70 m successes

Rental companies in the Netherlands and Algeria are the latest to invest in Ruthmann's 69.7 m working height TU 700 truck-mounted platform.

Kamphuis hoogwerkers bv in Zutphen, The Netherlands, is hoping to receive its 70 m unit in the second half of August, and it will be the company's biggest platform ever – its nearest in size is a 42 m Ruthmann unit.

“There is a big market in Holland”, says Jan-Maarten van Helden, the company's operations manager, “and more and more they are asking for higher and higher machines. 60 m is too short – with 70 m you can do more.” He says the main customers will be contractors working on wind turbines.

Kamphuis already has 20 Ruthmann machines – it runs a total fleet of 40 platforms – and Mr van Helden says the 70 m will also allow the company to test the market for even bigger units.

In Algeria, meanwhile, Alstra, an Algiers-based company that specialises in renting self-propelled booms, scaffolding equipment and excavators, has branched out into the large truck-mounted market with an order for a TU 700. Ruthmann's export manager, Jurgan Gerwers, says the sale to Alstra is a major step for the rental company and also a significant one for the entire North African access market.

Alstra is a subsidiary of Tonic Emballage, an Algerian packaging manufacturer.