Australia’s largest
equipment hire company, Coates Hire, is receiving first deliveries of its new
Enerpac portable self-contained Pow’R-LOCK™
hydraulic jacking system rated for heavy lifts up to 181 metric tonnes.
The simply-controlled
system – featuring continuous automatic load locking protection for optimum
safety in operation – is entering service first with Coates Hire’s Mackay
branch, where it has been selected to appeal to safety-conscious industries including
mining, construction, civil engineering and heavy transport including rail.
Further deliveries will follow in the New Year to Mackay branch and to Coates
Hire’s Hunter Valley operation.
“What we especially
like about it up here is that it is so simple to use – there are just two
buttons, up and down. The rest is automatic. Other products have more
complexity, which you don’t need when you are focusing on safety and simplicity
in operation,” says Coates Hire Mackay Area Product Specialist Mr Philip Gage.
“Ideally, products
that are used by a wide variety of people should be able to be operated with
little or no experience – we are always here as backup, but it is better to
take as much complexity as you can out of the job so they can get on with it.
“In mining, for
example, everything is done to a plan, a set method which is followed for
optimum safety.You don’t want to be
distracting people from the job in hand with complexity. Keep it simple and
safe, which works for all industries,” says Mr Gage.
Coates Hire – which has 126 years of experience in
industry – supplies to a wide variety of markets including engineering and building
construction & maintenance, mining & resources, manufacturing, government,
heavy transport, including rail, and events.
“Rail is another market where this product will appeal,”
says Mr Gage.“Because Pow’r-LOCK has a
good secure base, maintenance such as changing bodies can be undertaken on a
side track rather than the unit involved having to be taken back to a major
facility. The same sort of advantage applies to other heavy transport and civil
engineering equipment.”
Pow’R-LOCK
accomplishes its load-holding protection by utilizing a control system (patent
pending) that maintains the position of a rotating locking collar near the
cylinder base, providing a mechanical lock regardless of cylinder movement and
control cycle.
The PL-Series
Pow’R-LOCK Portable Lifting system with full-time locking capability is
designed and purpose-built to provide safe and secure lifting for mining and
quarry vehicles including haul trucks, loaders, dozers and tyre contractors.
The heavy-duty lifting
system integrates into a rugged mobile cart with a high capacity and compact 700
bar (10,000 psi) hydraulic cylinder and an air-driven hydraulic pump unit with
complete valving and control systems.
The units, the two versions
of which feature strokes of 356 and 622mm (14 and 24.5in),are ideal for companies where time and safety are
paramount, such as mining and energy, oil and gas, heavy infrastructure
construction and heavy transport.
One of the reasons
Coates Hire Mackay selected the Enerpac unit was the previous good experience
that have had with the global brand, which, like Coates Hire and many major
customers, has a Safety First- Zero Harm priority.
“I have been involved
in the construction industry for many, many years and used lots of hydraulic
equipment. Out of all the brands, Enerpac is the only one that doesn’t give any
trouble. I am a great advocate of their bolting technology also – their steel
torque wrenches stand up to site conditions.”
Enerpac Mining
Manager Mr Warren Baltineshter says mining maintenance staff love the fact that
Pow’R-LOCK is so simple and safe to use – particularly the fact that you do not
rely on the operator to secure the load when lifting and lowering.
“Pow’R-LOCK is unique in that it provides
autonomous locking of the load through all stages of lifting and lowering. No
operator intervention is required to activate or energize the locking system –
they just lift or lower the load. If there is any type of hydraulic failure, the
Pow’R-LOCK system is there to hold the load.”
Key Features of Pow’R-LOCK
include:
Unique Automatic Self Locking System
No Stands or Chocks Required – Meets AS / NZS Safety Standards
Operates from a Safe Distance – (6m Pendant)
Pow’R-LOCK
provides safe, efficient, mobile lifting and load-holding for the toughest
applications, backed by Coates Hire and Enerpac’s extensive product support.
Enerpac support includes
national and worldwide networks of local distributors and authorized service
centres as well as regional customer and technical service centers. Enerpac
recommends that safety first procedures be followed wherever Pow’R-LOCK
is operated, including published safety directions for lifting and cribbing
loads.