Nationwide has added two new tracked crawler boom aerial work platforms - the LEO 25h and LEO 30h - to its already extensive UK access equipment fleet. The diesel-powered machines, made by Teupen Hylift of Germany, are considered to be among the most versatile in the powered access equipment sector, being equally at home in shopping malls and auditoriums as they are in forests, ditches and hedgerows.

The LEO 25h has a working height of 25-metres, while the LEO 30h increases this to 30-metres. Independently adjusting, hydraulically operated outriggers mean that either model can cope with slopes as great as 28 degrees from the horizontal and, with a load of 200kgs in the cage, the outreach of both machines is 9.7-metres; at 80kgs, this is increased to 12-metres.

Both work platforms are designed to allow users to operate them safely in a wide variety of working conditions including weight-restricted environments, such as soft ground and paved areas. They also offer the bonus of generously sized, non-marking rubber crawlers that enable them to be used on just about any internal or external surface.

"Site conditions are the issue, rather than the application. We have already identified a wide number of uses, from tree surgery to window cleaning and from telecommunications to a host of general indoor and outdoor maintenance applications," says Nichola Balmer, Marketing Director at Nationwide. "These machines open up a number of exciting market opportunities with our existing customer base, plus an equal number with customers new to such versatile and highly mobile powered access," she concludes.

The machines share 180-degree platform rotation and sound-proofed 230V generators, although some other features differ from model to model. For example, the overall travelling width of the LEO 25h is just 1.78- metres, and it comes with its own trailer for customers who wish to self-operate the platform and tow the platform from site to site. However, either machine can be delivered by a low-loader, from which they can "self-unload" using their outriggers. The LEO 30h has an even narrower 1.58-metre travelling width but, unlike LEO 25h, is endowed with remote radio drive and control for a distance of up to 100 metres.

More information on the LEO 25h and LEO 30h aerial work platforms, or any other item of powered access equipment available for hire from Nationwide is available by telephoning 0845 745 0000. Alternatively detailed information on the hire fleet or the depot network can be accessed at www.nationwwideaccess.co.uk

Nationwide is part of the publicly-quoted Lavendon Group plc and is headquartered in Lutterworth, Leicestershire. Its hire fleet is twice the size of its nearest UK competitor and all of the company's depots comply with Nationwide's ISO 9002 accreditation. The Group is also the leading player in the European powered access market, trading under the name Zooom in Germany, France, Spain and Austria.

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May 2002 Nat2.028a