03.12.2020

Unimog Versalifts for Powergrid

UK’s Northern Powergrid has taken delivery seven Versalift LT-56-NEs mounted on Mercedes-Benz Unimog chassis as part of a £1.75 million fleet investment plan.

The LT-56-NE offers a working height of 20 metres, an outreach of 9.1 metres and a platform capacity of 230kg. Supplied by Versalift and specialist dealer South Cave Tractors, the 4x4 Unimog U5023 have a gross vehicle weight of 12.7 tonnes. Features include heated storage lockers, additional working lights and the company’s Central Tyre Inflation system which allows the ability to change the pressure of the tyres from within the cab in order to offer lower ground pressures when travelling off road.

Following a comprehensive handover and training sessions, the new units will now be used on the repair and replacement of overhead power lines throughout the North East, Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire.
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One of Northern Powergrid's new Versalift LT-56-NE on a Unimog chassis

Alistair Walton, programme manager of overhead lines for the region, said: “These vehicles are deployed daily across our operations and are used by our teams of overhead linesmen to access wood pole overhead power lines which can carry anything from 240 to 66,000 volts. Many of these are in difficult to reach locations but the Unimog’s fantastic off-road capability allows us to traverse the most challenging of terrains. The access platform’s 20 metre maximum reach meanwhile, represents a big improvement on the 15 metres of the machines we were previously using for the same task.”
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The Unimog U5023 offers exceptional off-road capabilities

Northern Powergrid is responsible for managing the electricity network for more than 3.9 million homes and businesses throughout northern England.