Masonry Magazine August 2009 Page. 20
Indispensable
Telehandlers
New models increase jobsite productivity, have improved safety features, and offer more benefits.
BY BRETT MARTIN
TELEHANDLERS HELP MASON CONTRACTORS BY unloading trucks, lifting bricks or blocks onto scaffolding, moving mast climbers, and assisting with clean up when a job is finished. And, in today's competitive environment, the machines also help contractors by increasing productivity and boosting their bottom lines.
"The value of any piece of equipment is, 'Did I move more brick or block? Is it going to save more money?" says Pete Haikio, VP of sales and marketing for Pettibone in Baraga, Mich.
Even something as seemingly simple as increasing a telehandler's cycle time can make jobs more efficient, he says.
"That cycle time might only be one to three seconds faster, but if you do that 200 times a day, that has a tangible difference," Haikio says, noting that telehandlers also have to be easy to operate. "The nature of today's jobsite is somebody is going to jump on it for an hour, then do something else. That's all the more reason to make the joystick counterintuitive and easy to operate."
Heavy-duty machines for moving mast climbers
AT LEAST TWO COMPANIES, Pettibone in Baraga, Mich., and Manitou North America in Waco, Texas, unveiled new high-capacity telehandlers at 2009 World of Concrete last February. Manitou launched the MHT 860, which has a 13,200-pound capacity and a 26-foot, six-inch lift height.