Sydney-based forklift sales and rentals business Hyworth Forklifts has launched a double deep walkie reach stacker, which it believes creates a new product category and solves one of the most persistent issues with truck loading and unloading.

Developed by Hyworth director Jonathan Polyblank - who was previously an aircraft engineer - the double deep walkie reach stacker can operate in aisles just 2.45m wide and enables truck loading and unloading from the one side. 

It has a load capacity of 1T up to 2m and 650kg up to 6m.

According to Polyblank, the 1,080mm pantograph scissor-reach mechanism allows it to reach further than any previous walkie stacker, potentially increasing storage by as much as 50%.

And operators do not need a forklift license to operate the double deep.

“When you are using a normal walk-behind it will only go as far as the first bay,” Polyblank tells Forkliftaction News. “But because this one can reach to the second bay, you’ve increased your storage with double deep pallet racking.

“It is a massive game-changer in the marketplace. There hasn't been anything like this before.

“I've always seen a hole in the space for a double deep without the forklift license. So I always thought that's a unique selling point to not need a forklift license and be able to do what this machine does at half the price of a standard ride-on double deep is a good option.”

Polyblank, who has notched up 20 years in the materials handling sector with Hyworth Forklifts, adds that he made it “extremely compact within the realms of physics” to allow more pallet racking to be utilised in smaller footprints.

The reach of the double deep walkie reach stacker also means trucks can be loaded and unloaded from the one side, rather than either having to turn around or move the equipment to the other side to reach.

“Because of these design points - the ability to increase storage, ability to load and unload from one side and no need for a forklift licence - about 90% of its market will be the mums and dads with small warehouses who need to get the job done quickly and easily,” Polyblank continues.

“And this is about half the price of a ride-on version. 

“It will find a market with the small to medium businesses.”

Polyblank admits developing the double deep was both a lot of fun as he tried to make the machine as small and strong as physics would allow, he also had moments of doubt.

“I have been wondering if I am reading the market correctly and if people are going to see the value that it brings,” he adds. “But even here at CeMAT where we launched it, I have had a lot of people come up to me and say ‘mate, you don’t even have any competition in this space’!

“That’s been good for my confidence.”