GOT A TELECOMS OR RADIO MAST? YOU NEED LIMPET FOR LIFTING STUFF!

The Limpet team was back out on the telecoms trail a couple of weeks ago, with the system being trialled by respected telecoms contractors HF Comms at an Arqiva site not far from Edinburgh (which made for a nice change!)

Happily, the HF team were very happy with their Limpet, which with its 110v supply, up to 270m of dyneema line, wireless remote and pendant controllers and a lifting capacity of 250kg was the perfect lifting tool for their project to replace various antenna on the 45 metre high tower.  

The team saw clear benefits compared to the capstan style winches they are accustomed to working with. The main ones being:

1. The RF wireless remote control by technicians on the tower means that you don't need to have someone standing next to the winch to control the lifting operations. This effectively reduces the need for a 4th man or frees a 4th man up for other work
2. The RF wireless remote control allows precise control of the lift by the technicians on the tower. With a capstan winch operated from the ground, it can be difficult to accurately judge the position of the load relative to the top of the mast.
3. The Limpet unit is very quiet during operation (due to its “silent running feature”) which makes communication between technicians on the mast and those on the ground very easy compared with the much noisier capstan winches
4. All of the rope is stored / spooled on the drum with a Limpet compared with being loose in a bag or barrel for capstan winches. This makes kinks, knotting and rope damage less likely.
5. The Limpet rope is 5mm compared with 11mm+ for capstan winches. As such it is very light weight and is much more easily lifted and rigged.
6. The pulleys used in conjunction with the Limpet line are much lighter than the ones used with capstan winches which also makes rigging and lifting easier.
7. The Limpet lifts and lowers faster than capstan winches saving on time
8. The Limpet naturally orients itself toward the direction of pull and, with its fairlead rollers, is more forgiving in terms of getting the angle of orientation right, compared with a capstan, which if the angle is even slightly wrong, can result in the rope slipping

The Limpet will stop pulling if tension exceeds a certain level compared with a capstan which will continue to pull the load into an obstruction, damaging the load or the structure

If you'd like to hear more or have a demo be sure to get in touch!