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Construction & Mining Expo in Perth

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

SATURDAY may have been a wash-out at last weekend’s Construction & Mining Expo at McCallum Park in Perth, but the biennial event still managed to attract well over 4000 people and comments that it was the “best collection of equipment and services that anyone has seen in Perth for many years”.

One of the most memorable machines on display would have to have been Bearcat Tyres’ new mobile construction, earthmoving service truck.

Sporting a giant pineapple and the catchphrase “ain’t she sweet”, the machine is a new addition to Bearcat’s range of services and equipment and the first time the public has seen it.

Bearcat, national distributors for Solideal, CEAT and Duratough brands of industrial tyres and wheels, designed and built a complete mobile tyre and wheel changing unit – for container-stacker forklifts, heavy construction and mining vehicles – able to handle all tyres up to 3m in diameter.

The new unit means Bearcat can now perform tyre changes in out-of-hours times, safely.

“We deal with a lot of existing companies that have got big equipment and we’ve been servicing their smaller trucks, [but] as their equipment gets bigger, their tyres get bigger and we need to be able to service their tyres better,” business development manager Glen Wolfenden told ConstructionIndustryNews.net at the expo.

“Most of those guys are here that we deal with and for them to see the truck before it actually gets to their yard and understand what we’re trying to do and how we’re trying to intertwine with the growth of their business is a benefit for us,” he said.

Another exhibitor that reported success from CME 2008 was Digga West, which sold two of its new large Flipscreens, worth $40,000 each, and a number of its smaller products.

Digga West stocks a range of attachments for construction and earthmoving machinery including post hole borers, augers and wear parts, trenchers, road brooms, four-in-one buckets, pallet forks and alloy loading ramps.

New to the Digga range are Digga Slashas, skid hoes, vibratory rollers, stump grinders, tilt attach, dozer blades, Power Rakes and Magnum Mulchers. Digga West also distributes Sureweld alloy ramps, Flipscreens, Harley power box rakes, ECH buckets and a range of excavator bucket wear parts and cutting edges.

Principal John Torrance told ConstructionIndustryNews.net this morning he was very happy with the number of sales and enquiries generated from the expo.

CME 2008 event director Bob Schrader said the expo had achieved its goal of trying to attract a larger number of contractors to the event.

“We had a lot of contractors through on the Sunday … which was [what] we were trying to achieve,” he said.

“Everyone’s been forwarding very good feedback on how it’s all gone for them and there has been quite a number of sales reported.”

Solideal at CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2008

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Solideal exhibited at CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2008: the largest trade show in North America of any industry in 2008 and this years most important equipment fair in the world.
More than 144,600 industry professionals from around the world attended CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2008 and IFPE 2008 during their five-day run March 11-15, 2008 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, USA. The show covered more than 2.28 million net square feet of exhibits (211,966 net square meters), taken by 2,182 exhibitors, and was 21 percent bigger than the last show, held in 2005.
Booth #366 was home to Solideal, showcasing Solideal tires, tracks and wheels in an impressive 12,000+ square feet of space. The booth included a large geometric white dome which quickly became known throughout the show as the “igloo in the desert”, numerous outdoor tire displays, and a large sand pit with equipment from different manufacturers demonstrating the ability of Solideal SolidAir tires and OTT tracks.
Over 70 members of the Solideal team from around the globe were flown in to attend Conexpo/ConAGG 2008. All were eager to see as many visitors as possible to help end-users find the perfect solution for their needs and share their expertise on Solideal products and applications.

Although the Solideal demo pit got a lot of attention, the real star of the show was Solideal’s new radial tire, the SRGP, which debuted at this show. The SRGP was designed to be one of the lowest vibration radial tires on the market, providing good riding comfort for the driver. Created with a long lasting compound, the superb and original design of the tire provides excellent traction and stability. The non-directional tread pattern of the SRGP is perfect for environments involving soft earth, mud, sand and gravel; and the unique tread-steps allow for self-cleaning and stone ejection. The SRGP will be available on a limited basis starting in May 2008.

Solideal is a world leader in Tires, Rubber Tracks, and Wheels for Material Handling and Construction Equipment. Through its global network of manufacturing, distribution and service centres, the Solideal group supports the Forklift and Tire dealers throughout the world. The Solideal group employs over 9000 people in 20 countries.

The new and safe way to change tyres.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Changing heavy industrial tyres and wheels has always been a tough, demanding job, with obvious physical risks to the tyre maintenance crew & the machine itself.

Bearcat Tyres, national distributors for SOLIDEAL, CEAT & DURATOUGH brands of industrial wheels and tyres have added a heavy industrial on-site installation service to their array of goods and services. Speeding up the tyre changing process whilst making the operation safer.

“When changing a big heavy wheel, on a container-lift fork truck on site we used to jack the vehicle up off the ground and utilise one of the clients small forklifts to take the weight of the wheel, then the maintenance crew would undo the stud nuts.” Said Mark Bloxham, Managing Director Bearcat Tyres. “The crew were then in the precarious position of having to place themselves in the wheel’s drop-zone to balance and remove the wheel. Often quite dangerous”.

Mark and the Bearcat team designed and built a complete mobile wheel and tyre changing unit able to handle tyres just under 3 metres in diameter.

