Giant opportunity: IRN looks at new aerial platforms on the market

There were plenty of big new aerial platforms at the Bauma show, including Terex AWP’s long-awaited SX-180. Euan Youdale and Murray Pollok report.

You couldn’t miss the main access attraction at this year’s Bauma because it was 180 ft high. Terex AWP’s much anticipated new 54.9 m (180 ft) Genie SX-180 takes the boomlift market to a new high, eclipsing JLG’s two 150 ft booms, the 1500SJ telescopic model and veteran 150HAX.

The 180 got a good reception at the show, picking up some early orders from European and international customers – including Kimberly Access and Facelift Access in the UK.

The machine itself is predictably impressive, sharing the drive chassis first used earlier this year on the ZX-135 but with very much its own boom design, including a 3 m jib. The booms - being built at a dedicated 88000 ft2 area of Terex’s Moses Lake facility in the US - uses 100000 psi steel rather than the 80000 psi material used on smaller machines.

Maximum working height is 54.9 m (180 ft) and the maximum horizontal reach of 24.4 m (80 ft) stays at around that mark until a height of approximately 35 m. The platform has a capacity of 340 kg (750 lb).

The key to a machine this size, of course, is its weight and overall transportability. Terex has managed to keep the weight under the 25 t mark, the width to under 2.5 m and the height, at around 3.0 m, similar to the other Genie Superbooms.

Scott Krieger, Terex AWP senior product manager, booms and telehandlers, tells IRN that this will make it transportable without a special permit in most US states and countries, although there will be exceptions.

The design of the pivoting axles on the drive chassis is what has allowed both the stability of the machine at great heights – the spread at full axle extension is 5 m - and its narrow transport width. The X-design axles look similar to those used on smaller machines in the Genie line-up, but the geometry is different, with the axles pointing inwards when fully retracted, which helps reduce the overall length.

Mr Krieger says there is demand for a machine this height for work in a wide range of applications, including oil and gas industries, commercial construction, industrial construction and maintenance, and general maintenance.

It may even eat into the truck mounted market in applications like wind turbine maintenance, with 50 m a common turbine height. The SX-180 will cost around US$650000, which is a lot, but less than an equivalent height truck mount.

“Customers believe they can make money – absolutely”, says Mr Krieger, “It is by a large margin – 20% - the world’s largest self-propelled boom. They can find those applications. We have a lot of people standing in a line for the machine.”

The SX-180 on show in Munich was a prototype but close to the final thing. Sales will start in the second half of this year.

What makes the new boom interesting – not least for rental buyers – is that there is as yet no alternative, so there will be a period of limited supply and degree of ‘exclusivity’, with the resulting prospect of some good rental prices.

JLG, hitherto the leader in the big boom segment, told IRN earlier this year that it aimed to maintain its “leadership” in that segment – although is unwilling to say what designs it is working on.

However, since Bauma, Karel Huijser, JLG general manager and vice president EAME, confirmed that it will add another model to its Ultra Boom range; “Later this year we will announce an expansion to our Ultra Boom range. We will unveil more details soon and expect to take orders at the upcoming ConExpo show, with shipments of the new model in 2014”.

Haulotte’s Alexandre Saubot said the 150 ft plus area remained a niche market and that Haulotte had absolutely no intention of “playing in that game.”

Bauma was a great place to see the latest machines from the access market, and full reports can be found in our sister title, Access International. Among the highlights, though, was the latest version of Haulotte’s new mid-sized telescopic booms. At Intermat we saw the 22.5 m HT23 RTJ, and at Bauma there was the no-jib version, the HT21 RT, with a maximum platform height of 20.6 m and horizontal outreach of 15.9 m.

As well as offering a far more rigid feeling environment for the operator, the key feature of the new booms are their lifting speeds, taking just 56 seconds to reach their full height.

Haulotte had other concerns at Bauma, posting disappointing first quarter figures that were 5% down on the same period a year ago, including a 23% year-on-year drop in North America. Mr Saubot blamed the poor US showing on delayed orders with major customers and said the company’s performance should be judged not on one quarter but on the results for the first six months of the year.

The tracked access sector continues to grow, and here there was a new machines in the high-reach sector from Platform Basket, with the 33 m working height 33.15 model.

The double articulated platform has a lateral outreach of 15 m and a cage capacity of 230 kg, plus a hybrid option.

"We have been dedicating our time and all the resources we have to create a sales network and to gain credibility worldwide; therefore we feel ready to enter and develop the medium-high tracked aerial platform sector," said Carlo Molesini, Platform Basket managing and sales director.

