Bravi work platform
saves time and boosts safety
An iconic Victorian winery has made a dramatic saving in production time and major
improvements in safety by commissioning a Bravi Sprint elevated work platform.
Yering Station Winery in the Yarra Valley
commissioned the Bravi elevated work platform
(EWP) in May, for checking and filling wine
barrels in its cellar.
Bravi EWPs are distributed and backed
nationally by Toyota Material Handling Australia
(TMHA).
Winemaker Brendan Hawker said having the
5.3-metre working height platform saved using
a forklift to pull down an entire six-metre stack
of 228 or 500-litre French oak barrels, to check
the wine or top-up a barrel. “It is also a massive
time-saver,” he said.
“We currently siphon from a height to ‘top’ our
barrels, but with our new strategy using the
Bravi we can employ positive displacement to
move the wine up to the top of the stacks, using
a small pump or pressurising a keg to dispense
the wine.
“We’re still rearranging the cellar to make
room for the work platform between rows of
barrels, however the improvements are already
massive - with greatly reduced risk of dropping
a barrel.”
Mr Hawker said an empty 228-litre barrel
weighs a hefty 30-40kg and around 300kg
when full, with a 500-litre barrel weighing an
imposing 550-600kg when full.
Major accounts manager at Toyota Material
Handling’s Melbourne branch, Adem
Shemshedin, said Yering Station also has
two of the latest-model Toyota 1.8-tonne
payload 8FBE18 three-wheel counter-balance
battery electric forklifts, for barrel haul and
warehousing. “The winery has been a Toyota
customer for more than a decade and there
are also Toyota forklifts at other sites in the
Rathbone Wine Group”
Yering Station at Yarra Glen was established in
1838 and is considered one of the jewels of the
Yarra Valley region, with a landmark winery/
restaurant complex and heritage architecture.
TMHA last year began distributing four models
of fully driveable Bravi EWP, with working
heights up to 5.3 metres and platform capacity
up to 280kg. The unit at Yering Station has a
material load capacity of 115kg.
The Bravi Sprint has already become the
product range’s volume-seller, suiting large
retailers who need a fast and agile EWP
solution in warehouses and on the shop floor,
as well as commercial maintenance and
building management operations such as
window cleaning, ceiling repairs and replacing
light globes.
Safety features include a cut-out in the
hydraulic lifting system if the interlocking gate is
not closed correctly, and an operator platform
service lock.
Other features of the Bravi Sprint include a
high-capacity, maintenance-free battery that
can provide up to 30km travel with a single
charge and six-monthly service intervals.
The Bravi Sprint can make a complete rotation
on its axis, due to its innovative drive system -
thereby maximising versatility in confined areas.
TMH Torque
I
8
1800 425 438
TMH Torque
I
9
1800 425 438
Winemaker, Brendan Hawker
