Manitou continues its impressive development of telehandlers with the new range of Rotating telehandlers, the Vision Plus range. Featured here, the MRT-X 2260 Vision+ has a maximum lifting height of 22 metres and a capacity of six tonnes, and a number of models in the range including a 35 metre, 7 ton unit, it is an impressive piece of machinery entering the Australian market.
Manitou is a company with a rich history. It was started in Western France by Marcel Braud in 1958. He envisioned the original machine and created it by inverting the layout of a farm tractor and adding a lifting mast and hydraulic steering. From this early concept and humble beginnings, Manitou has grown astronomically and has sold over 500,000 machines across the globe.
The all new Vision + Range of Rotating telehandlers is expected to be well received by the numerous industry sectors in Australia including the construction and crane industries.
From the ground up, the Vision plus range has been redesigned and boasts a total of 21 new patents. Manitou’s Matt Szady explains more.
“We have the new engine supplier in Yanmar and you will see this brand being installed across a large number of models in the Manitou range. The Yanmar power plants have proven to be super-efficient and deliver more power and Torque then previous models with some units in the range now using Yanmar able to generate 50% more torque whilst being 10% more fuel efficient,” Szady said.
The Vision plus range has seen a complete redesign of the machine to improve it specifically for applications in the tough working environments found particularly in the construction and resources sectors.
“We have changed the type of steel used and the treatment it receives to improve the anti-corrosion capabilities. We have used a higher yield, 700 megapascals (MPa) steel which has allowed us to get the extra tonne of capacity, one meter of lift whilst not raising the overall weight of the machine,” Szady said.
This machine has been designed to improve the safety and visibility for the operator. The visibility through to the forks, the corners and above have been vastly improved. The roof grid above the driver’s head has been precisely angled to improve the visibility of the operator improving safety, efficiency and made handling loads at height a breeze.
“30 per cent of reported telehandler incidents in Victoria comes from people getting in and out of the cabin so with the introduction of the Easy Step Cab into the Vision Plus range, this is sure to help minimise these incidents. The whole top deck of the Vision Plus range is now walkable even when slewed out and features access and egress steps on all sides of the machine meaning the operator never has to jump off the machine to get around, once again lowering the chance of injury,” Szady said.
The driver focus is not simply kept to the safety, the comfort of the driver is vastly improved in this machine as Szady explains.
“It does not take a genius to realise that a glass box the driver sits in can get hot, so with that, the designers have taken phenomenal steps to improve the ability for the cab to be cooled. The shape of the cab has been designed to allow air to flow more effectively around the cab and operator thus allowing the system to work more efficiently, lowering the power needed thus reducing the operating costs without sacrificing operator comfort,” he said.
“This development is something that started in the agriculture sector and we have brought this across to our construction machines. This is the benefit of working in a number of industries, lessons can be learned and developments can be shared between them.”
The Vision plus range has been designed with longevity in mind, whether that be using nitrogen to cut the steel as opposed to a laser to eliminate corrosion during the production process and a paint finish with a greater weather o meter rating of 800 as opposed to the previous 600.
The build of the machine is not the only part vastly improved, the technology available to the operator is impressive. The pop-up display provides numerous fail safe options, the screen will flash amber or red and recognise the task that is being performed incorrectly to notify the driver a change must be made.
The display tracks the boom position on the screen, it also shows the load chart and what the capacity is at each point on each angle. The machine can simulate lifts after the parameters have been set to simplify the task for operators.
“The feedback from long term users of these machines is that they can often replace four or five guys on site simply by being there, they can then be redeployed in different areas of the site or allow companies to operate a greater number of sites, it is just infinitely capable of doing multiple tasks with a vast array of attachments” he said.
In most cases, owners will take delivery of their MRT and include a winch and basket but the true benefit of a telehandler on site is its versatility. Manitou offer a wide range of attachments including buckets, jibs and concrete mixers just to name a few.
“We are excited for this machine to be launched in Australia, we believe it fits the market really well and we look forward to feedback from customers,” he said.