Toyota in the limelight at
forklift performance
Forklifts may not be the first thing you’d associate with a contemporary dance
performance, but earlier this year Toyota’s newest forklift truck featured in a breathtaking
dance-acrobatic performance on Queensland’s Gold Coast as part of the Bleach Festival.
A battery-electric Toyota 8FBE forklift starred
in Forklift by acclaimed Melbourne-based
performance company KAGE in four free
performances in March at Kurrawa Surf
Lifesaving Club.
The 30-minute piece made its world premiere
at the Sydney Festival in 2014 before being
presented at Arts Centre Melbourne. It had
a European premiere in Helsinki, Finland, in
May 2015.
Devised in Australia and developed at Cirko –
Center for New Circus in Helsinki, the dance-
circus performance featured contortion, aerial
acrobatics and original music.
It combined the talents of contortionist and
hand balancer Anna Murray, circus and
theatre performer Nicci Wilks and dancer and
contortionist Amy Macpherson.
“Forklift re-imagines the possibilities of
machinery into a playful and dangerous
sphere, contrasting the lightness of limbs with
hard edges and heavy metal,” said KAGE’s
Artistic Director and Forklift Director Kate
Denborough.
“The performance was wonderfully received
when it premiered in Australia as well as in
Europe, so we were excited to bring it to the
Gold Coast as part of the Bleach Festival.”
Toyota Material Handling Australia’s
executive vice president and chief operating
officer Steve Takacs said Forklift was the
company’s first on-stage involvement with the
performing arts.
“We were thrilled to be part of an edgy piece
of dance-theatre that returned to Australia
after a successful overseas tour,” he said.
“The workplace is, of course, quite different
to the theatre. However, there can be art in
material handling. It was a joy to watch a
top-notch operator manoeuvring a forklift in a
confined area,” Mr Takacs said.
Photo: Justin Bernhaut
Winery reaps the benefits
of Toyota forklifts
A boutique winery on Victoria’s Mornington peninsula is reaping the benefits of
upgrading to a new Toyota forklift with a custom-built attachment that delivers
significant benefits in the busy harvesting season.
Ocean Eight Winery general manager and
winemaker Mike Aylward said the decision was
recently made to upgrade to the new Toyota
8FBN25 8-Series battery-electric forklift after
the winery’s needs had been well served by a
much older Toyota forklift.
“We had a great older forklift that could be
described as a relic,” he said. “It gave us an
excellent run but at 30 years of age it was time
to move on.”
Mr Aylward said Ocean Eight’s forklift is used for
general warehouse duties but also takes on a
demanding and critical role during harvesting.
“The forklift is very much used in the processing
side of our winery. Fruit is delivered in 500kg
bins which the forklift lifts and then rotates into
our grape press or grape destemmer. As we
process around 90 tonnes of fruit a year it is
vital we have a reliable forklift doing this work.”
Where previously carrying out these two tasks
meant a time-consuming process of attaching or
detaching the bin tipper, the new Toyota forklift
has been modified so that it can be quickly fitted
and removed as required.
“This adaptability is a real plus when we are in
the heat of harvest,” Mr Aylward said.
“We only get one crack at it and when the
grapes are ready to be harvested they must
come off straight away. There is no time to
waste when making high quality wine.”
Toyota Material Handling Australia (TMHA)
Melbourne area sales manager Grant Owen
said the ability to modify the Toyota forklift
to meet Ocean Eight’s specific needs was a
pleasant surprise for the winery.
“When Mr Aylward first approached us about
upgrading to a new rental unit he wasn’t aware
that we could adapt the forklift to suit the
winery’s particular requirements.
“After we assessed their needs our TMHA
engineers created a quick release mechanism
for the bin tipper attachment, so the forklift
retains its full range of features with the
attachment on or off.
“It was previously a difficult process to swap
between the bin tipper and normal forklift duties,
and by being able to quickly remove the bin
tipper they’ve increased the forklift’s capacity
from 1.3 to 2.3 tonnes, so they’re very happy
that they can now get the full range of uses they
need from their forklift.”
Mr Aylward said the experience of dealing
with the TMHA Melbourne branch has been a
positive one.
“The service and efficiency of the Toyota team
in Melbourne has been great. While we’re a
small business and our needs are covered
for now, I would definitely recommend Toyota
forklifts to others,” he said.
Chris and Gail Aylward began winemaking
on the Mornington Peninsula in 1997 when
they established the Kooyong Winery. After
it was sold in 2004 son Mike joined them to
form Ocean Eight at the family’s property in
Shoreham.
Ocean Eight Winery general manager and winemaker Mike Aylward
TMH Torque
I
8
1800 425 438
TMH Torque
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9
1800 425 438
