Discussion Forum: Ground clearance relating to wheelie bin lifters

Beginners | Register |Contact

TOPICS

Forum Home

- Overall System

- Bins, Containers

- Lifters

- Compactors

- Chassis

- Transfer/Disposal

- Info. Tech.(IT)

- Open Forum

- Problems/News

Mechlift Company

Lifters & Handling Equipm. - how to select the right one::

Ground clearance

"90% of lifter damage is caused by impact with the roadway."

The truck at the top will drag its lifter on the roadway if it drives through the dip to the left. The bottom truck's lifter will still have about 200mm clearance. Ground clearance is a critically important factor when selecting and setting up a lifter:

By Gerald Dorrington on Thursday, April 01, 2004 - 10:34 am:

The lifter has two important positions when one discusses ground clearance:

- Parked position: This position is used if the truck will not be collecting bins for a while. The lifter is raised into this safe position, to give proper ground clearance, and often there are mechanical locks to hold the lifter in this safe, parked position.

- Full down position: In this position, the lifter is ready to receive a bin and normally the lifter rests on a mechanical stop. The top edge of the "comb" or engagement hook must be lower than the receiver of the bin. Normally the truck will drive from house to house with the lifter in this position, because it wastes time to "park" the lifter.
90% of lifter damage and repair costs are suffered in the full down position.
Traditionally, the ground clearance for the full down position has been to the order of as little as 200 - 300 mm. This clearance is simply determined by the height of the bin (750 - 920 mm) minus the length of the "comb frame" (550 - 600 mm). (Photo example)
Typical ground clearance calculation

However, here in South Africa we have been able to increase this ground clearance to around 500mm by:

- Not using short bins (120 liter and smaller) therefore we can set the mechanical stop higher, so that the top of the comb is 900mm off the ground. (The short bins also cause back strain to the operators)

- Developing an innovative comb frame that partly retracts out of the way of the ground when the lifter is full down, but extends to full length while tipping the bin.

Since Mechlift introduced the folding (or retracting) comb frame the number of collision-damaged lifters has drastically been reduced.

By Gerald Dorrington on Thursday, April 01, 2004 - 12:53 pm:

The ground clearance of the lifter in the parked position is particularly important if the truck has to reverse onto landfill sites. We do not want any part of the lifter to protrude below the line extended from the back wheels and the bottom edge of the compactor. ie. The parked lifter must not reduce the REL's departure angle.

Mechlift Managers | Admin

Add a Message