Heavy-duty hydraulic cylinders are specified for the control systems on three trim-and-curl machines built for steel wheelbarrow pan manufacture.

Parker Hannifin MMB heavy-duty hydraulic cylinders are specified for the control systems on three Trim-and-Curl machines built by special purpose machine manufacturers, Heinrich Georg Manufacturing, for the Walsall Wheelbarrow Company. The Walsall Wheelbarrow Company is privately owned and operated by the Thacker family, now one of the UKs foremost wheelbarrow manufacturers and acknowledged as the originator of the wheelbarrow as we know it today. New tooling, presses and the three Trim-and-Curl machines have been introduced as part of a GBP 250,000 plant and machinery investment programme.

The company's engineers worked closely with designers from Heinrich Georg to produce the 'trim and curl' machines.

The machines produce pans for the company's new market leading professional wheelbarrow ranges - the 85 litre Valiant, the 95 litre Endurance and the 120 litre Invincible - for use in the construction, agricultural, horticultural and DIY market sectors.

These new wheelbarrows have a particularly low centre of balance, coupled with better weight distribution and an improved frame design.

'Our customers want quality, but they want it at the right price', commented Managing Director, Les Thacker.

'We have to make sure that we have the best manufacturing processes in the business.

Heinrich Georg has long been recognised as a premier OEM manufacturer of machines for the world's steel industries, which feature only the best engineered components and systems available.' The Trim-and-Curl machines can each produce up to 500 wheelbarrow pans a day.

The pans are produced from 0.8mm to 1.2mm steel in the three different depths.

Each machine features four Parker MMB heavy-duty hydraulic cylinders: to control the cutting heads which trim the pans to the correct size; and to control the forming heads which 'roll' the rim of the pan to eliminate the possibility of sharp edges.

Parker Hannifin MMB heavy-duty 'mill' cylinders are designed for working pressures up to 160 bar, in arduous applications such as steel mills where a rugged durable cylinder with a clean external design is required.