Archives: Nustar Products
Power Pusher
The Power Pusher is a versatile pedestrian operated, electric tug / utility vehicle used to move, push, pull, steer and manoeuvre industrial loads.
Originally invented in the early 1960’s to push immobilised vehicles, the Power Pusher has been continually developed for over 50 years and now has a comprehensive range of attachments for the materials handling market. Some of these attachments are specific to a particular industrial sector eg. for Pushing Cable Drums and Paper Reels and some of the attachments are more generalised eg. for Pushing & Pulling loads on Trolleys and Carts or for Moving heavy loads on industrial skates.
Our Power Pusher electric tugger is a cost-effective alternative to a forklift truck or other ride-on vehicle and is significantly safer and quicker than having employees attempt to manually move such heavy loads.
Since Power Pushers are not lifting devices (such as forklifts) and are classified as Pedestrian Electric Tugs, they are not subject to Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations (LOLER) and do not require the operator to have a driving licence. This means that virtually all your workforce may be trained in the use of the Power Pusher, thereby eliminating wait times for suitably qualified staff.
They are also much smaller than forklift trucks and therefore take up less space on the factory floor, enabling more space to be profitably allocated to production rather than materials movement.
The HSE advise that there some 5,000 accidents per year involving workplace transport. The primary cause are collisions between vehicles and pedestrians.
One of the key reasons why our customers invest in a Power Pusher is to improve safety in the workplace. By replacing a larger and more expensive forklift with a Power Pusher, the customer is able to significantly reduce manual handling risks of injury to employees.
Super Power Pusher
Electric Tow Tug to move heavy wheeled loads, loads on rails & loads on industrial machine skates
The Super Power Pusher is a pedestrian operated electric tug that is a significantly more powerful version of our best-selling Power Pusher electric tow tug developed especially for moving very heavy loads.
The Super Power Pusher is a piece of load moving equipment that has the same ability to push, pull and manoeuvre a wide selection of industrial loads in manufacturing and production line environments as the Power Pusher does but, its more powerful motor and increased battery capacity enables it to handle heavier loads.
Move heavy loads such as rail bogies and train carriages easily with our powerful electric tug that can generate up to 9,000N of push force. Illustrated below is a the product being operated by a single pedestrian as it pushes 180,000Kg rolling stock on a rail bogie at the London Underground maintenance depot. Being battery powered means it has no toxic emissions, therefore it can be used safely in a wide range of industrial and production line environments.
Super Power Pusher electric tugs can generate up to 9,000N of push force which makes it useful for handling loads with high rolling resistance. Illustrated in the panel below, it can be seen pushing a 55,000Kg rail-mounted transfer car along rails. In another application in the electric cable industry it can be seen moving a 20,000kg cable drum. Our Super Power Pusher tugs are also in commission at the London Underground for moving rolling stock.
As with our other electric tow tugs, we have developed a wide range of both general and specialist attachments such as the Steering Arm – seen illustrated below moving a 7,000Kg Cummins diesel engine – which enables loads to be accurately positioned during both push and pull operations. All attachments have been designed to solve application-specific challenges but the whole range of powered tugs can be customised to suit a particular customer application.
If you have a production line or assembly automation problem; if you have a heavy wheeled, trolley or rail mounted load to manoeuvre then, get in touch with details of the load you need to move and we’ll be happy to talk to you about the Super Power Pusher and the other solutions we can provide.
Dual Motor Super Power Pusher
Safely move very heavy industrial loads by using the Dual Motor Super Power Pusher. Ideal for pushing loads such as cable drums, rolling stock, railway carriages, rail cars, kiln cars, rail bogies, off-road chassis and even entire production lines.
The Dual Motor Super Power Pusher is our most powerful electric tug for moving heavy loads in an industrial environment. Capable of generating up to 17,600N of push force from its two x 1.5Kw motors. It has the same ability to push, pull and manoeuvre heavy industrial loads on wheels, rails and skates and utilises its own range of attachments for handling loads with significantly higher rolling resistance.
The Dual Motor Super Power Pusher can be used for heavy equipment moving such as the installation of temporary buildings, shunting rolling stock in production or maintenance workshops and pushing large cable drums where there is no available overhead crane.
