22.05.2001

Time to stop Condor booms

Time Manufacturing has ceased production of its range of Condor self-propelled platforms. The decision reflects the highly competitive nature of the self-propelled business and a lack of success with the self-propelled units in the rapidly developing European markets.

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Condor T66J - production has now ceased.

Production lines that were previously dedicated to the manufacture of Condor self-propelled platforms are now being re-configured and will be used to produce Time’s successful range of Versalift van and truck-mount platforms. It is understood that there will be a limited number of redundancies at the facility. Versalift and Condor platforms are built in two facilities located within a few kilometres of each other on the same highway in Waco, Texas.

The Condor name will continue to be appear on large truck mounted platforms built primarily for the US market. A spokesman for the company said that if the market situation improved, it would be possible for Time to quickly re-introduce the Condor range. He added that full after sales support and service would be provided to those companies that had bought Condor’s self-propelled platforms.

* Versalift’s latest products were on show at last week’s SED exhibition in the UK. Star of the Versalift stand was the LT62 which was developed specifically for European markets. The 21 metre working height platform fits on a 3.5 tonne truck and features continuous rotation. It also has a device that allows its owner to artificially limit the maximum working height – useful in situations where the LT62 is rented as a “stand-in” for a smaller platform. Price of the unit in the UK is under £40,000 (€65 000). Also on show was the compact Skyhigh 1100 mounted on a Nissan pick-up. This has a capacity of 1 tonne and is targetted at hire companies who can expect to pay about £25,000 (€40 000) for it. The third new launch was the Ecotel telescopic boom with fixed, non-articulated fly boom. This is up to 25 per cent cheaper than the Eurtel NF on which it is based and which Versalift believes is the most popular truck mount in the UK.