Product of the Month round-up – 2018
Shakespeare, cartoon characters, Joe 90, and Ian Botham – is there nothing we will not compare a Hird machine with to show how impressive they are? Well, no. We haven’t even mentioned the little tin aliens yet.
Scroll through our Products of the Month to get an excellent flavour of the cranes, vacuum lifter and powered access machines that we believed were worthy of special attention in 2018.
January – Genie Z62/40 diesel boom lift
We kicked off the year cartoon-style, comparing the Genie Z62/40 articulating boom lift with hunky Swedish explorer, Lars, a character in ‘70s cartoon classic Journey to the Centre of the Earth. He always turned out to have the right talents to get the subterranean explorers out of the worst scrapes. The Genie Z62/40 articulating aerial boom also delivers exceptional performance, with a maximum working height of 20.87 metres, outreach of 12.47 metres, zero tail swing, and a 1.52m jib with 135-degree rotation for precision basket positioning.
Read more about the Genie Z62/40 boom lift.
February – Valla 250E pick and carry crane
Keeping up with the comparisons, in February we featured the mini mighty crane, the Manitex Valla 250E. Just as BMW raised some eyebrows many years ago now when it launched a new Mini large enough to seat at least one person in relative comfort, so Valla Cranes launched its new pick and carry crane with a maximum safe working load of 25 tonnes. The Valla 250E is an electric industrial compact crane that gives our crane hire clients a flexible, sustainable, and cost-effective alternative to hiring in mobile cranes, or even using static tower cranes.
Read more about the Valla 250E mini crane.
March – Maeda MC405 tracked spider crane
Making the most productive use of lifting equipment is key to the success of modern construction projects, which is right where our Product of the Month for March, the Maeda MC405 came in – right through an internal door, because it is so narrow. The Maeda MC405 is a mid-range spider crane with a maximum safe working load (SWL) of 3.83 tonnes, and a pick and carry duty of 500kg. Yet it is just 1380mm wide. Construction, glass installation, facilities maintenance and machinery moving: all perfect tasks for the mini Maeda marvel.
Read more about the Maeda MC405 spider crane.
April – Genie GS-2669 RT scissor lift
It was back to comparing machinery with celebrity characters again in April, with the Genie GS-2669 RT scissor lift and Ian ‘Beefy’ Botham, the world’s best all-round cricketer, probably. Genie claims the scissor lift can ‘dominate the jobsite’. Well, with RT standing for ‘Rough Terrain’, why not? It can certainly cope with more than the divots on the Lords track after four days of Botham-bashing. With a load capacity of 680kg, a maximum working height of 9.7 metres, and 40% gradeability, it could also carry enough Shredded Wheat to last a lifetime.
Read more about the Genie GS-2669 RT scissor lift.
February – May – Winlet 785 glazing robot
Our PoTM for May has amazed customers with its ability. So much so, it makes people stop and stare: ‘can that small machine really lift that much glass?’ Yes, it was the Winlet 785 glazing robot. We had hired one of the glass lifting machines to be used on the Festival of Britain site in London. The event, in 1951 was heralded as a ‘beacon of change’. Boy, that is appropriate for the Winlet 785 glazing robot. It can lift glass or other non-porous material weighing up to 785kg and can place it with absolutely precision. Yet the Winlet is just 890mm wide.
Read more about the Winlet 785 glazing robot.
June – Valla 35D TRX pick and carry crane
Tracked vehicles do not have to be big and heavy. Our PoTM for June proved that point. Small, agile and easy to operate, the Valla 35D TRX tracked pick and carry crane is remotely controlled and has a maximum safe working load of 3.5 tonnes, a max tip height of 7 metres, and a max radius of 5 metres. As a tracked pick and carry crane it is ideal for working across low load bearing floors or on mucky construction sites. And it can be combined with a range of accessories, such as glass vacuum lifters and material grabs.
Read more about the Valla 35D TRX pick and carry crane.
