Manihoe Extends Manitou Reach in Construction Sector
Manitou's dominance of the building and construction industry – the area where it first made its mark and won critical acclaim when established shortly after World War II – looks set to be further strengthened this year with the launch of an exciting new product, the Manihoe.
While the product itself has only just been launched in Europe and will find its way into the Australian market midyear, leading local national materials handling distributor for Manitou, NTP Forklifts Australia, will use this month’s ACE Expo in Melbourne to introduce the Manihoe to the local construction fraternity via product brochures and technical documentation.
The fourth Australian Construction Equipment Expo (ACE 2005) takes place at Sandown Racecourse from Thursday 24 to Saturday 26 February and is one of the most comprehensive professional trade exhibitions for the civil construction, earthmoving and allied industries in Australia.
The innovative and versatile Manihoe, aptly described as a "two-headed giant" given its ability to cope with both handling and excavating, is the first machine of its kind in the world and received an enthusiastic reception when launched in France last month.
Taking its name from the contraction of the Manitou brand and Backhoe, a tractor shovel, the Manihoe’s versatility delivers added productivity while its innovative design ensures ease of use for all tasks.
With its front telescopic arm, the Manihoe is able to reach forward at heights far exceeding traditional machines, to the point where it offers a five-metre lift height and a three-metre forward reach.
Furthermore, its attachment quick coupling carriage allows forks, buckets and many other attachments to be fitted in a few seconds, enabling construction professionals to work with the attachment specifically designed for the task at hand.
Added to the handling capabilities of a normal Maniscopic machine is a rear shovel that allows the Manihoe to perform all the work of a tractor loader without any difficulty.
"With the Manihoe, Manitou has once again demonstrated its ability to design a tool that meets its customers’ needs. While the rear-mounted shovel can carry out excavation work and dig trenches and drains, the front-mounted telescopic arm makes light of everyday construction site jobs such as passing material over obstacles like walls and hedges, loading skips and trucks and laying pipes and cables in trenches," explains NTP Forklifts Australia’s Marketing Manager, Tom Naffine.
NTP Forklifts Australia will also use the ACE Expo to reinforce its prominence across all areas of the construction sector by displaying a selection of its award-winning forklifts and telescopic handlers that offer excellent lifting capacity, highly effective slew capacity, high ground clearance and unbeatable stability.
The Manitou range on display includes the Manitou rough terrain and semi-industrial mast lift trucks and the Maniscopic telescopic handlers.