Cherry picker comes with dual engine

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Aug 2, 2007

Niftylift 21-DE's Rexroth axial piston, variable displacement pump has a low tolerance to backpressure, which led to the use of magnetic filters.

Milton Keynes-based Niftylift is a manufacturer of trailer-mounted, self-propelled, track-mounted and vehicle mounted hydraulic access equipment.

Sometimes known as "cherry pickers or mobile elevating work platforms (MEWP), the company's range conforms to CE, EN280, OSHA and ANSI safety standards.

Features such as articulating and telescopic booms, cage rotation and fly booms, render Niftylift products ideal alternatives to ladders, scaffold towers and scissor lifts.

In the 25 years since the formation of Niftylift, the company has steadily grown to become one of the largest manufacturers of hydraulic work platforms in Europe and now sells its products throughout Europe, the USA, the Far East and more recently Australia and South Africa.

This growth has been achieved through an ongoing policy of investment in staff, manufacturing equipment and design technology, that has enabled the production of innovative products.

Today, design and development work is performed using advanced 3D modelling packages that help to optimise every aspect of new product design, improving performance and reducing unnecessary weight.

A recent creation of Niftylift's RandD department is the company's Heightrider 21-DE bi-energy, self-propelled MEWP.

Designed for both indoor and outdoor use, the flexible new unit has both a diesel engine and an electric motor, and can switch seamlessly between both propulsion systems depending on its working environment.

Many technical obstacles needed to be overcome to enable the Heightrider 21-DE to be launched, not least the fundamental problem of finding a suitable filtration system for its vital hydraulic pump.

Although the Niftylift 21-DE's Rexroth axial piston, variable displacement pump is extremely efficient, it has a low tolerance to backpressure, therefore normal filter media was considered to be unsuitable.

A search of potential filter system manufacturers resulted in Eclipse Magnetics designing a new filter-head, and supplying Niftylift with adapted Micromag, advanced magnetic filters.

John sizer, the Niftylift Project Engineer involved in the project enthused, "Eclipse Magnetics convinced us that Micromag's outstanding filtration capability exactly matched our technical requirements".

"The use of Eclipse Micromag filters has now eradicated all previous back-pressure problems".

"In addition to the Micromag efficiently removing potentially harmful contaminates, the filter's accessible nature ensures minimum user-maintenance down-time".

Eclipse Magnetics has developed a wide range of filtration products that are designed for use across many industrial sectors.

Boasting an extremely impressive sub-micron filtration capability, the design of the new Eclipse products enables the efficient removal of ferrous and paramagnetic particles from fluids such as cutting oils, re-circulating coolants, and quenching oils.

Each of the filtration systems incorporates rare earth magnetic material to ensure extremely high magnetic flux fields.

Whilst passing through these extremely strong magnetic fields, the ingenious design of the Eclipse Magnetic's filter chambers alters the characteristics of the fluid's flow, maximising both the surface area and time available for the advanced magnets to attract and retain all suspended ferrous particles.