Highland Campervans, located just north of Inverness, have dealt with leisure vehicles for many years. Like many workshop operators who have to deal with LCV-based motorhomes, the variety of vehicle sizes gives rise to several unique lifting challenges.
The overall vehicle length can create the first problem to deal with: the wheelbase. To accommodate the size of the vehicle wheelbase, the lift platforms often need to be of considerable length. Thought has to be given to the lift posts’ drive-through width to cater for the extra wide bodywork and mirrors. This often results in workshop operators looking at the larger CV lifts, which take up considerable floor space due to their size.
There is an alternative way of lifting these specialist leisure vehicles that can provide practical and versatile use of workshop floor space. The mobile column solution from Tecalemit Garage Equipment provides such a facility.
Mobile columns can be supplied in either electro-mechanical or electro-hydraulic format, with a choice of wired or wireless operation. The team at Highland Campervans needed to give their workshop operation a bit of a lift, so they contacted Andy Thomson, the Workshop Specialist at Dingbro Ltd in Inverness, a well-established Tecalemit distributor.
Andy needed advice on the Tecalemit range and contacted Jim McDermott, Tecalemit’s Equipment Specialist for Scotland, who has over 30 years of experience creating workshop facilities in existing and new build premises. Jim discussed the lifting requirements with the team at Dingbro and Highland Campervans. After evaluating various lifting options, it was decided that four Tecalemit Leviathan Mobile Column lifts would provide a cost-effective and versatile capability. Given the smaller wheel diameter on some of the light commercial-based vehicles, Jim recommended the small wheel adaptors be included as an optional extra.
The Tecalemit Leviathan SF/9455 Mobile Column Lift features a 5.5-tonne capacity per column. With a set of four, the overall lifting capacity will safely lift LCV-based campervans while also dealing with most of the bigger, CV-based motorhomes. The additional OA/60633 Small Wheel Adaptor caters for wheel diameters of 500mm to 700mm. This was particularly necessary due to the large quantity of Fiat-derived camper vans with 16” wheels that Highland Campervans have to deal with.
The Tecalemit Leviathan units feature an electro-mechanical system with Nylatron lifting nuts mounted to a cold rolled steel screw with bronze safety nuts for longevity, reliability and safety.
The range starts with a lifting capacity of 5.5 tonnes per column and can be configured in sets of 4, 6 or 8 columns. Lifting capacity can be increased by choosing 7.5, 8.5 or 10-tonne columns.
The motor is controlled via individual PLC units, which continuously synchronise each column, ensuring that all carriages remain level +/-5mm throughout the lifting cycle.
Columns are manoeuvred into position using the integral trolley system. A control unit is situated on the master column with additional controls on each slave column providing the added safety of an emergency stop control on each column. A separate control cabinet on a trolley can be specified as an option.
The team at Highland Campervans were delighted with their new purchase and immediately put them to use on a Peugeot Auto-Sleeper.
Thanks to Highland Campervans, Kerrowaird Farm Steading IV2 7JQ
