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A matter of Merritt
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Thanks to a special low-loader complete with its own crane, Merritt has saved both time and money. We find out how...
Words: Simon Tweed / Images: Alan Rickett Joseph Merritt Group Plc is a leading specialist in the installation and relocation of machinery and industrial equipment. Over the past 85 years, the company has developed an unrivalled reputation for quality of service, combining experience and craftsmanship with innovation and technology. It operates
throughout the UK and overseas, offering an extensive range of transport, lifting and engineering services with the support of a dedicated project management team.
Merritt has experienced a growth in sales of 63% over the past three years across a range of its services, namely transport, installations and industrial training.
Investment of £2.3m in 2007-08 in additional premises, specialist crane trailers, tractor units and a fleet of Versafift industrial-lift trucks (now totalling five) sees the company well placed to cover its clients' ongoing requirements.
And a diverse and comprehensive fleet of its own equipment provides the firm and its customers with flexibility and an increased number of options when planning and executing work.
Complex deliveries
Merritt's expertise and experience is sought after by a wide cross-section of companies that need an experienced, professional, specialist transport company capable of undertaking complex deliveries.
One of Merritt's recent operations involved a large and heavy machining centre, and the company used its latest King MTSE extending trailer, complete with rear mounted crane, to complete the job. The machine being delivered was a 23.5Te Hartford Dual-Y machining centre, which had to be offloaded at a leading pneumatic and hydraulic clutch and brake manufacturer in southern England.
The offloading had to be accomplished in a relatively small yard at the rear of the company premises, adjacent to a railway line.
Co-ordinating the offloading with a mobile crane would have necessitated a line 'possession'. costing Merritt's client many thousands of pounds and dictating offloading and positioning at night lime. The King crane trailer, because of its compact nature, enabled the work to be done without any such restrictions and cost implications.
Merritt runs a total of five King trailers: two specialist crane trailers, two ramped low-loaders and one extendable step-frame (see panel, above). According to managing director Richard Merritt: The King trailers have always delivered in terms of reliability and longevity. These are the two most important factors to our company when we consider any capital expenditure.
"This particular trailer was designed specifically for this application. All the stress and stability calculations were carried out in-house at King Trailers, with assistance from CCT Chesterfield regarding the crane specification and capacities. The resulting trailer is extremely stable and fit for purpose. It is a credit to those who have been involved in the design since its inception.
"The trailer has only been in service since August of this year, but has already proved to be a fantastic addition to our ever-expanding fleet. It has already completed several jobs where the alternatives would have been costly mobile cranes and a larger crew of men. We have been able to pass on these savings to our customers, who are obviously delighted."
Exact requirements
For its part, King thoroughly discussed the design with Merritt to try to ensure that the extending trailer would cope with both the torsional requirements of the crane and the physical fitting requirements of the crane supplier.
The :vfTSE range from King is a versatile product, and, in Merritt's case, King was able to use the proven core design but adapt it to the requirements of the crane installer. King also made changes to the design to provide a rear bridge closely adapted for the fitment of the crane and all its services.
Most fundamentally, though, King was able to underwrite the torsional requirement of the trailer to be suitable when installed with the outrigger legs to enable the crane to be safely installed and operationally sound.
And Merritt is more than happy with his choice of King. He says: "We've never had any problems with our King trailers either past or present, and we've been buying King for over 20 years, so we've never had the need to see if King provides good backup!" NI