Material handling equipment specialist Linde has responded to growing demand for its walkie stacker range by holding stock of popular models in Australia rather than importing to order.

“There has been a steady increase in the level of enquiry about walkie stackers from existing Linde customers and from businesses with whom we’ve not had previous dealings,” said Linde’s Managing Director, Carl Smith.

“That reflects the increased emphasis which many businesses are placing on occupational health and safety issues and the parallel issue of productivity.”

The Linde range of walkie stackers includes the L10, L12, L14 and L16 models with lifting capacities from 1,000kg to 1,600kg and lift heights from 1814mm to 5316mm.

Linde also offers the EWX walkie reach unit with a capacity of 1360kg and a maximum lift height of 3810mm.

Much of the increased interest has centred on the Linde L12, a walkie pallet truck that combines effortless operation and reliability with specifications to suit the widest possible range of applications.

The L12 and Linde’s other walkie stackers incorporate the key characteristics which have made the brand a byword for state of the art material handling equipment.

The Linde L12’s  design includes a purpose built traction battery designed to have a life expectancy of 1500 cycles over five years - much more durable than the battery packs provided with competitor’s products. Some of these have a rated duty life of just 300 cycles.

In any application where the walkie stacker requires charging more frequently than twice per week, the Linde L12 has an immediate advantage. An on-board charger which requires only a single phase, 10 amp socket adds further convenience for overnight charging. It is no longer necessary to find a location for separate battery charger, as charging can be done from any power point.

The L12’s mast is a heavy duty design, and shares many components with masts found on Linde counterbalance trucks up to 2000kg capacity. It’s design is based on the engineering quality built into Linde’s larger equipment and designed to handle intensive use.

The tiller on the L12 is designed for smaller and more compact applications. It is located in the corner of the truck, slightly offset so that manouevrability is maximised, while still keeping the operator within the profile of the equipment.

Handgrips on the tiller have been designed to accommodate the largest hands, even when the operator is wearing gloves.

All tiller controls are symmetrical and can be operated with either hand. Traction is activated by large butterfly controls easily operated by thumbs or even the back of fingers.

Other controls include a horn button, a “belly button” designed to stop all walkie stacker movement in an emergency and an Optilift button which provides proportional mast control.

Conventional walkie stackers usually employ a hydraulic lever on the chassis to raise and lower the mast, and raise/lower switches on the tiller. The Linde L12 Optilift button gives convenience of tiller-mounted switches and the fine control of chassis-mounted hydraulic levers, ensuring the operator has greater control over the movement of the mast, and the convenience of being able to operate all truck functions from one location.

The L12’s long tiller also maximises the operator’s control of the walkie stacker and its load and prevents legs from bumping into the machine’s body. Even if there is contact with the body of the Linde walker stacker, its extremely low skirt prevents possible foot entrapment or injury.