Often the Dual Motor Super Pusher helps solve problems encountered when factories up-scale their production line and individual loads exceed the capacity of existing forklifts and cranes or, where there is no obvious or standard solution to move such a heavy load.
The Dual Motor Super Power Pusher is available for both sale, short and long-term hire.
Powertug – Electric Tug
Vessel & Trolley Mover
Safely and easily move pharmaceutical vessels, beverage vessels, biotech vessels, chemical vessels, food vessels, process tanks, mixing vessels, Textile ‘A’ frames and pressure vessels with the PowerTug.
Moving and positioning gases and liquids contained in pressure vessels, process tanks, chromatography columns and reaction vessels is difficult to do accurately. Often used in the pharmaceutical, food, biotech and chemical industries, the manufacturing process usually involves moving tanks & vessels in confined areas so, they are typically fitted with all-swivel castors.
Vessels & trolleys in these industries are commonly made from Stainless Steel and contain high-value chemicals and drugs. They usually weigh at least 1,000Kg when fully loaded and so require a powered tug to move safely. Often these vessels are operating in a clean room environment and so any vessel mover needs to be manufactured to a clean room standard and suitable for regular wash down procedures according to FDA Standards and Guidance. Where volatile liquids and gases are present, any powered mover will need to be manufactured according to ATEX standards.
Accurately moving and positioning these vessels can be difficult since each castor turns independently so there is a tendency for the load to ‘wander’ or ‘crab’ when being moved, particularly if the floor is uneven, on a slope or, has a camber – as is often the case when there are drains are in the floor to collect wash down residue.
The PowerTug load mover is a battery powered electric tow tug that has a telescopic front leg (or legs) with a fixed castor (or castors) at the end. When coupled to the vessel, this configuration overcomes the ‘wandering’ or ‘crabbing’ effect of the swivel castors and the vessel can be safely moved and positioned with great precision, irrespective of the floor surface.
The PowerTug also has an electrically powered up/down carriage which enables quick & easy connection to the vessel and, in so doing, transfers some of the weight from the vessel to the PowerTug’s driven wheel, thus creating additional traction or tractive effort.
MUV-Electric Wheelbarrow / Mini-Dumper
Specifically designed for the industrial market, the MUV Electric powered Wheelbarrow is a motorised wheelbarrow, power barrow or mini-dumper, capable of moving 350Kg for up to eight kilometers. It has an electrically powered drive and electrically powered tip mechanism and may be fitted with either a galvanized steel or, industrial-plastic tub.
Being electrically powered, it is powerful, safe, quiet, has no exhaust gases and there are no handlebar vibrations (all of which are significant limitations to the use of petrol/diesel engine powered wheelbarrows).
No driving licence is required for use, the MUV Powered Wheelbarrow can be quickly loaded into a van or, onto a plant trailer (using 3 scaffold planks, a tail-lift or, ramp) and at just 810mm in width, it will fit through most external doors, making it a ideal for accessing confined internal construction projects.
These attributes make it ideal for the following applications:
- Small works in construction and flooring such as wheel-barrowing concrete
- Large gardening projects and shifting logs
- Crop harvesting in glasshouses & polytunnels
- Moving mulch, stone, aggregates, sand, wood chip & plants on landscaping projects
- Moving animal feedstuffs and mucking out in stables, farms and small holdings
- Removing spoil from tunnelling operations
- General industrial material and scrap hauling
The powered wheelbarrow tub is available in both galvanised steel and moulded industrial plastic and these are quickly interchangeable, via two detent pins on the sub-frame.
The on-board, waterproof, battery charger will accept both 110V or 220V input – simply change the ‘flying lead’ to suit the plug type. The battery charger will automatically adjust to either voltage and is specifically programmed to optimise the two maintenance-free, sealed, 90Amp Hour gel batteries in the machine.
Nu-Star MUV Electric Wheelbarrow, available for Sale and Hire, direct from the manufacturer.
