Loader provides the music
08 May 2008
A ‘musical masterpiece’ has been performed by Piano Logistics from Middlesex in England. The company, which has been transporting and storing pianos for more than 30 years, uses its own fleet of vehicles to deliver up to 200 pianos a week, recently completed a particularly tricky order to deliver a Steinway piano to a third floor apartment. The normal transport route via the building's staircase was not possible because the stairwell was too narrow.
For Piano Logistics, however, this was not a problem as the piano could be delivered through an apartment window using the delivery vehicle's loader crane mounted behind the driver's cab. The box-type truck has a Terex-Atlas type 200.2 crane with a Z-boom and cable drum attachment. Substantial horizontal working radius and vertical reach is required so the crane has five extensions, a fly jib with two extensions each 1.6 m long, and also a further articulated joint to reach into the building. Maximum vertical reach is 20 m.
Julian Rout, a director of Piano Logistics explains the benefits, “Before our transport vehicles were fitted with Terex-Atlas loading cranes, we were dependent upon the use of large mobile cranes which we had to rent specially for each delivery. Furthermore, on each occasion we had to apply to local authorities for a permit to close off the relevant road while we worked. This not only cost us money but also a great deal of time. Now all that is no longer necessary and we can process client orders far more quickly.”
To deliver the piano the operator worked with radio remote control from the window on the third floor of the apartment block. In this way he could manoeuvre the 500 kg load down to the last centimetre.
The model 200.2 - 14.6/5 has a gross weight of 3.15 tonnes and the load capacity is 0.29 tonnes per metre at a working radius of 20.3 m.
Having to place the valuable and vulnerable cargo through narrow openings means sensitive and precise control is needed. The rack and pinion slewing gear with a large guide ensures jolt-free working and accurate positioning. The type of construction and large profiles in the articulated boom and the Z-boom are designed to minimise deflection in the extension boom. Extra-large standard guides help this further. Load-sensing valves operate on all the main functions. Payload torque is 200 kNm, swing angle is 410° and the oil pump delivery rate is 45 l/min at an operating pressure of 270 bar.