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Fuel saving brought to container handling

LOWERING COSTS
The Mobicon ECO container straddle carrier uses a simple design with a small capacity engine, coupled with a hydrostatic drive system to increase manoeuvrability and lower operating and maintenance costs.

LOWERING COSTS The Mobicon ECO container straddle carrier uses a simple design with a small capacity engine, coupled with a hydrostatic drive system to increase manoeuvrability and lower operating and maintenance costs.

31st January 2014

  

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A fuel-economic series of container straddle-carriers, Mobicon ECO, was launched on the South African market in December 2013 by container and materials handling equipment suppliers Big Lift Trucks South Africa (BLT SA).

Mobicon is an Australian company that designs and manufactures container transporting vehicles that are tasked with lifting loads onto and off trucks and carrying containers safely around sites.

BLT SA reports that the fuel consumption of the ECO is about 5 ℓ /h, compared to 22 ℓ /h of other container handling machines. The low-maintenance four-cylinder diesel-powered plant produces 60 hp and is coupled to a hydrostatic drive system.

The vehicle’s simple design employs the use of fewer moving parts as compared to other models in the same range. The ECO has no grease points and its light frame makes use of less steel during manufacture to ensure a lower-carbon footprint than conventional reach stackers and heavy forklifts.

Adding to the versatility of the ECO is the two-tower model, which is able to handle containers inside a building, as it is only 4 m high while transporting a container.

BLT SA marketing director Charity Gumede says the ECO series offers lower up-front investment costs, coupled with reduced operational and maintenance exp- enses, making it ideal for companies with a low container throughput. “The Mobicon ECO system ensures improved productivity, faster handling times and reduced capital investment costs,” Gumede adds.

The ECO provides improved manoeuvrability, while carrying a 20-foot con- tainer, owing to a low-placed operators’ cabin, which provides a view of the working area below the container without having to raise it further. A low-placed engine also makes it easily accessible for maintenance work.

Meanwhile, the company reports that safety measures are improved, owing to the ECO’s ability to remove containers from vehicles and place it on the ground, which enables staff to work at ground level instead of at a trailer height of 1.5 m.

The ECO has a 35 t lift capacity and is able to carry any type or size of ISO-specified container without the need for modifications or additional lifting equipment. The system’s low centre of gravity also enhances stab- ility, preventing the machine from rolling over.

The two-tower design lifts a container from the bottom, which allows the operator to easily handle flatbed vehicles and trailers, tank containers and curtain-sided containers. This system also provides the flexibility to operate safely on slightly sloping or uneven surfaces, as well as compacted gravel yards, bitumen or standard thickness concrete.

Adding value to the lightweight ECO, is the ability to work in all parts of a con- tainer yard as well as on pavements. The ECO can also turn in tight spaces and can work in restrictive areas where a forklift or heavy equipment cannot operate.

Gumede explains that costly yard repairs are reduced with the implementation of an ECO. “One of the most significant problems associated with using conventional equipment to load and unload containers is damage caused to yards and pavements that are not suitable for carrying heavy weights,” he says, adding that ECO’s have the lowest wheel weight of any container handler.

The system increases operational effici- ency, reducing demurrage costs for trucks waiting to be loaded and unloaded. Containers are efficiently moved around sites, effectively taking the container to stock, instead of having to move the stock to where the container is. This capability also increa-ses goods security and operational safety and accelerating container-handling schedules.

Further increasing cost savings, are the facts that no specialised service procedures or operator training is necessary.

Mobicon container handling systems, including the ECO, are available exclusively in South Africa from BLT SA, which also offers a technical advisory, parts and support service.

Edited by Megan van Wyngaardt
Creamer Media Contributing Editor Online

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