Indoor tail-lift for M and S
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A TAIL lift of 508 kg (10 cwt) capacity which fits on the inside of a van door has been specially designed for HOC Transhield Ltd for one vehicle used on a Marks and Spencer contract between Cumbernauld and Belfast.
The tail-lift developed by John Ratcliff (Tail Lifts) Ltd is fitted to the 7.3m (24ft) long Freight Bonallack body mounted on a Guy Big J rigid and its drawbar trailers.
The purpose of the doormounted lifts is to enable the outfits to operate within the legal length limit without the risk of fouling between the lorry and trailer when manoeuvring.
The total travel of the lift platform from the vehicle floor to the ground is almost as much as the height of the door on which the mechanism is fitted although the equipment is accommodated within the door height to enable the door to close.
To achieve the compact height dimensions necessary, secondary sliding columns are featured between the normal lift runners and columns to provide twostage operation. The lift platform and its runners are first raised up the secondary columns which in turn are drawn up the main columns attached to the door. A single hydraulic ram, vertically mounted on the centre of the door, operates the lift through heavy-duty cables and a system of pulleys which provides a two to one ratio of lift movement to ram movement.
The drawbar outfit provides additional load capacity for the delivery of perishable goods on its run between Cumbernauld, Dumbartonshire to the Marks and Spencer branch in Belfast. The Guy, powered by a Cummins NHC220 engine, has a Freight Bonallack Coldsaver body with Petter refrigeration. The body can be divided into two compartments so that foods can be carried at different temperatures. The Coldsaver semitrailer is mounted on a dolly to adapt it as a drawbar trailer. The trailer is used as a conventional semi-trailer in Northern Ireland and is hauled by a normal tractive unit. This method of operation provides the manoeuvrability necessary to gain access to the premises Belfast.