AGCO, an American company founded in 1990, is a global leader in the manufacture and distribution of agricultural equipment. It provides agricultural solutions to farmers worldwide through the distribution of recognised brands and its lines of tractors, combine-harvesters, haymaking equipment, seeding and tillage implements, grain storage and protein production systems, as well as spare parts. The group is present in France with several plants and a warehouse.
A new expansion to its tractor manufacturing plant in Beauvais was recently established on an existing industrial site adjacent to the plant. This expansion includes several buildings. AGCO needed to install lifting and handling equipment and has been working with Manelec since it moved to Beauvais in the 1990s for the supply and maintenance of its lifting equipment. Familiar with the quality of Verlinde services and equipment provided by its partner, AGCO has once again turned to them for equipping its new site.
New concept of lifting clamps
In the fall of 2021, Manelec installed a 2X600 kg overhead crane equipped with two Verlinde Eurochain VX 10 electric chain hoists and an onboard weighing system to limit the load. These hoists are delivered as standard including various equipment along with an electric safety limit switch for high and low positions and an IP55 lifting and steering motor.
In addition, a monorail with a Eurochain VR16 Verlinde compact two-speed electric chain hoist for loads of 1 250 kg has been installed. The hoists, for loads from 800 to 10 000kg, boast of a new concept of lifting clamps with teeth for a perfect chain drive.
Manual hoists
The installation was carried out on top of existing machines, thus Manelec used manual hoists for the lifting of beams and aerial platforms. At the same time, for another building on the expanded site, Manelec supplied a 6.3 ton overhead crane with a 28m span and a self-supporting structure. It is used for special changes made to tractors. The crane is equipped with a Eurobloc VT2 electric wire rope hoist having a steering motor with variable speed from 3 to 20m/min. The installation of this crane required the foundations to be adapted beforehand with a 32-metre consolidation pit.
In the spring of 2022, Manelec installed a 5-ton bi-rail crane with a self-supporting structure and two self-propelled gantry cranes of 3 200 kg each, autonomous and equipped with radio control.
