BOOMS, I KS AND MASTS
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• Kooi and Moffett are both now part of the huge Finnish Partek Cargotec materials handling group, which also owns US manufacturer Princeton. It estimates that the worldwide market for piggyback trucks is 5,000 units, and it's growing at a rate of 20% a year. Partek says the three brands will remain separate: Bill Bennett Engineering remains the Kooi distributor in the UK.
Moffett, which introduced its piggyback truck concept to the UK 16 years ago, is the market leader. Its Dundalk factory produces more than 2,000 Mounty units a year, 95% of them for export. Moffett claims to have pioneered the moving-mast design, and says it improves stability on rough terrain.
Protection
However, these machines tend to be heavier than fixed-mast units, so the company now sells the fixed-mast 1500 Series machines for lighter duties. All machines have roll-over protection, and as an extra safety measure there is also a spring-release sidegate retaining the driver.
Moffett says simple but effective design is the secret behind the Mounty's robustness; and the company allows engineers to adapt the machines to suit operators' precise requirements. Durability is enhanced thanks to a seven-stage paint process that includes zinc dipping, and the chains have a "dacrotised" coating to help retain lubricant.
Kooi is the biggest seller of the telescopic fork arrangement, in which the forks are extended forward hydraulically to pick up the load. Because the mast remains static, it contributes to the counterweight to the load which allows the fork-lift truck itself to lift more than its own weight. Telescopic forks can be particularly useful in areas where loading is restricted—they can load and unload from just one side of the vehicle.
Koors latest pedestriancontrolled model is the W2 in one or three-wheel-drive configuration. It features power steering, 2.5-tonne capacity and a 3m lift height with an unladen weight of 1,225kg.
As Moffett has moved towards the lighter end of the market, Kooi has been developing rough-terrain models. It claims that its new model Z2, at 1,875kg, is the lightest threewheel-drive four-way-steer machine on the market.
The main challenger to the Partec group of companies is French-owned Manitou. its Manitransit machines are easily identified by a sidemounted telescopic boom, which offers improved forward visibility.
The optional side-shift feature on many piggyback machines is standard on the Manitransit, which seems to give it a 500kg weight disadvantage. However, Manitou says most machines sold in the UK have the side-shift option, so operators should remember to take this into account when making comparisons.
Capacity
The HT Turbo is a high-traction version of the two-tonne-capacity TMT 320 FL three-wheel-drive machine. It has a more powerful 54hp turbocharged engine and flotation-type 31-15.5 15in tyres. The latest TMT 315 SI Fl is a semi-industrial threewheel-drive machine with smaller wheels that pass under the sideguards, allowing it to get closer to the side of the truck.
The model TMD12 is designed as an alternative loading option to a tail-lift. It is a fixed-mast ride-on model weighing 800kg with a 1.2tonne lift capacity. Canadian-made Kesmac piggyback fork-lifts are now available in the UK through importer Hallmarket. Kesmac's main business is as an agricultural machinery manufacturer—its 4500 Series was originally developed as a turf-handling machine. The lift capacity is 2,041kg with a lift height of 3.05m. The 4500R features retractable front wheels to fit on trucks with no rear overhang. It weighs 2,037kg; the 4500F weighs 1,924kg. Both trucks are powered by a Kubota V1505 diesel engine and have Posi-Traction, a manually operated hydraulic diff-lock, to improve traction on rough ground.
Wilson Hitch-Fork, part of Wilson Double Deck Trailers, markets a trailer that allows its fork-lift to work as a stand-alone machine.
Palfinger manufacturers a range of truck-mounted fork-lifts, including the innovative Crayler which stows under the chassis between the front and rear wheels. However, importer TH White has told CMthat the range is being updated, and no machines will be sold in the UK until new models are unveiled later this year.