qht4.jpgUsing a heavy duty Combilift 4-way forklift has led to safer handling procedures and opened up new business opportunities for Rotherham based Quality Heat Treatment (QHT). Established for over 40 years, QHT specialises in furnace heat treatment for castings, forgings, fabrications and items for the petro-chemical industry for example, for customers in the North Midlands and South Yorkshire region. The nature of QHT’s business means that they are handling very heavy, at times extremely hot and potentially hazardous loads around the site, in close proximity to personnel and other vehicles. The safe handling of these, with good driver visibility whatever the length of the load, is therefore a major issue for Engineering Director Paul Mattock. He explains the difficulties experienced before the Combilift was delivered: “We had a counterbalance forklift, but its manoeuvrability was very limited, and handling longer loads with it was going to be tricky if not plain dangerous.”

As Paul was keen to expand the business, he looked into alternative forklifts, and realised that the 4-way ability of the Combilift range would enable the company to take on much longer loads. “We had always shied away from treating 6.5m long bars, but the 4-way ability of the Combilift now enables us to provide this service for our customers as we can easily get these through the 3m wide doorway to the furnace.”, QHT chose a Combilift model from the larger, heavy duty range. The truck can carry 9tonnes at 1m load centre, so is well equipped to offload and handle the heaviest bars weighing up to 13.5 tonnes.

The Irish manufacturer of the Combilift is well known for its ability to customise each truck according to specific requirements. QHT’s Combilift has a longer than standard 2m deck to accommodate the very bulky items delivered to the company. An attachment in the form of a spreader beam was also supplied, which comes into its own to support very long loads to prevent them sagging when they come out of the furnace at a temperature of 1000°. Sideways travel is also of great benefit to enable  loads to be moved from the furnace to the quenching area as quickly as possible.

The Combilift works in all weathers in quite a harsh environment on a 24 hour shift basis, and has proved to be a reliable workhorse. “Low level transportation of loads resting on the deck is much safer than a counterbalance truck, and we couldn’t cope with the materials we handle with anything else. The Combilift has given us more flexibility and a competitive edge,” says Paul.

All Combilifts are manufactured by Combilift Ltd in Monaghan Ireland. The current range now encompasses over a dozen models with capacities ranging from 2.5 – 14 tonnes, with LPG, diesel or electric power available. The trucks are designed to work both inside and out, on semi-rough terrain and in all weather conditions. A team of design engineers at the Monaghan factory in Ireland will also draw up warehouse layouts, free of charge, to illustrate the best possible use of available storage space using the Combilift system.

Combilift Ltd
Tel UK: 07815 314 990
Email: info@combilift.com
www.combilift.com

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