An Isuzu 10 tonne truck was used as the base frame, augmented with:
• an imported speciality crane with tyre-hand able to lift 2,100 kilos;
• a heavy-duty compressor (46CFM @ 175 PSI);
• hydraulic 50 tonne jacks;
• air-over hydraulic Porta-power and bead breaker,
• a heavy duty steel body with pull-out drawers and safe storage facilities;
• a full compliment of workshop tools and last but not least Hella high intensity work lights on the crane and work area, safety beacons and witches cones to isolate a safe working area.

“We saw an opportunity not only to provide an extra service to the heavy end of the tyre market – for container-stacker forklifts, heavy construction and mining vehicles, to reduce their down-time,” said Mark “but also to ensure the safety of both operator and machine.”

“The truck’s a well thought-out design. It operates safely and efficiently” said Bearcat’s tyre technician, Paul Martini “With the radio frequency remote control, I have the mobility to see exactly what I’m doing while staying out of the way of these heavy tyre and wheels. But what I really love is the magnet on the back of the crane control, that sticks to any available surface- out of harms way.”

The tyre-hand on the crane lifts the new tyre off the truck, takes the weight of the tyre to be changed, the operator undoes the studs, the tyre-hand lifts the tyre off the studs onto the ground. The tyre-hand can be used to break the rim-seals, the tyre is replaced. Lifted-up into position (the movement of the arm is as accurate as a millimetre at a time) the wheel is slid on by the crane and the operator screws-on studs. Job done, safely.

“The inclusion of work lights mans that we can perform tyre changes in out-of-hours times, when the forklift may be idle. Our customers can therefore gain back valuable up-time with their forklifts” said Mark.

“This is the first of many of these trucks we’re rolling-out” said Mark “We’ll have our next one operating out of Perth within a month and current plans include commissioning one in each state by the end of the year.”

Solideal helps to rehabilitate Sri Lanka’s fishing industry

Monday, April 21, 2008

On June 12, the Building A Future Foundation, a product of the Solideal Loadstar Rehabilitation Trust (SLRT), has officially launched the Sashimi Boat MK1 in Mirrisa Fisheries Harbour, in Sri Lanka. Since May 2006, fifteen young Sri Lankans, have been trained by the foundation to develop a new generation of fishing boat designed to help the Sri Lanka fishing industry prosper. The project has also been a huge success in bringing skills to one of the regions in Sri Lanka most affected by the 2004 Tsunami.

Creating job opportunities
Only a few days after the Tsunami struck the coasts of Sri Lanka, the Solideal Loadstar Rehabilitation Trust (SLRT) was formed. In 2006, SLRT extended its program by creating the “Building a Future” (BAF) foundation. BAF focuses on fighting unemployment caused by the disaster and educating the younger generation to become productive in their society. Not only will these young people learn a trade, they are learning to employ others as they are taught to manage small enterprises.

BAF has the ambitious goal to generate 180 jobs over three years and is active in several areas: Boat building, Water-based leisure industry, Mechanical engineering and Information technologies. Of the people trained by the foundation so far, 18 have already found jobs and the 15 people who have worked on the Sashimi project will be fully employed soon.

Saving the fishing industry
The boats, named Sashimi for the high value products they are meant to carry, are key for Sri Lanka’s reconstruction as they will help the fishermen who have been the worst hit by the tsunami. Since the disaster, fishing boats are not able to go farther than 200 miles off shore; which means that the area is over-fished. BAF has brought a revolutionary boat concept for Sri Lanka: more storage space, faster speeds while using less fuel and suitable for longer trips. This boat should allow fishermen to leave on three to ten day fishing trips further away from the shore and cater to local markets and maybe even export some production. When the Sashimi boats are validated, this will stimulate the fishing and boat construction industry in Sri Lanka and create a new job pool for many young Sri Lankans looking for a career.

Solideal is a world leader in Tires, Rubber Tracks, and Wheels for Material Handling and Construction Equipment. Through its global network of manufacturing, distribution and service centers, the Solideal group supports the Forklift and Tire dealers throughout the world. The Solideal group employs over 9000 people in 20 countries.

Solideal presents the SolidAir SKS

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

40% more comfort for all skidsteer applications.
The SolidAir SKS is now available from Solideal and has inherited all the benefits that have made the reputation of our SKS Safetymaster: durability, stability and superior traction.
But one major difference for the SolidAir SKS is the sidewall design: using the latest engineering techniques, the SolidAir SKS has an Aperture design to cushion the machine and provide a smoother ride. The holes give the tire more vertical deflection abilities and create a comfort level close to that obtained with pneumatics, with the great advantage never to go flat!
The result is more than convincing:
According to testings, the SolidAir offers close to 40% more vertical deflection (standard measuring tool for tire comfort) than on the regular SKS Safetymaster.
Originally designed for the North American market, the SolidAir SKS promises a lot in terms of increased productivity and efficient cost-per hour operations.
The SolidAir SKS will be best suited for all skidsteer loaders used in severe duty environments such as demolition, recycling, garbage disposal facilities or scrap yards, mining and quarries. It will also perform very well in harsh industrial environments where puncture can be a recurrent problem.
The SolidAir SKS is a result of Solideal’s commitment to providing optimal solutions: no compromises on quality or performance and the lowest cost-per-hour for all applications.

Features:

Flat proof tire
More Comfort and better shock absorption
Used on reusable / recyclable wheels: only the tire is replaced, not the wheel.
Lasts 3 to 4 times longer than an equivalent pneumatic R4
Optimal traction with the SKS tread pattern