The 33.15 is powered by a Kubota diesel engine and a back-up 12 volt powerpack. The hybrid 33.15 ED version has the Kubota engine and deep-cycle 24 volt battery.

Also in the crawler mounted atrium lift sector, JLG Industries presented two new editions to its range of compact crawler booms at Bauma, which it is selling as part of its agreement with Italy’s Hinowa.

The main features of the X17J Plus and the X20J Plus include a working height of 17 m and 20 m, respectively, as well as improvements in the movement and control of lift and lower functions of the boom.

Offering a 230 kg unrestricted platform capacity, other innovations include: forklift housing pockets for easier transport, a new platform-mounted remote control box housing enhancing visibility on the display and offering protection against rain and increased battery capacity.

Another two crawler machines, but with a conventional telescopic boom design, were on show from Germany’s HAB. The TR16JD and TR28JD have 16 m and 28 m working heights, respectively, and are aimed in particular for markets in Scandinavia and the Netherlands, where ground conditions favour tracked machines.

Snorkel, meanwhile, unveiled the first in new series of high capacity rough terrain scissor lifts. With powerful lift and drive capabilities, the Snorkel S4390RT is ideal for construction applications, said the company. Preliminary specifications are for a machine with 13.1m (43 ft) maximum platform height. Fitted with twin 1.3 m (51 ins) deck extension, these provide a large working area of 1.82 m x 6.60 m (6 ft x 21 ft 8 ins) and a safe working load of 680kg (1500lbs).

Snorkel is also launching another two new global products at Bauma 2013 - and updating one of its most popular machines.

The S3970RT is the third product in Snorkel’s existing compact rough terrain scissor family. Built on Snorkel’s proven SRT chassis, the S3970RT provides a maximum platform height of 11.5 m (37 ft 8 ins) but is only 1.8 m (5 ft 10 ins) wide and 3.3 m (10 ft 10 ins) long. It is designed for working in confined spaces, such as in between buildings.

Snorkel is also further enhancing its leading range of low level access platforms with the S1030E self-propelled mini-scissor lift. Providing a 3 m (10 ft) maximum platform height, the battery-powered S1030E is still lightweight enough for almost any floor with load-bearing restrictions.

The truck mounted sector tried hard to match the grandeur of Terex’s SX-180, and almost succeeded, with a number of new high-rise models. Palfinger Platforms, for example, launched the 90 m working height P900 Top Class truck mount.

The model has a lateral outreach of 32.3 m with a cage capacity of 530 kg, or a 700kg basket option. It is mounted on 5-axle Scania chassis, with a total weight of 48 t.

“Nevertheless, the heavy weight has been optimised for practical conditions and can be securely stabilised in areas where there is very little space," said Stephan Kulawik, Palfinger Platforms managing director, "Thanks to a 5th axle, which acts as a lift axle and is automatically lifted during stabilisation, the P900 requires a much smaller jack lift on the incline”.

The distance between the outriggers is 7255 mm length by 7200 mm width. To facilitate differing international licencing laws, a foldable under-ride guard is integrated into the vehicle body.

Mr Kulawik says design attention wasn’t only focused on technical specifications but also on creature comforts for the operator, such as a “sufficiently dimensioned” driver’s sleeper cab; “This has the economic advantage that hotel costs can be saved and is also beneficial from a security perspective as it means that the platform is never left unsupervised.”

Palfinger Platform’s big German competitor, Ruthmann, used Bauma to debut the Steiger T 720, a 72 m working height truck mount with a movable 5.5 m jib. The T 720 has a 38 m lateral outreach and 600 kg basket capacity.

The new unit comes after Ruthmann's biggest year in sales ever, with revenues of €95 million in 2012, a 27% increase over the previous year.

Bronto Skylift, meanwhile, had two prototype truck mounts on its stand, the S 56 XR and S 65 XR, which have maximum working heights of 56 m and 65 m, respectively.

The XR models are the start of a new generation of the existing XDT range, offering significantly more outreach. Both ranges will run parallel to each other until the new XR range is full, then it will supersede the XDTs.

Both machines will be available on a 3- and 4-axle chassis and will provide 30% more outreach than previous models, says the company. For example the S 56 XR has an outreach of 37 m and an up and over capacity of 15 m. Safe working load is 700 kg.

For once, however, it wasn’t a competitor’s truck mounted machine that was creating anxiety among sales directors at Bronto, Palfinger and Ruthmann, but a certain self-propelled machine, in blue.