70 years of reach trucks
Three cheers for it!
The year is 1954: in Bern, Helmut Rahn kicks the German national football team to its first World Cup title, in the USA, a certain Elvis Presley records his very first single, while in the unassuming southern English town of Basingstoke, a completely different success story is unfolding. The manufacturer Lansing Bagnall, which specialized in industrial tractors, had recently relocated its production here – and had plenty to keep it busy: “In the years following the Second World War, production in many factories was in full swing. As a result, there was a huge demand for machines that could facilitate transportation within the factory,” explains David Bowen, who joined Lansing Bagnall in 1983 and still works in Basingstoke today as a Linde MH product manager.
“SFR, you take over!”
So, Chief Engineer Freddy Arnot, together with Production Manager H.P. Mott and Cecil Goodacre, worked out a vehicle concept that differed in key aspects from the then already established classic forklift truck. The result was the SFR (later FRES 2), Europe's very first reach truck.
The revolutionary thing about it was that the mast could move forwards and backwards in the chassis – forwards so that the forks could pick up a load in front of the truck, and backwards to allow the load to be transported within the wheel arms, enabling turning in narrow aisles. Two separate hydraulic motors were installed: one for the fork lift and a second for the mast movements.
“For customers, it was a real game-changer back then: thanks to the reach truck, they were able to make optimal use of both the floor space and the height of the room for the storage of production goods,” explains David Bowen. ”Space was precious even back then.” Of course, the reach truck concept was further optimized at Lansing Bagnall in the years that followed: for example, with the FRER 2 from 1958, which offered a unique side-mounted seat. This allowed the operating personnel to move more quickly and safely in both directions. Just two years later, the first model with a triplex mast for storage and retrieval at a height of around 7 meters followed.
Two reasons to celebrate
It was not fully realized at the time that Linde Material Handling had integrated the inventor of the first European reach truck, Lansing Bagnall, into its company in 1989. In fact, a competitor claimed this “title” for itself for a long time. However, the case has since been legally resolved beyond doubt – which is why we are officially celebrating the 70th anniversary of this pioneering invention this year. Happy Birthday! And while we're celebrating: In 2024, Linde MH will have passed the 50,000 sales mark with its current 1120 reach truck series. This is perfect proof that the ingenious idea of Freddy Arnot and his team is still highly valued in modern warehouses, distribution centers and the like (today even up to 15 meters in height).
