05.03.2009

Day two ARA

Continuing with our visit to this years ARA, day two picked up the pace a little although attendance in the heavy equipment hall was still well down on recent years. Here is a round up of the products and stands we missed yesterday.

Haulotte-Bil-Jax has decided to go ahead with the launch of an alloy scaffold tower product and showed a ladder frame design that it says is fully compatible with a Youngman tower.
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The new Bil Jax alloy scaffold tower - compatible with Youngman

Alongside the tower was a locally built 19ft Optimum scissor lift, the Bil-Jax team has done more than just built the 19 locally, it has also tweaked the design to better suit the local market.

This includes improved guardrails and most dramatic of all a three inch wider platform, which takes it to the edge of the chassis, for better working alongside walls. Overall width remains at 30 inches.
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The wider platform on the USA built Haulotte 19 ft Optimum

The company also unveiled two new Bil-Jax powered products, a new higher XA model the 55XA with its 55ft platform height and articulated boom configuration. The 55 uses the basic chassis concept from the 45XA with the addition of a four wheel steering, including crab and a larger machinery chest to cope with the extra hydraulics and an on board generator.
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The new Haulotte Bil-Jax 55XA

And ….a new telescopic straight boomed trailer lift, the 4642T which essentially adds a third, aluminium, telescopic section to the existing 3632T and while offering additional reach it also offers a shorter overall length at less than six metres.
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The new Haulotte -Bil Jax 4642T trailer lift with its aluminium third section

Haulotte was also showing off its new automatic diagnostics system as installed in its telescopic handlers. A mechanic can simply plug a laptop into the handler’s electrics, and see a drawing of the machine and all its systems including switches and circuits. All switches or valves are supposed to show up on the pictograms as Green or red, if they are grey it immediately signals a fault on that particular item.
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Detailed pictogramme diagnotics software on Haullotte telehandlers

Nifty lift, with probably one of the busiest stands at the show, unveiled two new products, the first an all new 12 metre 34ft working height lightweight self propelled boom. Designed to hit the lower end of the market that Bil Jax has helped create with its X range.

The new Nifty SD12T/SD34T comes in a metre lower than the Bil-Jax 37XT and is articulated rather than a straight telescopic, but it does offer more compact dimensions at 1.6 metres overall width, and 3.9 metres length and its weighs just 1,850kgs.
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The new Nifty SD12T/SD34T

Combined with its four wheel drive and 45 percent gradeability, and wide range of power options and this tough little boom lift could prove a winner.

Nifty also unveiled a fully updated version of its top of the line trailer lift the 21 metre 210/TM64. While numerous changes and improvements have been made to what was a heavy and difficult machine to produce, the key points are a significantly simplified and more practical outrigger design and a high degree of commonality with the popular 210SD self drive model.
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The redesigned Nifty 210 - 21m trailer lift

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A key element to the new 210 is the improved outriggers

Nifty has also decided to go ahead with the introduction of a 15 metre version of its Trax crawler mounted boom lift range. With more reach than the 12 but far more compact than the Trax 17.

On the MEC stand was an electric version of its new 3084RT ‘Speed Level’ it has launched, walking around the unit and testing it in action, one cannot but be impressed with what the design team has achieved. While the unit looks very much like an UpRight Speed Level it is different in almost every key area.
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The MEC 3084 Speed Level with battery electric power

The platform has more support, to help eliminate the diving board effect on the 30ft SL30 or a 26ft 26 with deck extended. The unit has three speeds, front only for high speed, middle with two wheels on the diagonal operating together to help extricate itself from difficulties and the low speed with directs power to all four wheels.
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The MEC Speed Level offers up to 14 degrees side to side and 10 fore and aft.

The front of the platform has an opening guardrail that makes it easy for the loading of material.
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The MEC's platform ends hinge open to allow easy loading of materials

The second new platform on the stand was the 5490RT with Ultra deck. This beast of a machine emulates the big Genie scissors, but with a number of improvements, including a lot more power, greater platform height and a wider deck.

Omme lift was exhibiting at the ARA for the first time, and in addition to its own trailer mounted lift, was displaying a Platform Basket which the company is helping to distribute in the North American market.
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The Omme stand with Platform Basket

News on the Teupen stand, also a first timer at the show, was that it is in the last stages of opening a US sales and service office in Charlotte, North Carolina. The operation will be led by Roderik Wiedemeier, who becomes president and chief executive of Teupen USA.
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Teupen USA