad of angles while holding glass or other flat material. As such it dramatically reduces manual handing, improving productivity and safety.

We ended the year ahead of the curve (we like to think so, anyway).

During 2019, we introduced our new Hydraulica 1500 Curved so it was always going to appear as a PoTM.

Architects and design engineers just don’t think in straight lines and as glass production technology forges ahead, we need to keep pace.

The Hydraulica 1500 Curved vacuum lifter is a latest response.

With its 60 suction cups, it can lift loads up to 1500kg. While suction cups can be shut off to lift odd-shaped loads.