SPIDER OPERATOR ‘JUMPS AT CHANCE’ TO GO LARGE WITH HINOWA

[WORK AT HEIGHT SPECIALIST Fletcher Access has placed an order for the new Hinowa Lightlift 40.18 – the biggest spider lift ever produced by Hinowa – as it renews its platform fleet.

The Worcester-based company has also taken delivery of a new Hinowa Lightlift 20.10 spider lift, putting it to good use on a maintenance project at a 19th-century Grade Two-listed Greek Revival country house.

Fletcher Access has been one of the first UK platform operators to order the Hinowa Lightlift 40.18 Performance IIIS from Access Platform Sales (APS), the UK and Ireland authorised Hinowa distributor.

The company has selected a bi-energy lithium battery and diesel version of the platform, which is ideal for indoor and outdoor working and gives clients the sustainability advantage of zero-emissions and lownoise operation.

Company co-owner Simon Fletcher said: “We have been reviewing investment options for a while now. The performance, quality and operating system of Hinowa platforms are all first-rate.

“As soon as the Lightlift 40.18 came onto the market we jumped at the chance to have one. To now be able to have a lithium bi-energy Hinowa with 17 meters of outreach at 23 meters of height was not an option we wanted to pass up.”

The Hinowa Lightlift 40.18’s platform capacity of 300kg was another clincher, as it will allow the company's work teams and platform hire clients to carry extra tools and equipment at height.

Fletcher Access provides spider platform working at height maintenance and hire services across all business sectors, including building maintenance and inspection, construction, telecommunications, power transmission, and tree management.

Shane Paver, northern sales director at APS, said: “The confidence Simon and Anthony have in the Hinowa Lightlift 40.18 reflects the buzz it has created among APS customers.

“It has the same operating system as all other spider lifts in the Performance range, so is just as easy and safe to operate, with features such as one-button set up and stow, and Hinowa's trademark exceptionally precise proportional controls.

“As the need to work on tall structures – whether they be inner city apartment blocks, wind turbines or telecoms masts – grows across the UK, we are confident there will also be a growing market for the Hinowa Lightlift 40.18.”

The tracked boom lift has a maximum working height of 40.2m and a maximum outreach of 17.5m. It has an unrestricted basket capacity of

230kg, like all other Hinowa spiders, and a restricted capacity of 300kg to an outreach of 16.5m.

APS believes the bi-energy lithium battery and diesel version is likely to be the most popular, with the platform also available with bi-energy diesel and 110v mains electric power and with all electric lithium batteries.

The spider cherry picker’s 17.5m maximum outreach is achieved when the platform is at a 10m working height. It has a 17m outreach at a working height of 23m, and can also reach 4m below ground level to assist, for example, on underbridge work.

The spider lift can be elevated on its outriggers to a height under its tracks of 1.12m to assist in levelling on steep inclines or to self-load onto trailers.

Meanwhile, Simon Fletcher was putting the company’s new Hinowa Lightlift 20.10 through its paces with a roof maintenance project at Whitbourne Hall, near Broadwas, Worcestershire.

The country house, now flats and a wedding venue, had been the 19th-century home of Edward Evans, founder of what became the world’s largest vinegar factory in the centre of Worcester. The company supplied Worcester’s other famous condiment manufacturer, Lea and Perrins.

The Hinowa LL 20.10 was ideal for reaching up and over the roof to remove wooden boards, once used to help secure the lead roof, which had become loose, as well as vegetation growing above the hall’s impressive columned entrance.

The diesel and 110v mains electric platform has a maximum working height of 20.1m, a maximum outreach of 9.7m and can be towed on a 3.5t trailer by a 4x4 vehicle or van using a standard car licence.

Simon Fletcher said: “To be maintained properly, heritage buildings like this need constant attention. Hinowa spider lifts are ideal, because they can be used to carry out smaller tasks like this quickly and safely.

“The work can be done without the need for scaffolding or other access measures, which can be very expensive and unsightly, and may not even be permitted on some protected structures.” q

• For further information visit www.accessplatforms.co.uk.