Combilift’s tall order
April 23rd 2007 It was all hands on deck recently for a Combilift 4-tonne capacity 4-way forklift, which was drafted in to help unload new masts delivered to Brunel’s ss Great Britain at Bristol’s Great Western Dockyard. This was one of the longest loads ever handled by a C4000 Combilift, and definitely the most historical.
The two new steel half-masts, manufactured in Newport, Wales, are 21 metres long and weigh in at around 2.5 tonnes each. Frances Bell, Special Projects Manager for the ss Great Britain Trust realised that this very special delivery was going to be a potential nightmare to offload and manoeuvre around the restricted area of the dockyard unless an equally special solution could be found.
Luckily, local materials handling specialists Bristol Forklifts heard of this dilemma and offered the use of a 4-way Combilift, which was loaned free of charge by the manufacturers Combilift Ltd. Bristol Forklifts Director Ian Mounce said: “The combination of the mast length and the need to manoeuvre them around two tight corners and along the narrow dockside was a tough challenge, but due to the nature of the Combilift’s design - to handle extreme lengths in tight spaces - we knew it would cope well with this job.”
The Combilift lived up to its reputation, and easily offloaded and moved the new half-masts into position ready to be craned onto the ship when the original Victorian masts are removed to become part of a museum display. Frances and her team are full of praise for the help received: “I do not know how we could have managed without the input from Combilift and Bristol Forklifts. As we are having to undertake this work whilst being open to the public and time scales are tight, we are extremely grateful, and were also very impressed by the Combilift’s capabilities.”
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