Avon Marble are a Bristol based company that produce granite work for kitchens and bathrooms. Their range includes fire surrounds, hearths, vanity tops and worktops – all of which begin life as heavy slabs of stone. A few months ago Pelloby installed an electric underslung crane to help Avon Marble streamline their back-of-house processes.
A crane for unloading lorries
A delivery area adjacent to the factory in which Avon Marble craft their various products consists of spaces for both unloading materials from wagons and storing these goods. Prior to the installation of the new Pelloby crane a forklift truck and other handling equipment was used when unloading goods from lorries and moving them to the storage area.
Avon Marble’s Managing Director, Trevor Gordon, explained that the Pelloby crane provided a huge boost in efficiency.
“Before the introduction of this new crane the task of unloading goods when new deliveries arrived was carried out by three people. Now it’s a job easily managed by one person in a fraction of the time.”
Maximising the height of lift
The crane, which features a double girder construction, can lift up to 3.2 tonnes and it was fitted with an electric wire rope crab unit hoist that runs at variable speeds.
A double run of gantry beams 20 metres in length which were supported by the existing building structure and free standing columns running through both the interior and exterior were also provided by Pelloby.
However, a key consideration during the design phase of this crane was to maximise the height of lift so that the crane could be positioned directly above wagons during the loading and unloading process. Given the limited height of the building this meant an underslung design had to be utilised in order to prevent the crane coming into contact with the building’s ceiling.
A radio control handset which governs the cross travel, long travel and hoisting speed was provided, making operation of the crane simple. Due to the fact that the crane was to be used in an outdoor environment a special cover was added to the hoist unit for protection from the elements.
At the client’s request the entire design, manufacturing and delivery process was completed by the team at Pelloby as quickly as possible. The crane was installed and ready for use less than two months after the initial site visit carried out by one of our sales representatives.
If you would like to know more about this project or have a requirement for a crane for your place of work, get in touch on 01952 586 626 or email sales@pelloby.com.