Goscor Hi-Reach, an Imperial group company, has announced the arrival in SA of three LEO access machines from world-leading German manufacturer Teupen. The LEO (leopard in German) range of “Spider” crawlers has won worldwide acclaim for their combination of power, manoeuvrability and groundbreaking engineering.

The new arrivals are two LEO 18GT Spider crawlers (working height of 17,6m) and a LEO 23GT (working height of 23m) sold to sister-company Goscor Access Rental. The LEO 15GT and LEO 25T+ are expected soon to complement the initial fleet.

The versatile LEOs – each one hand-assembled in the Teupen factory in Gronau, Germany – are track-driven, and as much at home on the gleaming tiles of shopping centres as they are on the uneven forest floor. “The LEOs are suitable for a range of indoor and outdoor applications,” says Carl van Dyk, Goscor sales executive.

“Indoors, you’re looking at a game-changer in shopping centres, office buildings, museums and auditoriums. Anywhere, in fact, where there are high-level, difficult-to-access areas, such as glass roofs and curved glass facades, and where damage to the flooring is an issue to be considered.

“Of all the companies making access machines, Teupen is the one that has responded most intelligently to the challenges of modern facilities architecture,” Van Dyk says. “Too often these days, architects design magnificent glass atriums in office buildings and shopping centres with little thought as to how these will be maintained. Fortunately, the Teupen engineers have been able to create a range of machines that can keep up with dynamic architectural styles.”

The LEO’s remarkably compact travelling dimensions (the LEO 18GT, for example, is just 780mm wide, the LEO 23GT just 980mm wide, and every machine in the LEO range is less than 2m high in travel position), as well as their ability to successfully negotiate stairs allow the Spider crawlers to gain access to these areas where conventional powered access platforms cannot.

Additionally, all LEO machines (including the impressive LEO 50GT, a 50m working height machine) exert a floor loading of less than 500kg/m², essential for working in shopping malls on mezzanine levels.

Van Dyk says a large market for Teupen machines is the “tree care industry” – including forestry and tree cutting in parks, gardens, and cemeteries – as well as in the area of facilities management.

“The LEOs have proven themselves in Europe in a host of outdoor municipal applications. We believe the LEOs will be a boon for those in forestry and horticulture in South Africa, as well as those involved in construction, municipal and general facilities maintenance and stadium care,” Van Dyk says.

The Teupen LEO 23 GT is suited for job sites that provide little space and require great working heights. The variable and quick multi-position stabilising system – the legs of the “Spider”; the 180° rotatable basket; and the flexible articulated and telescopic boom are designed to make for easy and effective operation in the most challenging working environments. Powered by either a diesel or petrol engine, the LEO’s are dual-AC-drive fitted and work with either a cable remote or a full remote.

Over the years, Teupen has supplied special-use machines around the world. Examples are the iconic 30 St Mary Axe, or “Gherkin” tower, in central London, which was specially designed at level 36 for a Teupen unit cherry-picker on a powered trolley to maintain the building. Also, the award-winning engineers behind the Berlin Central Station designed the station around a custom-made Teupen machine.

Operating from its headquarters in Alrode, Goscor Hi-Reach are the sole distributors of Teupen and Genie products in South Africa. Goscor Hi-Reach also provides spares, ongoing maintenance and repairs as well as full refurbishment of machines for its customers across southern Africa.