Telehandlers at Work
On the Sturgeon Bay job, for example, the Manitou MRT 3050 rotating telehandler, which has a lifting height of 97 feet, 5 inches and a lifting capacity of 10,998 pounds, was the right solution for its ability to play three roles in one by serving as a material handler, a work platform and a jib.
Small Footprint, Big Impact
“ One of the nicest capabilities of the Manitou MRT is its small footprint,” Propson said.“ We had the machine in the front corner of the building for two weeks and it wasn’ t in our way yet the machine could work around the entire property.” Propson added that with the reach of the Manitou MRT the crew was able to place the telehandler’ s attachments in one area, set off to the side and still get to them. Among those attachments were a large extendable jib winch that provided depth of reach when needed, along with a PT 1500 3,300-pound jib winch. The company also had 360-degree continuous rotation forks and a 16-foot collapsible man basket on hand.
“ With the Manitou, we have one machine that can accomplish many different applications on a construction site,” Propson said.“ Rather than having a self-propelled lift and a crane and a couple of telehandlers, we have one machine that’ s capable of doing all that with a three-minute switch out of an attachment. We can set an entire roof of trusses, and we can turn right around with the same machine, never leave the footprint and we can start sheeting the roof.”
Having a multi-purpose machine doesn’ t just provide time savings for Propson. It also garners cost savings.“ Machines cost money, so we’ re happy with the MRT because it’ s one machine and it does so much,” Propson said.“ It’ s less insurance we need to buy for multiple machines to do multiple things, too.”
Safety at the Forefront Safety is another factor that Propson said makes the Manitou rotating telehandler the right piece of equipment.“ The MRT is the machine that we look to so we don’ t have to throw the beam up on our shoulder and push it up ladders,” he related.“ That improves safety on the jobsite and can prevent back and other injuries.”
The rotating telehandler’ s remote operation capabilities add
“ With the Manitou, we have one machine that can accomplish many different applications on a construction site,” Propson said.
to the safety aspect as well. With the remote’ s digital interface, for example, a load chart system indicates what the weight of the load is and if it’ s working within the machine’ s operating capacity. That gives Propson and his crew the ability to know how close they are to maxing out a load before it happens.
“ If we have a deep load and we’ re not sure we’ re able to take that and swing it out, we check the digital interface,” Propson explained further.“ That gives us peace of mind rather than guessing what capacity we think is going to be there.”
The remote also gives the operator full sight of what they’ re doing by standing closer to the workspace, and that proximity allows them to have conversations with their coworkers in the area, further improving jobsite awareness and safety.
“ We’ re able to watch the rotator, as well as the work being done,” Propson
On a large residential building project, Propson Construction was able to use their Manitou rotating telehandler to reach the backside of the lot without having to reposition the machine.
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