Battery Operated Material Transfer Trolley — 1 to 150 Ton
Photographs and video coming soon
Shop photographs and an operating video of this machine are being prepared and will be published here shortly. For general arrangement drawings or reference photographs of a comparable build in the meantime, get in touch or call +91 91091 02280.
A battery operated transfer trolley carries coils, slabs, dies and general plant loads with no trailing cable and no fixed power rail. An onboard pack drives the travel motors, so the machine can run the full length of a bay, cross gangways, and serve several pickup and drop points on one route — the things a cable reel makes awkward and a busbar makes permanent.
Both lithium iron phosphate and lead-acid packs are offered on the same machine, and the choice is genuinely a choice: it turns on how many shifts the trolley has to cover, not on which chemistry is newer. Running gear is rail-mounted or trackless on the same basis — the layout decides, not the catalogue.
Choosing the Battery
| Lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) | Lead-acid | |
|---|---|---|
| Charging pattern | Opportunity charging in the gaps between moves; no cool-down period | Roughly 8 h run, 8 h charge, 8 h cool-down |
| Shifts covered | Two and three shift, effectively round the clock | One shift per day, charged overnight |
| Typical cycle life | Several thousand cycles | Several hundred cycles |
| Weight for same energy | Lighter — more of the rating goes to payload | Heavier |
| Upkeep | No watering, no ventilated charging room | Watering and a ventilated charging area |
| Up-front cost | Higher | Lower |
Cycle life and charging behaviour are general characteristics of each chemistry; actual figures depend on the cells specified for your pack.
Rail-Mounted or Trackless
- Rail-mounted: Steel wheels on a laid rail. Simple, few wear parts, low maintenance, and the path cannot wander — but the rail is civil work and it fixes the route
- Trackless: Polyurethane wheels with steering. No civil work, no marking of coated floors, and re-routable whenever the layout changes — at higher running maintenance, since wheels and batteries are consumables
- Trackless with multi-directional drive: Forward, reverse, lateral, diagonal and spot rotation for congested bays where a turning circle does not exist
Specifications
Key Features
- No trailing cable and no busbar — travel length is set by the route, not by the power feed
- Battery state-of-charge indication at the operator position, with a low-charge cut-out that parks the trolley before it strands a load
- V-frame, U-frame, or flat deck to suit what is being carried
- Variable speed with soft start and stop, so a coil is not shunted on the saddle
- Anti-collision bumpers and travel limits; obstacle detection where the route crosses walkways
- Warning alarm, flashing beacon, and emergency stop
- Optional hydraulic lift or tilt built onto the same chassis
Applications
- Coil and slab movement between bays in steel mills
- Inter-station transfer on long or branching routes
- Die and mould movement in press shops
- Plants where a cable reel would cross a gangway or traffic route
- Sheds and bays with no power rail already installed
- Layouts that get rearranged often enough that laying rail is a liability
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I choose a lithium-ion or a lead-acid battery pack?
It comes down to how many shifts the trolley has to cover. A lead-acid pack works on a roughly 8 hours run, 8 hours charge, 8 hours cool-down cycle, which fits single-shift duty with overnight charging and costs less up front. Lithium iron phosphate accepts opportunity charging in the gaps between moves, needs no cool-down period, and typically delivers several thousand charge cycles against a few hundred for lead-acid — so it is normally the better fit for two- and three-shift operations. It is also lighter for the same energy and needs no watering or ventilated charging room. Tell us your shift pattern and daily running hours and we will size the pack for it.
How long does the trolley run on one charge?
Six to eight hours of continuous duty is the usual design point, but that figure is meaningless without your duty cycle behind it — a trolley making four long runs an hour under full load draws very differently from one making twenty short shuttles part-loaded. We size the pack from the actual route length, load, number of cycles per shift, and any hydraulic lift or tilt on the same chassis.
Rail-mounted or trackless?
Rail-mounted is the simpler and cheaper machine to own: steel wheels on a fixed rail, few moving parts, low maintenance, and a travel path that cannot wander. It needs the rail laid first, which is civil work, and it commits you to that route. Trackless runs on polyurethane wheels with steering, so it needs no civil work at all, will not mark a coated floor, and can be re-routed whenever the layout changes — at the cost of higher running maintenance, since wheels and batteries are wear items. Fixed high-volume route: rail. Changing layout or several destinations: trackless.
Why choose a battery trolley over a cable reel or busbar trolley?
A battery pack removes the trailing cable and the fixed power rail entirely, so the trolley is not tied to one route length or one aisle. That matters where the transfer path is long, crosses gangways, serves several pickup and drop points, or runs through areas where a cable reel would be a trip and damage hazard. The trade-off is charging: a cable-reel or busbar trolley never stops for power, and a battery trolley does unless the pack and charging strategy are sized properly.
Is the battery operated trolley customised to my requirement?
Yes. Every machine we build is custom-engineered — capacity, table size, deck form, running gear, battery chemistry and pack size are matched to your layout and duty cycle. Send your requirement via the enquiry form or call +91 91091 02280 for a firm quote.
*Every machine is custom-engineered to your requirements, so the price depends on capacity, table size, running gear, battery chemistry and configuration — reach out for a firm quote.
