A heavy goods vehicle featuring two truck-mounted cranes and a bespoke chassis has been developed in conjunction with specialist lifting company Hiab.
The truck was developed for Manchester Cabins, a company which involved in the development of temporary car parking facilities. The business needed a vehicle that would provide the fast, accurate, safe and efficient installation of a range of heavy and cumbersome components in a variety of demanding environments.
With technical, engineering and design support from Hiab, Manchester Cabins incorporated two remote controlled Hiab lorry loader cranes onto a Volvo FM1.2 chassis. The specially designed sub-frame, built in Austria, can make full lifts within a 360 degree circumference.
The car park structure is made up of 16m by 2 5m modules, each weighing 8,000kg. Hiab’s 800EP-4 with a lift capacity of 5,800kg at 12.3m, working together with the Hiab 122-5, handle and manoeuvre the components.
Hiab says that its remote control system brings added safety features to Manchester Cabin’s new strategy – ‘ protecting the operator against unintended movement from the crane’s own lever controls. ‘The system constantly monitors the lever positions and will stop immediately if there is accidental movement. It makes it impossible for the crane to be tampered with or moved in any way while the remote control is activated. Once in use, the crane senses the remote control is operational and prevents any other activity – two controls cannot be used simultaneously.’
Traditionally Manchester Cabins would have had to use two separate cranes and two men to install their temporary parking system. It can now be installed by one vehicle, carrying two cranes and operated by one man via the dual remote control.
