Walt Moore, Editor
According to Stellar Industries, its recently introduced TM20165 truck-mounted tire manipulator is capable of handling the largest off-the-road (OTR) tire available today, the 59/80R63. The new manipulator also can handle tire-and-rim combinations weighing up to 20,000 pounds.
“The development of a truck-mounted tire manipulator of this magnitude is the culmination of customer consultations and industry research into the request for a better solution to handle the growing sizes in the large-OTR tire market,” says Tim Davison, Stellar’s product manager for bodies and cranes.
The TM20165 has a reach of more than 24 feet, allowing it, says Stellar, to mount and dismount both outside and inside dual tires without repositioning the truck. The new tire manipulator has a clamping span that ranges from 44 to 165 inches and provides continuous manipulator-pad rotation and 315-degree body rotation. These capabilities, says Davison, “give the greatest degree of maneuverability to install mounted tires on hub assemblies and to align studs with wheel holes.” The clamp, says Davison, also is capable of handling almost all other tire components.
The TM20165 also is equipped with a “quad stabilizer package” that is designed to enhance lifting stability.
“The low-profile and hydraulically extendable fold-over rear stabilizer is only 12.5 inches in height,” says Davison, “providing operators the greatest amount of room when working to the sides of the truck.”
A fully proportional radio remote controller provides the operator notification of lifting-capacity status, and is designed, says Davison, for smooth, multifunction operation. A precision-control mode, he says, allows full proportionality at 100, 50, and 20 percent of normal crane speed.
The TM20165 service body features a rugged 20-foot, heavy-duty, steel body with ample storage space, says Stellar, to handle all the tools necessary for handling large mounted tires. Air compressor options for the TM20165 include the American Eagle SHD-245—which is a four-cylinder, hydraulically driven, reciprocating type producing 110 cfm at 175 psi—and an optional, hydraulically driven, rotary-screw model with an output that ranges from 125 to 160 cfm at 150 psi.
