SIDELOADER ADVANTAGES

(Continued from page 1Z) as to allow 20'loads to be carried on public highways!

The benefit is faster movement of material, less damaged material charges. The sideloader design concept is for a one-piece mobile handling equipment which combines the best characteristics of a flatbed truck and a fork lift. The sideloader can stack loads. load or unload flatbeds, carry loads over long distances. It can even order pick loads from cantilever racks.

The benefit is that one piece of equipment and one man can do several different material handling jobs, cutting

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production time lost due to waits for material.

In order to get the maximum bene- fit from a sideloader installation, identify and specify the proper truck. Here are some factors to consider:

Power Source.' For indoor opera- tions the obvious choices are electric or LP gas. The latter should be chosen if the duty cycle is heavy or if some outdoor work is required.

An outdoor operation requires gas- oline (possibly with LP option if some indoor operation is required) or diesel. Diesel is preferred if the duty cycle is heavy. Some larger pneumatic-tired models are available only with diesel power.

Capacity: Lifting capacity is determined by size of load, lift height required and terrain. As with frontloader lift trucks, sideloader capacity is de-rated above certain lift heights.

There are some other special considerations. The rated load- center of sideloaders is approximately half the width of the deck. Capacity for carry- ing is usually equal to the lifting capacity.

Deck and I'1)e7l Capacity llidth: The width of a sideloader deck is important because a truck's deck should be approximately equal in width to the widest load to be carrie d.

A sideloader can carry loads wider than the deck provided they are within the truck's capacity, and the load center of gravity is supported by the deck. However, this does present problems when stacking these loads in racks, or end to end. The mast traverse is equal only to deck width, and loads wider than the deck cannot be withdrawn completely clear of adjoining loads. Extra aisle clearance, and clearance at the load ends, must be provided.

Because traverse is limited to deck width, standard forks are aPProximately equal to deck width. Longer forks should not be specified.

One other specification concerning a sideloader deck is the well widththe hole in the deck through which the mast traverses. If pallets are to be handled, this well should be wide enough to allow the Pallets to be drawn into it. Thus, Pallets can be stored in racks all the way to ground level and still be reached bY the sideloader.

Attachments: The most common attachment for a sideloader is the spreader beam, which is an extra set of forks attached to the mast carriage and extending over the ends of the deck. They prevent excess bending and vibration.

If a spreader beam is used, the sideloader must be down-rated in capacity.

Because a spreader beam complicates pick-up operation, it should only be specified where a load is simply too flexible to handle otherwise.

A major factor in any new sideloader installation is facility rearrangement. Any area previously serviced by alternate handling equipment generally must be rearranged to obtain maximum sideloader benefit.

This usually includes ribbon stacking loads with the working aisle (aisle between loads) parallel to the longer dimension of the yard or storage area. A turning aisle is usually required at each end of the area. This facilitY rearrangement coupled with sideloader operation saves money through better selectivity and stock rotation; better inventory control and faster operation.

"Trucling

H.F. "Fritz" QUIRIN TRUCKING

Ihls is our fourteenth yeat ol senting you and we look forward to many, many more.