Joseph Merritt Group Plc is a leading specialist in the installation and relocation of machinery and industrial equipment. Over the past 85 years the company has developed an unrivalled reputation for quality of service.
Merritts has experienced a growth in sales of 63% over the last three years across a range of its services, namely transport, installations and industrial training.
One of Merritt’s recent operations involved a large and heavy machining centre and the company used its latest King MTSE extending trailer, complete with rear mounted crane to complete the job.
The machine being delivered was a 23.5Te Hartford Dual-Y machining centre which had to be offloaded at a leading pneumatic & hydraulic clutch & brake manufacturer in southern England.
The offloading had to be accomplished in a relatively small yard at the rear of the company premises, adjacent to a railway line.
Co-ordinating the offloading with a mobile crane would have necessitated a line "possession", costing Merritt’s client many thousands of pounds and dictating off-loading and positioning at night time. The King crane trailer, because of its compact nature, enabled the work to be done without any such restrictions and cost implications.
Merritt runs a total of five King trailers; two specialist crane trailers, two ramped low loaders and one extendable step frame and according to Managing Director Richard Merritt: “The King trailers have always delivered in terms of reliability and longevity. These are the two most important factors to our company when we consider any capital expenditure.
“This particular trailer was designed specifically for this application. All the stress & stability calculations were carried out in-house at King Trailers, with assistance from CCT Ltd., Chesterfield regarding the crane specification & capacities. The resulting trailer is extremely stable and fit for purpose. It is a credit to those who have been involved in the design since its inception.
For its part, King thoroughly discussed the design of the trailer with Merritts to try to ensure that the extending trailer would cope with both the torsional requirements of the crane and the physical fitting requirements of the crane supplier.