Diesel Do Nicely

Penny Hydraulics has supplied a new mobile tyre press powered by a diesel generator to Yorkshire-based Ossett Tyre House (Ken Clarke Ltd). According to the company, the diesel generator will allow Ossett Tyre House (Ken Clarke Ltd), approved agent and service provider for BMH Industrial Tyres, to expand its capabilities and visit customers in chemical and process industries where petrol powered equipment is prohibited for safety reasons.

“The new press opens up new opportunities for us because we can now go onto customers’ sites and offer an additional service,” says Stuart Clarke, Director of Ossett Tyre House (Ken Clarke Ltd). “It’s great to be using the first diesel powered press and to get the support from its owners BMH Industrial Tyres.”

Family-owned Ossett Tyre House (Ken Clarke Ltd) has been an agent and service provider for Briggs Equipment since 1986 covering Yorkshire and the surrounding area. It is one of the 97 outlets in the nationwide network managed by BMH Industrial Tyres, the UK’s largest independent tyre service group, which is owned by Briggs Equipment.

Ossett Tyre House (Ken Clarke Ltd) has operated a static tyre press at its main depot for a number of years. However, in conjunction with BMH Industrial Tyres the company recognised that a mobile press would enable it to broaden its capabilities to include on-site service to support a number of Briggs Equipment forklift customers at local factories and warehouses. Across its network BMH Industrial Tyres operates over 40 static and mobile tyre presses and was keen to help Ossett Tyre House (Ken Clarke Ltd) by purchasing the new equipment. BMH Industrial Tyres approached Penny Hydraulics, which has supplied it with tyre presses and related services for 15 years.

“Penny Hydraulics is a press manufacturer that leads the industry,” said Clive Green, Tyre Dealer Sales Manager at BMH Industrial Tyres. “They listen to us, discuss what we want and then come up with suggestions and solutions. The new press with the diesel engine is a good example of this.”

New regulations stipulate that equipment powered by generators with petrol engines can no longer be used in chemical plants and other areas where is a risk of explosion. The new diesel powered mobile press devised by Penny Hydraulics eliminates this risk and is completely self contained which means it can be used anywhere without relying on local power supplies.

The new press had to be lightweight for economical towing but strong and robust enough to do the job and avoid flexing under load, which would be dangerous and limit its working life. The platform needed to be low enough for engineers to place and remove tyres and wheels easily and with little or no manual handling. Penny Hydraulics designed and manufactured a compact trailer-mounted 150 tonne capacity press that can cope with tyres ranging from 300×4 to 1200×24 in size, making it suitable for almost any solid tyre used by lift trucks and other common industrial equipment.

“These are not the cheapest presses on the market but they are more reliable and do the job properly,” says Clive Green. “On average we buy two or three tyre presses from them each year.”

As part of its overall service Penny Hydraulics provides training for customers to use its equipment safely and efficiently. This complements the training that Briggs Equipment and BMH Industrial Tyres gives to its own staff who use the static and mobile presses. Penny Hydraulics also provides a rolling service contract to BMH Industrial Tyres that includes an annual statutory maintenance inspection to make sure all of the 42 mobile and static units used by the company are safe and serviceable. It also carries out servicing and repairs as part of the contract and has refurbished a number of presses, including devices originally supplied by other manufacturers. Some of these presses are now over 20 years old but continue to give reliable and safe performance following their most recent refurbishment.