Catering for all requirements
Electric models will gain growing traction in the sideloader market predicts Bulmor as Simon Duddy, editor of Handling & Storing Solutions (IP&E’s sister publication) visited the manufacturer’s facilities in Austria. However, there are still many truck users who prefer diesel models
Alexander Baumann, sales and marketing director, predicts the growing use of electric power in the UK sideloader market, when appropriate, although he acknowledges the role diesel sideloaders play in Britain.
Greater use of electric models could be driven by an increasingly stiff regulatory environment for diesel driven engines. All diesel engines greater than 56kW are subject to Interim Tier 4/Stage III B emissions regulations, meaning they must dramatically reduce the emission of soot particles and NOX gases. This is closing the price gap between the two truck power choices.
Baumann explains: “Electric trucks can be cheaper because you don’t have the expense of meeting emissions regulations. “Diesels are also high maintenance, with air, fuel and oil filters requiring change every 500h of use. With electric models the hydraulic filter can be changed every 2000h, although of course the cost of the battery and changing facilities must be priced in.”
Bulmor electric models reach up to 8t in capacity. The UK market is largely dominated by diesel models, but in some European markets, such as Switzerland, electric models have greater than 50% market share.
Case study
While electric models are less prone to vibration and operate more smoothly, many truck users still prefer diesel models. Independent timber and builders merchants, Ridgeons, is an example. The company has 25 locations across the East of England. In the 1980s it opened a new warehouse on a 12 acre site in Suffolk, with capacity for 600 full packs of timber or 2500m² of finished stock which complements the two mills and treatment plants there.
A feature of the new facility is the 640 linear metres of adjustable cantilever racking which serves as the structural support for the building and which gives storage at 6m high rather than the usual 5.4m. This is where Bulmor Lancer’s special sideloaders fit in.
Ridgeons general manager Jem Slee explains: “We have seen very satisfactory growth in our business and we needed extra covered space to store both sawn joinery material and finished products. To maximise the benefit of the extra height we replaced two existing sideloaders with two economic diesel-powered Bulmor Lancer sideloaders with a 6m reach. The new machines have three built-in cameras positioned to cover the back, offside area and fork carriage.”
Other health and safety features of the Bulmor Lancer range include a special drive pedal inhibitor and warning buzzer if foot pressure fails; large profile wheels for easier travel on uneven ground with better directional stability compared to many other truck types and less stress on the operator and load; wide comfortable cabins with adjustable seats and tinted safety glass; armoured roofs plus protective grills and flexible steering incorporating operating functions and pre-controlled hydraulics with simple joystick steering. The LQ50 model at Ridgeons also offers lifting capacity of 5t and platform width of 1200mm.
Built to order
At Bulmor’s site in Perg, Austria, sideloaders and multi-directional trucks are built to order. This is not a product type geared to mass production, with robots and automated assembly lines.
A sideloader chassis is difficult to build. In use, the load shifts from side to side and this creates significant pressures that the unit must withstand. With sideloaders the counterweight is offside from the forks to help balance when forks are extended and a heavy load taken on. The forces generated by operating sideloaders are tough on axles so Bulmor builds its own to suit each individual truck.
Lead time is typically four months and can be longer for specials. Variations can include anything from additional steps, a different joystick or tyres, through to a camera system and higher reaching masts. This has become particularly popular in the UK timber industry where many firms are keen to fully use the space in their warehouses by building racking higher.
Bulmor is happy to tailor trucks to suit the customer. For example, some customers want basic models designed without electric components that are simple to fix. Others want the benefits that come with CANBUS, such as remote diagnostics and automated safety features.
Bulmor has noted the 4-way multi-directional truck market growing quickly. Alexander Baumann sees the sideloaders predominating at, for example, the sawmill, but downstream at the timber warehouse the 4-way truck finds it niche.
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