Giving capability a lift

The Manitou telehandler can lift three tonnes more than the previous forklift.

snapshot from 10FSB’s trial of the Manitou. Photos provided by Capt Terry Campbell, DMO

snapshot from 10FSB’s trial of the Manitou. Photos provided by Capt Terry Campbell, DMO

Nothing beats a new toy. Pte John Wellfare joins troops from 10FSB as they put the Army’s new forklift through its paces.

New Forklifts from French-based company Manitou are being introduced into service during the next 12 months and will improve upon the Army’s previous lift capability by three tonnes.

Twenty-five Manitou eight-tonne telehandlers will be delivered under a contract with Australian supplier NTP Forklifts, after recent testing by 10FSB in Townsville proved the forklift’s capabilities.

Because FSBs have a need to take loading equipment above and beyond the comfort of the average shipyard, Land Combat Systems has invested a lot of time and effort into testing the Manitou’s ability to perform in the most challenging environments that could be encountered.

Program Manager Engineer Vehicles at Land Combat Systems Lt-Col Peter Cleasby-Jones says the new forklift will be a breath of fresh air for FSB operators.

“It’s a great machine – fully enclosed cab, air conditioned, the telescopic boom gives it a really great reach,” he says.

“There’s also a range of other features that the machine needed to satisfy, such as a fording depth of one metre.

“It’s predominantly for working in and around freight terminals, it’s required to be transported on a range of transportation, such as landing craft, be able to go across the shore and be able to carry containers from landing craft across beachheads.”

Lt-Col Cleasby-Jones says the new forklift will be used extensively on deployments in the future, and has already proven itself on operations.

“One of these machines has already seen service in Iraq,” he says.

“We bought four machines to essentially supplement machines that went to our East Timor operation – four Manitous of a very similar specification.

“As luck would have it, the first machine was delivered to Brisbane when we had an urgent operational request from Iraq.

“In concert with the Australian supplier, we trained up the operators very quickly, put some spare parts together, put them on an Antinov and they all flew over.”

Side by side

Case W36 medium forklift



Dimensions
Length: 8.58m
Width: 2.81m
Height: 3.27m
Mass: 18,824kg
Engine
Model: Case, A504 BDT1
Type: Six-cylinder, four-stroke cycle
Top speed: 32.7kmh
Forklift attachment
Make: Standens
Type: Sideshift/swingshift
Max lift height: 3.96m
Max load: 5000kg

Manitou MHT 7140L forklift



Dimensions
Length: 7.93m
Width: 2.66m
Height: 3.24m
Mass: 31,300kg
Engine
Model: Mercedes-Benz, OM 904 LA
Type: Four-cylinder, four-stroke direct injection
Top speed: 25kmh
Forklift attachment
Make: Manitou
Type: Telescopic
Max lift height: 7.5m
Max load: 8000kg