Three launches from Nagano

Nagano Hoogwerkers is a newly formed company dedicated to the sale of the Japanese manufactured Nagano aerial platforms in Benelux. At Apex Nagano Hoogwerkers was able to unveil three Nagano aerial platforms for the first time in Europe.

The machines - two articulated booms and a sigma-boom type platform- have in common tracked crawler carriages which Nagano Hoogwerkers describes as of a `triangle' construction. This means the lower rails are coupled to a turning pin the middle.

"Should the machine pass over an obstacle," said Folkert Smeets, Nagano Hoogwerker's commercial director, "the lower roll can move up and not disturb the equilibrium of the platform." This makes the machine suitable for rough terrain use.

Mr Smeets predicts that the na90za sigma boom machine will be of particular interest to the large glass-house erectors in the Netherlands and Belgium and this is because of the platform size -3.1m by 2 m and capacity 600kg. "The machine is more flexible than a traditional scissor," he said, "as it can be extended 5m away from the undercarriage."

The two articulated booms na120a and na180ja have 12 m and 18 m maximum platform heights respectively. The na180a includes a jib for `up-and-over access and additional working flexibility.

According to Mr Smeets the na180ja is a multi purpose machine aimed at rental companies and construction contractors. "Its small foot print, [2.25 m by 6 m] and its lower weight, compared to other similar sized articulated booms [9.6 t] makes transportation easy," he said.