July – Haulotte Star 10 personnel boom
Imagine using a ladder to work at height? It is enough to make you laugh like a little tin alien obsessed with reconstituted potato products. Which brings us to the Haulotte Star 10 electric personnel boom. Yes, in July we reminisced about the famous Smash advert to make the point that no one needs to use a ladder with the Haulotte Star 10 in the room, one of the most impressive low-level booms on the market. To carry out maintenance in a shopping centre or internal EME fit-outs, it is likely to be the safest and most productive option.
Read more about the Haulotte Star 10 personnel boom.
August – Maeda MC174 spider crane
Our PoTM for July was the Maeda MC174. As mini cranes go, this is micro-mini. But not in terms of its lifting power. The Maeda MC174 spider crane may just be 590mm wide but it has a safe maximum load of 1.72 tonnes. It is a skinny mini with super performance – the width of an office chair but able to lift a Porsche 911. Despite its ultra-compact design, the mini crane has a maximum working radius of 5.17m, at which distance it has a SWL of 220kg. The spider crane can also be fitted with a wide range of lifting accessories, including vacuum lifters, also available from Hird.
Read more about the Maeda MC174 spider mini crane.
September – Hydraulica 3500 vacuum lifter
Creating the modern glass-clad towers that increasingly dominate city skylines is a weighty challenge. The Kappel Hydraulica 3500 vacuum lifter is proving a big part of the answer. It can lift sheets of non-porous material weighing up to 3,500kg, making it what we call a super-heavy vacuum lifter. The Hydraulica 3500 is the result of Hird working closely with Kappel to second-guess the market and make available glass lifting equipment that quickly becomes essential. It has excellent safety features and powered tilt and rotation. It is also exclusive to Hird in the UK.
Read more about the Hydraulica 3500 vacuum lifter.
October – Valla 120ES pick and carry crane
To be a mini crane or not to be a mini crane, that is the question we asked in October, when we featured the Valla 120ES pick and carry crane. That is because this electric mini crane can lift up to 12 tonnes yet is still compact enough to do an excellent job in confined spaces. For example, a close cousin, a Valla 120E, has been used to lift out a gear box on a Scottish ferry where all other methods had come up short. The 120ES sit-in crane has an extra boom section, increasing its radius from 7m to over 12m. The crane’s jib and fly jib are fully-hydraulic.
Read more about the Valla 120ES pick and carry crane.
November – Valla 90E pick and carry crane
The Valla 90E compact crane is one of our super hero machines, which is why, in November, we compared it with Joe 90. For the young ones in the room, he was a Gerry Anderson puppet with special powers. When you consider the Valla 90E mini crane can lift a maximum 9 tonnes, yet is just 1.73 metres wide, it is compact to the point of being petite. As an electric crane, it can be operated in clean internal environments and where low-noise working is needed. Machinery lifting, steel erection, facilities management – it can all be done with a Valla 90E industrial crane.
Read more about the Valla 90E pick and carry crane.
December – MRT2 vacuum lifter
Here at Hird, we have been known to say size does matter. Think of the Hydraulica 3500 vacuum lifter. But we must remind ourselves that small is beautiful too, which is why our last PoTM of 2018 was the MRT2 vacuum lifter</a>. The Woods Powr-Grip machine may be the stocking filler of our vacuum lifter hire range, but it will be on the wish list of many of our glass lifting customers in 2019. The 135kg-capacity twin-cupped lifter has powered rotation and can be controlled by one operator, reducing manual handling for faster, safer, more precise glass installation.
Read more about the MRT2 vacuum lifter.
Hire, training and lifting services from Hird
For more information about mini crane hire, powered access hire, and glass vacuum lifter hire from Hird, along with a wide range of industrial training courses – including IPAF, PASMA, CPCS A66 compact crane – plus contract lifting and machinery moving services, call us today.
All services are delivered nationally via our three regional operational hubs. See you in 2019!
Northern 01482 227333
Central 01302 341659
Southern 0203 174 0658
Email: [email protected]