26.02.2009

Nifty on ice

Urban Access the UK based aerial lift company from Bournemouth, Dorset, has supplied and delivered a reconditioned Niftylift 90 nine metre working height trailer lift, to one of its customers based in Finland,

The new lift will be used to maintain a cabin located on a small remote island.
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The cabin on the island that the lift will maintain

In order to reach the island the aerial lift needed to be as light as possible in order to both move easily around the property ideally behind a heavy duty quad bike (with ice chains), yet sturdy enough to handle the extreme environment in which it would be working.
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The frozen lake

The gable end of the property is the equivalent of three floors in height and access to this is via a central driveway with steep banks on either side. The Nifty 90 proved an ideal solution in that it has the reach, is narrow and has a compact working footprint.
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The Nifty 90 heads down onto the lake

The simplest way to deliver the lift to the remote island was to cross the 140 metres or so of water, when it was frozen. At the time of delivery, the temperatures at the property were down to minus 10C and the thickness of ice was 300mm.

The lift was successfully towed across the lake to its new home by the heavy duty quad bike.
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The lift on the island

As a matter of interest, according to the Finnish buyer the following factors need to be taken into the consideration, in case you are considering any vehicle on ice action
.
200mm of steel ice will carry 2 tonnes
250mm ……. 3 tonnes
300mm …….. 4.5 tonnes
400mm ………….. 7 tonnes
500mm …………. 12 tonnes

If you drive a unit of 2.5 tonnes at 16 kph and the depth of water below the ice is two metres, the effective weight is four tonnes.