A Bit Of Geometry

The aggressively–sloped forward edge of Leader's new spider, the 16 m working height Jumper 160, “makes it easier to climb over obstacles,” said Malcolm Kitt, managing director of Power Lift UK. His Cambridgeshire company became the sole UK distributor for Italian manufacturer Leader in May and markets its products as TerrainScout. Leader gave the Jumper 160, pictured above in prototype at SED in the UK, a maximum outreach of 8 m and a basket payload capacity of 200 kg.

Shape and size of track pads is important enough for Germany's Teupen to design and build its undercarriages. “Traction is important, [as is] ground pressure; it is important to have the right weight balance,” sales manager Arjen Snijder told AI.

The company designed last year its own rubber track pads, made by Radyal in Germany. In addition to providing the surface texture the company wants, Teupen also specified a shorter track pitch – the distance between pad centre lines. Consequently, the company's machines rock less after coming off an obstacle, says Mr Snijder.

Ari Kiiski of Avant Tecno in Finland, manufacturer of the Leguan 125 TRD, whose 40 cm ground clearance helps it crawl over some of the rough terrain of Scandinavia, points out the importance of that characteristic, as well a low centre–of–gravity. Both machine characteristics are matters of sizes of and distances between components – geometry.