Lifting heavy machinery such as haul trucks and wheel loaders can be a challenging task without the right system in place. The process of assembling and transporting an over-dimension vehicle requires several steps, some of which may involve locating and positioning the lifting equipment at the appropriate lift points, removing the wheels, attaching wheel stands, and lowering the vehicle to the ground followed by removing the lifting equipment. Thereafter, a multi-wheel trailer would be placed under the vehicle and the wheel stands removed before it is ready for transportation. Using short stroke cylinders without synchronous lifting would be time-consuming, cumbersome and could introduce additional risk if the load is lifted at different heights.

Lifting heavy machinery such as haul trucks and wheel loaders can be a challenging task without the right system in place. The process of assembling and transporting an over-dimension vehicle requires several steps, some of which may involve locating and positioning the lifting equipment at the appropriate lift points, removing the wheels, attaching wheel stands, and lowering the vehicle to the ground followed by removing the lifting equipment. Thereafter, a multi-wheel trailer would be placed under the vehicle and the wheel stands removed before it is ready for transportation. Using short stroke cylinders without synchronous lifting would be time-consuming, cumbersome and could introduce additional risk if the load is lifted at different heights. WesTrac required an efficient, portable and safe solution to lift their Cat® 994K Wheel Loader. The system needed to be operated independently without manual intervention and provide locking function during lift. The massive 200 tonne Cat wheel loader had to be lifted to a height of 400-450mm with an accuracy of +/- 2mm across four lift points. The process had to be carried out on uneven ground which caused the lifting points to be at different heights. The lifting equipment needed to work independently to the pump and required forklift pockets so it could be maneuvered into place easily. To overcome these challenging circumstances, a high-precision lifting system was required to ensure that the wheel loader was lifted at level regardless of the ground conditions.