Brokk 150C

Tailormade for helping to gut the Leed’s department store, the modified £43,000 (US$ 84,022) Brokk 150C robotic machine offers a lightweight, yet powerful and fume free, solution to the project’s demanding restraints.

Owner Gnat UK has adapted the standard 1.5 tonne machine by lengthening its boom by one metre (3.3 ft) and fitting a more powerful 400 joule hammer. At just

80 kg (180 lb), this pecker has the force of a hammer near double its weight yet still offers smooth, precision breakouts.

“I could cut the top off a boiled egg” boasts Gnat machine supervisor Declan McCullagh. “At 5 m (16.4 ft), it has the longest reach of any machine of its size, but accuracy is not compromised.”

The Brokk’s 22 kw (30 hp) heavy duty three phase electric motor, delivering

415 volts, is strategically positioned within the machine body to offer a low centre of gravity. This allows the Brokk to track easily up staircases and operate on slopes up to 45%.

Gnat reckons the versatile hybrid will more than recoup its conversion costs by proving invaluable for other high ceiling, low floor load demolition work. Already it has helped demolish a small Warrington department store demanding just such restraints.