Nick Stevens from Connetts Farm said: “We reached a point where our customers wanted us to supply more specialist composts, manures and mulches in large bags directly to their door. At that time, we only had a tipping trailer which wasn’t suitable for clean, effective and safe delivery.
“Top soil is one of the heaviest products we sell, which needs a heavy-duty crane to lift it off the truck. I was already familiar with Hiab’s cranes, so I spoke to them to see if they could help. We’ve since invested in a HIAB T-CLX 018-2 (with 1 manual extension) on a Nugent F3720H 3.5 tonne flatbed trailer which has opened up doors for us as a business.
“We’ve been able to meet increasing demand throughout spring and summer while people focused on improving outdoor spaces during lockdown. It’s given us real scope to grow our customer base.”
John Abbott, southern key account manager for Hiab said: “There is currently a gap in the market for a quality trailer-mounted crane with excellent lifting capabilities. Our partnership with Nugent offers a practical solution to the market which has the added bonus of green credentials.
“When Nick approached us, we were able to offer something which ticked all of his boxes. The HIAB T-CLX 018-2 with one manual extension can lift 430kg at 4.2m with a maximum lift of 995kg.
“Our crane is also fully electric and very quiet to operate, which is also better for the environment. We’ve worked with Nugent to connect an impressive 400AH battery pack which is charged with a 30 AMP solar charge panel within the trailer. The power can then be monitored through a simple phone app.
Colm Brown, sales and technical director for Nugent Trailer said: “This specialist trailer crane we have developed with Hiab will help farmers, builders’ merchants, gardeners, horticulturists, plant operations and local councils, anyone in fact who is having manual handling issues for deliveries where a crane/trailer combination could be the solution. We have engineered the chassis to accept the crane from the factory. It has been designed to be completely stable carrying weight on the trailer and moving bulky items at height.”