Manitou, Merlo, and Bobcat Push the Envelope at Bauma

Enlarge Image Manitou's MRT cab has been redesigned for more room.

April 25, 2007 • Access and telehandler manufacturers are planting roots in new markets at Bauma, and Manitou, Merlo, and Bobcat are no exception. The three manufacturers are venturing into new categories, as well as offering both bigger and more compact machines.

 

The biggest news from Manitou is that it now has Tier 3 engines in all its products. The MRT2150, for example, previously featured a 123-hp engine and now incorporates a 150-hp engine. In other news, the company has redesigned the cab on the MRT product line to make it roomier, and

Enlarge Image The MRT 3050 features a 98-foot reach and 11,000-pound lift capacity.

the controls have been reconfigured for easier use.

 

A highlight of Manitou's booth at Bauma is its biggest rotating boom telehandler • the MRT 3050 • which the company introduced last spring at Intermat in France. The unit features a 98-foot reach, 11,000-pound maximum lifting capacity, three-stage outriggers, and air-ride suspension. Manitou currently does not have plans to bring the MRT 3050 to North America.

 

Bobcat unveiled its newest compact telehandler, the T2250, which has a 5-meter lift height and a lift capacity of 2.2 metric tons. Its North American 

Enlarge Image The T2250 American equivalent will be introduced in January 2008.

equivalent, the V416, will make its debut in January 2008 at the World of Concrete. This machine will feature a 4,000-pound lift capacity and 16-foot lift height.

For the European marketplace, Merlo introduced the new MPR self-propelled aerial work platforms, a concept that combines the rough-terrain mobility of a telehandler with the speed of a truck-mounted aerial lift. The series is made up of three models • the MPR 20, MPR 25, and MPR 30 • with lift heights up to 98 feet and platform capacities of 496 pounds.

 

Mounted on a self-propelled chassis, the MPR machines

Enlarge Image Merlo MPR combines telehandler and truck-mounted aerial features.

feature both a fully enclosed, furnished operator cab and an articulating boom with a two-person work platform. The aerials are controlled from the platform and feature upper structure slewing, platform slewing around a vertical axis, a fly-jib with ±90° of autonomous elevation, and 180° slewing fly-jib as an option. The chassis has automatic frame-leveling, hydropneumatic suspension, a 102-hp, four-cylinder Deutz turbo engine, electronically managed hydrostatic transmission, and load-sensing hydraulic system. Travel speed is 24 mph.

 

Merlo plans to build 20 units to test the market and reliability of the units. One machine was on-display at Bauma.