Engineering teams from both companies collaborated on this unique project, each adapting their equipment to suit the application and maximize mixer capacities while maintaining stability for an off-road application.
Prinoth and McNeilus have introduced a tracked concrete mixer destined for the off road construction market.
Originating from an increased demand for off road placement of concrete, Multi Machine Inc., the Prinoth dealer of the northeastern United States, decided to add to its national rental fleet a concrete mixer to allow contractors access in hard to reach locations and provide new opportunities for projects not previously accessible.
The main benefits of this collaboration are time and cost considerations, according to the manufacturer.
Concrete is a perishable product so time is of the essence once you start mixing. A tracked mixer allows vehicles to quickly and easily move through soft soils or rugged terrain to get to job sites almost or entirely inaccessible by a standard vehicle, saving time. Access to these job sites can require a helicopter to haul and/or pour concrete; this mixer makes that cost unnecessary, the manufacturer said.
When Multi Machine Inc. of New Jersey received the off road concrete mixer request it decided to come up with a solution that would last and also create additional opportunities.
Multi Machine turned to Prinoth and McNeilus to complete this project and meet their desired goals. Engineering teams from both companies collaborated on this unique project, each adapting their equipment to suit the application and maximize mixer capacities while maintaining stability for an off-road application.
"When I heard about the project, I immediately knew we wanted to be involved. We work hard to provide solutions to our customers unique situations, and our team always rises to the challenge. I knew this would be a unique project they would enjoy and would allow us to see our mixers more 'off road' than ever before.
"We're now ready to build more of these unique vehicles to fill this need in our industry. McNeilus has a real focus on total cost of ownership, and this product can help provide an alternative solution for our customers," said Bryan Datema, senior director of business development of concrete mixers of McNeilus.
To achieve the appropriate levels, Prinoth developed a special chassis while McNeilus developed a custom mixer body. The Prinoth Panther's T16 's dropped frame chassis was a key design element to lower the overall height of the off road rubber tracked mixer. By reducing the overall height, the center of gravity is lower, which ensures great levels of stability and off road performance. These modifications were necessary to allow moving the vehicle from one job site to another on a trailer without requiring special transportation permits.
McNeilus designed the mixer body for this special project to maximize payload and create an easy mounting process to the chassis. Specifically, special considerations were taken to customize hydraulic components and design routings to fit the new chassis. The result is a heavy duty 9 cu. yd. custom McNeilus mixer body that will stand up to the environment the vehicle will operate in.
When asked about the support they received, Multi Machine's Service Manager, Dan Waisempacher said: "Prinoth's application engineering team was able to use the technology and know-how from the product engineering team, to run tests, calculations and design a proper sub frame to position the mixer where we could be confident it would be safe, and still be able to handle the uneven and hilly terrain a Panther crawler carrier excels in.
"The team at Prinoth collaborated with the team at McNeilus and we worked together to figure out how many gallons of water and yards of concrete we could safely haul, taking into account the weight of the sub frame and water tank."
In conclusion, what set this project apart from others was being able to provide a new solution and take guess work out of the equation. The backing from the aftersales and engineering teams from both Prinoth and McNeilus enabled Multi Machine to confidently take on a big, one-of-a-kind project, and make it happen while being both cost and time efficient.
"We can be confident that our custom machines will not add any unwanted or additional wear on the Panther, and that safety measures of the Panther units are not effected negatively," added Waisempacher.
For more information, visit www.prinoth.com and www.mcneiluscompanies.com.
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