Manitou's new 160AJT brings additional benefits with engine regulation
28 July 2011
In seeking to ensure its 16m working height 160ATJ articulated boom is in line with the Stage IIIB engine emissions regulations, Manitou has taken the opportunity to rethink some of other attributes of the machine which bring additional productivity, economy and ease of use.
Francois Desbriere, the Maniaccess senior range manager said, "This is a well liked product and we wanted to retain all the popular attributes such as the 4-wheel drive, 4-wheel-steer, oscillating axle and continuous rotation." Manitou believes it has managed to achieve this while simultaneously reducing fuel consumption by 15%, speeding up positioning, improving the diagnostics for fault finding and adding other environmentally friendly features.
The major change to the new generation 160ATJ is in the engine management system, this minimises the revs of the engine, increasingly them steplessly to accommodate deploying and moving the boom. It has allowed Manitou to use a smaller engine - a Kubota V1505 - 35.1HP which will provide the same performance as the 45HP Perkins engine used in the previous model.
The electronic regulation of torque has the addition advantage of speeding up the separate movements of the boom for faster deployment. The smaller engine uses 15% less fuel and is lighter, which is partly responsible for the overall reduction in machine weight from 7450kg to 6160kg.
New puncture proof Solid Air tyres are being used rather than foam filled on the wheels, which are of a 16.5in diameter as opposed to 18" on the previous model. The new tyres contribute to the "green" credentials of the machine - being easier to recycle. Manitou believes features such as this will become increasingly important to rental companies trying to reduce their environmental impact.
The on-board diagnostic packages guides the operator through fault finding and solving using real language and easy to follow diagrams. In the event of not being able to resolve the problem themselves the diagnostics ensure that the engineer who attends the machine will have the appropriate tools and spares to remedy the problem.
The new 160ATJ will supercede the existing model and goes into production in September. The basic features are slightly different - the new generation has a 16.1m working height (compared to 16.25m in the original model), 8.3m outreach (compared to 9.1m), platform capacity is the same - 230kg. The 160ATJ+, the 16m model with an enhanced platform capacity of 400kg will continue to be produced.
The 160AJT new generation can be seen at APEX 14-16 September 2011 Maastricht. Manitou will also be taking this opportunity to launch two new machines.
The new machines will not be unveiled until the exhibition, but Access International has obtained an EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW of these platforms and will be bringing our readers the news in the September issue of Access International - published just before the show.
