Prysmian Cables take third Cable Drum Pusher at Wrexham

19 July 2023

Prysmian Cables (the UK’s largest manufacturer of both high and low voltage power cables) have recently taken delivery of their third Hi-Torque Power Pusher ® at their site in Wrexham for pushing large cable drums.

The Power Pusher is a pedestrian operated, battery powered, tug unit designed to push, pull & manoeuvre rolling loads up to 40,000Kg in weight. Measuring only 1.4m long and 670mm wide, the Power Pusher is both highly manoeuvrable and completely self-contained with no trailing wires or air lines. It improves shop-floor productivity and reduces the likelihood of back injuries associated with the manual pushing, pulling and manoeuvring of heavy loads in the workplace.

In this particular application, the Power Pusher is fitted with a bespoke roller attachment (adjustable to cater for different diameter drums) which enables the operator to push up against the drum flange in order to roll the drum on the shop-floor. Wooden chocks are used to stop the drums at the desired position.

David Lloyd, Safety Engineer at Prysmian explained; “Cable drums with flange diameters up to 3200mm and weighing up to 16 tonnes are generally moved in the factory using overhead cranes. Problems arise when drums have to be moved across bays where there is no crane cover. Historically drums were rolled manually or using a fork trucks in these areas, both methods are unacceptable because of the high risks of personal injury or equipment damage.

The Nu-Star Power Pushers have proved to be a cost effective solution to this problem and have eliminated the risks of injury due to manual handling.”

Nu-Star’s Sales Director, Colin Bearsby, commented; “We were delighted to provide Prysmian with this aid to their Health & Safety compliance and improve their efficiency when moving the cable drums. It is especially pleasing to see how quickly the Prysmian staff have taken to the Power Pusher.”