GEOLIFT ADDS MOBILE CAPABILITY WITH NEW PRESS

“We’ve been using the press none stop since we purchased it and the business hasn’t looked back,” says Craig George, managing director at Geolift. “It’s a superb piece of equipment.”

With depots in Southampton, Bournemouth, Kings Lynn and South Wales, Geolift has almost 30 years of experience supplying sideloader and conventional lift trucks to customers across the southern half of the country. It specialises in the rental and sales of new and reconditioned lift trucks from many of the leading manufactures and offers a complete range of support services including rebuild, maintenance and spare parts supply.

The company purchased a mobile press so that it could offer tyre replacement services from its own resources without relying on third parties. After approaching Penny Hydraulics it purchased a compact 120 tonne capacity press mounted on a special trailer that can be towed behind one of its normal service vehicles. Because the tyre press is mobile it can visit any of Geolift’s depots or individual customer sites to provide on-the-spot support.

One of the innovative services offered by Geolift is a tyre swap facility. If a customer requires new tyres on one of its lift trucks the company prepares a replacement set of wheels with the correct specification tyres using the press. It then visits the site to remove the old wheels and install the new ones. In most cases the exchange can be made in around twenty minutes which minimises the downtime for the customer. The old wheels are refurbished and new tyres fitted using the mobile tyre press ready to be installed on one of the other 650 or so lift trucks maintained by the company.

“With this two in, two out service we offer the customer almost zero downtime,” says Craig George. “This really helps us to win and retain new business. We feel that a second press will be needed in the none too distant future due to the ever increasing customer base.”

The tyre press is designed and manufactured by Penny Hydraulics to offer the best possible combination of performance and safety in use. A hold-to-run handle ensures the operator is standing in a safe position well away from moving parts. The milled steel press plate, activated by a downward stroking ram, allows precise removal and application of solid tyres. Penny Hydraulics supplied a complete set of tooling, including long and short spider legs designed with its own 3D CAD systems to conform to the latest British Standard, which the company believes makes its press unique and the market leader. The press can be powered by on-site 110V or 240V or, as with Geolift, a diesel generator that incorporates an auxiliary 110V supply for hand tools and other equipment when working at remote locations. A Penny Hydraulics SwingLift crane mounted on the top of the frame allows users to lift tyres and wheels weighing up to 250kg on and off the low platform bed with no need for manual handling. The entire press is mounted on a compact dual axle trailer that provides stability and low point loadings for additional safety when driving or stationary.