NFU-Countryside-Magazine-MUV-Electric Wheelbarrow-Review (opens new window)
MUV-Trailer Mover
The MUV Trailer Mover was developed for moving boat trailers, tipper trailers, livestock trailers, general purpose trailers, horsebox trailers, plant trailers, box van trailers, motorsport trailers, and other such trailers that typically use a 50mm Ball Hitch or Towing Eye at the front.
The Multi-Utility Vehicle (MUV) consists of a core chassis & drive system that can be fitted with a modular range of attachments – showing here is the Trailer Mover module.
Configurable with either Ball Hitch or, Towing Eye, the MUV-Trailer Mover is designed to move trailers in locations where it is not realistic to use a larger car/truck and where petrol/diesel engined vehicles are not appropriate. It enables a single pedestrian operator to achieve what might otherwise require two or three people, thereby improving both productivity and reducing the risk of back injury.
Being significantly smaller than a forklift / tractor type vehicle and having no engine noise, exhaust emissions or, handlebar vibrations it is ideal for use both internally and externally. There is no requirement for an operator driver licence and the Trailer Mover can be easily moved between locations in the back of a van (loading simply requiring 3 standard ‘scaffold’ planks, a tail-lift or ramp).
The Nu-Star Trailer Mover is available for both sale, short and long-term hire.
Heavy Duty Trailer Mover
Originally developed for a specific project in Sweden to enable pedestrians to launch and recover pleasure boats from a slipway, the Heavy Duty Trailer Mover has also now found customers in the manufacturing, military & ground handling sectors.
It may be fitted with a variety of tow and towing hitches / universal couplings and drop pin style hitches such as a 50mm Ball Hitch, NATO style tow hitch, pintle hitch or tractor hitch. When fitted with one of these design attachments, it becomes a general purpose pedestrian electric tug or tractor unit for towing industrial trailers and removes the need for ride-on tugs and tractor units that are generally much bigger and which also require driving licences to operate.
There are no exhaust fumes, handlebar vibration or, engine noise to consider when in operation and the key components in the machines are waterproof, enabling both indoor and outdoor operation.
MUV-Trolley Retrieval
Trolley & Cart Pusher / Retrieval
Based on the MUV chassis, this pedestrian operated, electric tug is specifically designed to assist in trolley and cart collection / retrieval at supermarkets and airports.
Improved productivity and reduced employee injuries enable quick return on investment. No driving licence is required for operation and training is very straightforward. The operator drives the trolley pusher from the tillerhead when unloaded and uses the integral radio-control to operate the tug when loaded with trolleys. The tug is capable of moving over 100 supermarket trolleys at one time, space permitting.
Airport Cart & Shopping Trolley Retrieval
Used for supermarket trolley collection and airport cart retrieval, the front attachment is fully adjustable to fit any design of trolley and cart.
MUV 4WD – Radio-controlled electric tug
The latest addition to the Nu-Star MUV product range, the Multiple Utility Vehicle (MUV) 4WD is a radio-controlled, four wheel drive, electric tug with skid-steer.
With equal push & pull capacity in either direction & designed to have a range of attachments bolted to either end of the chassis, the machine might also be described as a ‘Push-me, Pull-you’ type.
The industrial radio control system has an effective range of up to 500m and consists of two joysticks & up to four additional on/off switches for accessories. Each joystick controls one of the drive motors inside the machine enabling complete 360° turning, on the spot, if necessary.
Since the operator does not have to physically hold the machine for operation, it is possible to stand away from the load and therefore have better visibility in the direction of travel. This is particularly beneficial when pushing larger loads that would otherwise restrict the operators view.
Speed is infinitely adjustable from 0 – 3.7km/h on the standard model but, can be up to 7.7km/h with alternative secondary gearing and larger diameter wheels.
A permanent safety LED strobe is fitted as standard together with a user-switchable motion bleeper to help warn others when the machine is moving a load.
Power Trolley – Battery powered transfer trolley
The Power Trolley is a radio-controlled, battery powered, transfer car or transfer trolley that runs on rails in factories and is commonly used for shuttling raw materials between two points eg. from storage / unloading to the point of use.
In some industrial applications, there are operational restrictions which prevent the use of a pedestrian operated tug, such as the Power Pusher, to push and pull the load on rails.