Verlinde wire rope hoist helps UK mould shop boost lifting capacity

The hoist is part of an overhead beam-crane system designed, manufactured and installed by Verlinde's UK distributor, Pelloby.

Since its formation in 2003, Avalon Plastics has gone from strength-to-strength and operates from two UK sites in Ystrad Mynach and Glastonbury. In recent years, Pelloby has worked closely with the company on a series of projects involving new crane systems. During the most recent expansion, Avalon realised it was going to require an additional heavy-duty lifting solution and was attracted to a proposal from Pelloby for an overhead beam crane featuring a Verlinde Eurobloc VT3 hoist.

The Eurobloc VT3 at Avalon is a low-headroom electric wire-rope hoist with 12.5-tonne capacity and 9m height of lift. It offers a two-speed hoisting motor (4 and 0.7m/min) with bi-metal sensors, as well as two traverse speeds (20 and 5m/min). Featuring a total of 13 patents, the design includes a maintenance-free DC disc brake, four-position limit switch (up, down, high-position deceleration and reversed-phase protection), load limiter and handheld radio-controlled operation.

Among the challenges facing the installation team from Pelloby was the need to reinforce the existing gantry framework at Avalon Plastics to support the new single-girder crane. Alterations were required to ensure the stability of the structure and guarantee workplace safety. However, Pelloby was able to carry out these changes with minimal disruption by welding a reinforced plate to the underside of the gantry. The span of the new crane is 17 with 5.4m height of lift.

"The older crane which we replaced had fallen into disuse, but the arrival of this new overhead crane has meant that we are once again fully utilising our existing gantry framework," said Richard Holley, Operations Manager at Avalon Plastics. "We are extremely happy, not only with our new crane and hoist, but with the design, delivery and installation service from Pelloby."