Lotties' First Outing
Posted on 3rd January 2021 at 13:31
The latest addition to our fleet, LOTTIE, a lithium/diesel 20.95 hybrid tracked spider has had her first outing. Although not doing a glamorous job of clearing gutters and down pipes, it is essential work to maintain the integrity of every building. And what a beautiful building and setting this is for Lottie.
She certainly impressed our client with her smooth and sturdy operation. Using her radio remote controls enabled our experienced operator, whilst working from the ground, to manoeuvre our client in the basket to wherever he needed to be safely and efficiently by allowing all-round visibility.
After working on gravel at the front of the building Lottie was moved steadily around the property. When at the rear, plywood boards were used to protect the lawn and with Lotties' superb outreach, she only needed to be placed in one position to reach all of the guttering, which helped to speed up the work.
Being an old and large building, it has many elevations and several levels to the gardens. In order to proceed around the building and reach those extra elevations Lottie had to go down some very old stone steps. To protect the steps from damage we constructed some wooden ramps using scaffolding boards.
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Lottie was 'tracked' on ground protection boards, across the top of the narrow grass bank to her next working position.
We had to be extremely careful as we didn't want her to slide down the grass bank. This is where having a radio remote control comes in very handy. It allowed our experienced operator to have all-round visibility whilst maintaining a safe distance.
The angle of the steps was quite steep but we couldn't lengthen the ramps as the 'landing' area was small with statues and more steps thereafter. We also placed plywood boards at the top of the steps to protect the grass and at the bottom on top of the gravel as Lottie needed to be turned 90 degrees on the spot and we didn't want to 'kick' gravel onto the lawn during the turning process or damage the statues.
Being outside we were using Lotties' diesel engine, but out of curiosity, our operator wanted to see if Lotties' Lithium batteries would be powerful enough for her to climb the steep ramp back up the steps. She coped admirably, which just goes to show she will cope with anything, even if she runs out of diesel. Having a duel power system at a flick of a switch is a fantastic safety feature.
We hope you enjoy the accompanying photos and if Lottie or one of her sisters can assist you with a project then please do get in touch.
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