Crosby runs on castors
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• McDonald Kane has put its first two Groundloader mobile demount bodies into service with Crosby Kitchens of Sheffield. The demountable box bodies have been fitted with large "castor" wheels so that they can be shunted around the yard when not in use rather than standing immobile.
The seven metre-long curtain-sided demount bodies have "A" frames fitted to the front which can couple to any available vehicle or suitable fork lift for shunting. The four polypropolyne castor wheels are attached to the body's under-frame, and they have a 20-tonne capacity with needle roller bearings. A foot-operated brake beside the front two wheels secures the parked body. The equipment increases bodyweight by 50kgs to 2,100kg and there is an oncost of about £'900. A conversion kit for retrofitting Groundloaders will be available to operators in September for the same price.
McDonald Kane boss Barry Kane attributes the high price to the high specifications of the castor wheels.
McDonald-Kane designed and built the system in consultation with Crosby Kitchens to enable loaded bodies to be removed from loading bays without waiting for the prime mover to return. Groundloader is a self-contained system with its own sealed hydraulics re quiring only electrical connections via batteries or a transformer to be available at the loading bay.
Using two bodies and one vehicle, Crosby Kitchen's distribution manager Kenneth Broughton expects to increase productivity by 25% over a fixed bodied vehicle, which the Groundloaders are replacing. It will also avoid blocking a loading bay with an empty stranded body. Using a 93 Scania plated at 17 tonnes Broughton says he will get "about 10 tonnes payload".
Crosby Kitchens' sister company Crosby Doors took the prototype body displayed at the IRTE show for training purposes and will be putting four vehicles and nine bodies into service in September.