Linde: New mast meets growing requirements

Goods handling specialist Linde Material Handling (MH) is now equipping its R14 HD to R25 reach trucks for payloads of 1.4 to 2.5 tonnes with a new heavy-duty mast. It offers operators a better view of the load and working environment as well as greater residual capacities, enabling them to move pallets quickly and safely at lift heights of up to 15 metres.

To accommodate more goods and a larger assortment, warehouses and racking systems continue to grow in height. This places increasing demands on the reach trucks used, because the loads have to be stored and retrieved quickly and safely up to the top shelf levels. And that’s not all: while the vehicles reach higher and higher with the mast extended, they should be able to pass through gates and racking without any problems with the mast retracted. At the same time, the vehicle must not become longer. Every centimetre counts so that the trucks are as manoeuvrable as possible, can cope with narrow aisle widths and the storage areas can be optimally utilised. Last but not least, solutions are needed for the mast vibrations that occur with increasing lifting height and for the increasingly difficult visibility conditions.

Visibility-optimised mast for more safety and handling performance

The best possible view of the load and surroundings is the basic prerequisite for safe working with reach trucks. This is achieved in two ways with the new heavy-duty reach mast: on the one hand, it is much wider than the previous models, and on the other hand, the developers were able to dispense with the cross-bracing that was previously necessary. This results in significantly larger viewing windows between the mast profiles, which significantly improves the view of the forks. Depending on the type and design, the driver’s field of vision is extended by up to 27 percent.

The optimised design of the head crossbeam also extends the field of view upwards, allowing the operator to better see and thus control the forks when storing and retrieving at high lift heights. But it is not only the view upwards that is improved. The view of the horizontal working environment is also optimised with the new mast, as it is mounted in a more advantageous position on the vehicle. In this way, the driver can look past the loaded mast without leaning to the side.

With a maximum lift height of up to 15 metres, the new mast reaches a full two metres higher than the previously installed masts. It also has a higher residual capacity, so that the vehicles can move significantly more load weight than before when the mast is fully extended. To ensure that the reach trucks with the new mast can safely pass through warehouse passages, Linde MH has further optimised the ratio between lift height and overall height. As a result, the new 15-metre mast is even lower than the corresponding 13-metre version of the predecessor model when closed.

More robust and service-friendly

More robust mast profiles with staggered reinforcements provide even more stability for the mast, additionally stiffening the thrust mast and minimising the deflection of the individual components. This leads to lower mast vibrations when storing and retrieving at high lift heights, which not only saves the driver the waiting time until swinging out, but also avoids collisions between mast and racking, which are not infrequently associated with high levels of damage to the load and infrastructure. For even more mast stability at great heights, the optional driver assistance system Dynamic Mast Control (DMC) is available: a sensor-controlled electric thrust drive compensates for mast vibrations and deflections through targeted and highly precise counter-movements.

The vehicle length, on the other hand, has remained unchanged so that the reach trucks can manoeuvre in narrow warehouse aisles as usual. For a simplified mast change, the reach carriage now remains in the vehicle chassis during dismantling. In this way, the trucks can be quickly moved to another location and quickly put back into operation there. This reduces time requirements and costs by up to 50 percent.

For more information, please visit: https://www.linde-mh.de/de/