I attend a number of tradeshows in my job - including our own, of course - and it always puzzles me that new product launches are rarely highlighted or labelled. Such was largely the case at Vertikal Days, even though there were lots of new products on display.
It's fair to say that Niftylift has taken this on board, not only bringing two new ten metre platforms along, but giving them their world debut and even creating a shrouded display area for select buyers and (ahem) eager journos to view them.
The new platforms are the all-electric HR10LE and HR10NE - both strikingly diminutive, but nevertheless attaining a working height of ten metres. Niftylift says the new machines are prototypes for now, but idealises them working in narrow-aisle warehousing, restricted outdoor jobsites and occupied buildings. As such, machine weight is an important consideration, and both barely trouble the scales at less than 2000kg apiece.
The main difference between the two is their dimensions, the LE variant being 1.8m wide and the NE a mere 1.5m from side to side - both machines are 3.95m in length and 1.98m high when stowed. Travel speed is a respectable 6kph, with 25% gradeability, The LE turns a full circle within 4m, but the NE can do the same in just 3.3m.
The HR10LE has an outdoor basket capacity of 150kg - or 190kg indoors - while the slimmer HR10NE is better suited to indoor use and has a basket capacity of just 150kg. Both machines can reach out to 4.3m. Final facts and figures may yet be revised, but both machines already cut quite a dash.
Elsewhere on the Niftylift stand, the company was showcasing hybrid and hydrogen-electric power options, cleverly introducing fork pockets on the battery pack so users can swap 'em out as and when required. Meanwhile, the diesel/electric HR22SE boom, also debuting, showed what is possible with hybrid tech and much larger machinery.
Niftylift has plainly been busy, then, so a plan to visit the company's Miton Keynes factory was agreed in principle. Watch this space for more...