August_1971 — Page 38

Lift truck cuts labour expense

A building contractor in the U.S.A. estimates a rough-terrain lift truck will shorten its on-site work schedule for an apartment complex by three weeks, resulting in a saving in labour of US$15,000.

Greater Dallas Builders, Inc., Lan- caster, Texas, U.S.A., uses a Clark IT-60 towable lift truck to move ma- terials that formerly were carried by hand labour. The truck currently is working at Pleasant Hill Village, a US$1.4 million apartment complex comprising 25 buildings and 102 one-, two- and three-bedroom units.

"We have to keep lumber and other materials moving to keep carpenters busy," says co-owner Mr Carl Cun- ningham. "Without the fork lift truck, about 25 of our 37 carpenters would be either idle or behind schedule."

Mr Cunningham says his company first began using such a lift truck when it got one on loan from a lumber company three years ago to move ma- terials at another project site.

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The new Clark unit on the job since last November has been made available to Greater Dallas Builders under a short-term rental contract. Powr-Lift Corporation, Clark's Dallas dealer, is responsible for maintaining and servicing the vehicle, assuring equipment availability.

"I think we've more than paid for our investment in the truck because it's replaced a lot of hand labour for

us,"

says Mr Cunningham. "It can travel anywhere on the site much faster than we could get men around. This means we can assign workmen to other more important jobs. We expect to finish the Pleasant Hill Village job three weeks ahead of time, saving about US$5,000 a week of labour."

Because of the lift truck's mobility, Greater Dallas Builders now uses a central depot for materials storage at the Pleasant Hill site instead of scatter- ing materials at different building loca- tions, resulting in easier inventory control. The truck hauls materials on trips up to 600 ft.

Using a triple-stage upright, the 6,000-lb rated capacity vehicle lifts

Far East BUILDER, August 1971

everything from studs, gypsum board and plywood to two-by-tens, trusses, brick and assorted roofing materials to heights up to 30 ft. This permits place- ment of materials on the second and third levels of houses and apartments. Previously, workmen carried materials to upper levels.

The IT-60 works 10 hours a day, five days a week. Operating expense is minimal, according to the company, with gas costing about US$4 for every 15 hours of operation.

"At first we were a little hesitant to use a lift truck to move heavy loads

HE

(Left and above) Trusses and panels can be quickly placed in position using the lift truck, which also manoeuvres (below) rough construction sites with ease.

BERING SA I

over rough terrain and left them to second and third storeys," admits Mr Cunningham, "but we're not worried about it anymore. The truck has a wide track for additional stability and its controllability lets the operator carefully position loads in hard-to- reach or confined places."

The pneumatic-tyred Clark truck can be towed over-the-road from one

job site to another. Although Mr Cun- ningham's company has not yet moved the vehicle to another site, he says the towing capability will be convenient when the time comes to change jobs.

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