MHW Magazine News and stories from the Materials Handling Industry
Hitting all the right notes
It’s not every day that Jungheinrich gets a call to lift a grand piano but that’s exactly what happened when Martin Jones from Dudley Metropolitan
Borough Council called Jungheinrich’s local salesman Ben Griffiths, asking for a stacker truck for Stourbridge Town Hall.
Far from a joke, the request was genuine and the grand piano weighing nearly half a tonne, had to be lifted 1.2 metres to stage level every time it was required for a performance at the newly refurbished Victorian town hall.
Grand pianos are not the easiest object to lift and have to be handled with extreme care if they are to remain free from damage and stay in tune.
A past master of moving pianos small and large, Martin Jones said: “We had a very old truck which became uneconomic to repair and held auditions
for a new stacker truck to take the part – which is when Jungheinrich landed the staring role.”
The budding star was the Jungheinrich EMC 110 powered electric pedestrian stacker designed to lift 1000Kg to 1560mm or 2000mm as required. Jungheinrich’s Ben Griffiths said: “The slim design ‘simplex’ mast gives excellent visibility on both sides of the truck when positioning the grand piano, with sensitive drive and lift controls on the multi-functional tiller arm for precise control.”
The Jungheinrich EMC 110 a hydraulic lift with built-in battery charger, lifts a specially adapted pallet under the piano to spread the load. The steering tiller arm is offset for better visibility and is designed for easy manoeuvrability, ideal for the theatre.
Martin Thomas said: “The Jungheinrich EMC 110 is a great addition to the famous town hall theatre and is a natural in and around the stage which is currently being prepared for the busy winter panto season”.
With the grand piano carefully positioned on stage ready for the next performance, Jungheinrich is certainly hitting the right notes at Stourbridge Town Hall.
