Toyota Material Handling Australia (TMHA) has specially tailored a 2.5-tonne forklift to meet the specific site needs at a New South Wales Lime plant.
Sibelco Australia commissioned a new diesel-powered Toyota 72-8FD25 forklift in
October at its Charbon Lime plant, near Kandos.
TMHA Orange branch manager Richard Bopping said the Sibelco unit at Charbon is the most "site specific" forklift he has delivered in his 13 years with Toyota.
"It's a great example of the level of customisation available to ensure our forklifts are perfectly matched to the customer's needs. The diverse range of tasks this forklift undertakes is pretty impressive too," he said.
Sibelco site maintenance supervisor Andrew Schneider said the new forklift
operates on uneven ground in a limestone-processing plant.
"It is the right tool for the right job," he said. "We asked for a limited-slip differential and wide, puncture-proof tyres, because the plant is located on the side of a hill and the ground conditions vary.
"Most of the site has a concrete surface, but there is a lot of uneven gravel as well."
The extensive site-specific fit-out for the machine also includes a custom hydraulic fork positioner, fork vibration damper, analogue weight gauge, dual-element cyclonic air filter, a pre cleaner, radiator screen, up-swept exhaust system,
high-capacity alternator, high-capacity battery and fire extinguisher.
Andrew Schneider said the new forklift has joined two older Toyota forklifts on
site and performs a wide variety of roles.
"The new Toyota has to be an all-rounder, because it serves as both a
general-duties forklift and with the maintenance department. Duties range from
loading and unloading trucks to lifting machinery parts with our jib
attachment," he said.
"It loads the bulka bags of lime powder we sell to mines in the Hunter Valley, unloads steel from trucks, carries the drums of oil we use to light the kilns and assists when we disassemble the fixed machinery for maintenance."
Summarising the purchase decision, Andrew Schneider said the Toyota forklift
was the pick of the bunch and that the specifications met all of Sibelco's
performance, reliability and safety requirements.
Toyota's 72-8FD25 forklift is part of Toyota's leading-edge 8-Series range of
counter-balance forklifts, which includes gas and diesel models, as well as
full range of battery electric forklifts.
Safety features of the Toyota 8-Series forklift range include Toyota's
exclusive System of Active Stability (SAS) and Operator Presence Sensing (OPS)
as standard features.
Andrew Schneider (left) with Sibelco's highly specified new Toyota 8-FD25 forklift