10.05.2010

New boom lift from Nifty

UK based aerial lift manufacturer Niftylift has launched a new 50ft/15 metre platform height articulated Rough Terrain boom lift with its Hybrid power pack and SiOPS safety system.
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The new Nifty lift HR17 Hybrid 4X4

The new lift was unveiled at an open day at Towcester racecourse, close to its Milton Keynes plant prior to an evening race meeting. The new model is considerably lighter than the company’s previous HR17 4x4 at just 4,750kgs. Dimensions are similar with an overall width of just two metres, an overall stowed length of just five metres (6.3 metres with jib in working mode) and an overall height of 2.15 metres.
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Nifty owner and 'head engineer' Roger Bowden with the new HR17Hybrid

The Hybrid drive is the same as used on the increasingly popular HR21 with a smaller Kubota diesel fitted with an exhaust purification system and supported by a powerful electric motor for steep grades which works as a generator to top up the battery pack when the engine is idling or left running. The electric motor and battery pack is also used for indoor use and when noise may be an issue.
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The HR17 with covers opened to show the Hybrid power pack, already proven on the HR21

Finally the lift has Tough Cage from the HR21 complete with the SIOPs system that cuts the enable button and foot pedal in the event of an inadvertent pressure on the control panel allowing the operator to operate a function to free himself. In the event that he does not do so within a specific time period, a message is transmitted from the base machine warning that the operator may require assistance and supported by a flashing blue light.

The performance characteristics are similar to the model it replaces in spite of the lower weight, although the revised lift geometry has cut outreach by 500mm to 8.5 metres to the edge of the platform. But is still only beaten by 51ft models that weigh 2.5 to three tonnes more and are 250mm wider.
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The latest version of Nifty's SIOPS control panel

The company has also added some further enhancements to its Tough Cage/SIOPS platform with a digital screen with battery charge indicator and platform load indicator.
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Nifty owners Roger Bowden (L) and John Keely (R) with sales manager Tim Ward, who travelled directly from the HRIA convention in Australia with the Best New Product award that the company won this weekend for its Tough Cage and SIOPS system

Vertikal Comment

Looking at this new model one cannot but be impressed with what Nifty’s engineers have achieved. The new model is lighter, more compact and yet offers a working envelope as good as any 50ft articulated RT boom lift. Plus it offers an environmentally conscious and efficient drive train with bi-energy benefits, has an almost indestructible platform base and a state of the art safety system built into the ergonomic controls.

One of the most amazing things is the confidence Nifty has gained in its new control systems. For many years the company doggedly stuck to full pressure hydraulic controls in order to ensure rugged reliability. In fact its first venture into electric over hydraulic controls in the early 1990’s caused it to retreat back to hydraulics for a while, before coming up with a design that it was happy with on the HR15N, the HR21 Hybrid later took this to new levels of sophistication in terms of electronics, the company has embraced the technology.

This new model is a winner and could change buying patterns for 45/51ft
14m/15m Boom lifts.