Sector Focus: Handling & Storage | 47
Stability becomes increasingly sensitive to small imbalances. Visibility is reduced. Load length introduces movement that becomes amplified during transport, particularly in confined spaces.
The issue is no longer simply whether a load can be lifted. It becomes a question of how precisely it can be controlled.
THE HIDDEN INSTABILITY OF LONG LOADS
Traditional counterbalance forklifts were designed primarily around compact, stable loads carried at the front of the machine. For some timber operations, this remains workable. But as products become longer, more valuable and more structurally engineered, the compromises become harder to ignore.
Long loads can extend significantly beyond the width of the truck, affecting manoeuvrability, visibility and stability simultaneously. In busy timber yards or production environments, this creates operational inefficiencies alongside obvious safety concerns.
The challenge becomes particularly acute inside constrained facilities where materials need to move between storage, processing and production areas without excessive manoeuvring and where space is at a premium. This is where purpose-built sideloaders begin to change the equation. By carrying loads along the chassis, sideloaders fundamentally alter how long materials behave during movement. The load remains within the machine’s footprint, visibility improves and operators can move confidently through restricted spaces without excessive turning or overhang.
For engineered timber manufacturers and distributors working with long-span products, these advantages are becoming increasingly relevant.
That reality is clearly visible at the Dindas Brisbane operation, where long structural timber products move continuously between cutting areas, production zones and high- density cantilever storage systems. Some loads exceed 13 metres in length and are stored more than six metres high. For operators, the challenge is not simply lifting the material but moving it efficiently and predictably through a busy working environment. “We jump on the Baumann to bring long loads over to the cutting area, then on to production and after that, move it out to the racks,” explains Dindas operator Tige Byrne, who has more than twenty years’ experience operating forklifts and sideloaders. “They’re really good for getting up close to the racks and loading trucks, and the tilting chassis makes you feel like the load is a lot more secure.” Byrne also highlights the growing emphasis on throughput within engineered
timber operations. “We can easily handle three packs at once, where the multi-direction machines struggle with one or two packs.”
ENGINEERING THE HANDLING SYSTEM Back in Italy, one of the more interesting aspects of Riccardo Bove’s thinking is that he rarely separates the machine from the wider handling process.
In many timber operations, the products themselves have evolved dramatically over the past twenty years. Engineered timber systems are now manufactured to extremely precise standards. Lengths are larger, tolerances are tighter and the value of individual loads is often significantly higher than traditional sawn timber. Yet the handling side of the operation has not always evolved at the same pace. Many businesses still have only limited visibility of how materials actually move through the site day to day. Impacts go unrecorded. Machines become underutilised in some areas and overloaded in others. Long loads are moved successfully most of the time, but small inefficiencies, unnecessary manoeuvres and inconsistent operating behaviour gradually become accepted as normal.
For Mr Bove, this is where handling starts to move beyond simple machine specification. “The load defines the system,” he explains. “Once you understand the behaviour of the material, then you can start understanding what the handling process really requires.” That process increasingly includes visibility, not only visibility from the cab, but visibility of the operation itself.
SEEING THE HANDLING PROCESS DIFFERENTLY
Baumann’s new Baumann Online remote monitoring system reflects that shift in thinking.
Integrated directly into the machine, the system captures operational data relating to utilisation, machine condition, energy usage and operating behaviour, making the information accessible through a secure online platform.
For high-throughput timber operations, where efficiency and uptime directly influence operating cost, that level of visibility can be particularly valuable. A machine travelling excessive distances between storage areas… Repeated impacts in the same location... Idle equipment during key production periods... Service requirements based on actual usage rather than fixed intervals… Patterns that are difficult to see from the ground gradually become measurable.
The system also allows remote diagnostics and parameter adjustments, helping dealers and service teams respond more quickly
while reducing unnecessary downtime. The result is not simply more data, but a clearer understanding of how the handling system behaves as part of the wider timber operation.
For operations working with engineered timber products, that level of visibility is becoming increasingly valuable.
THE RISE OF ELECTRIC SIDELOADERS Alongside changes in material design, the timber sector is also seeing a gradual shift in machine technology itself. Electric sideloaders, once considered suitable only for lighter-duty indoor applications, are increasingly becoming viable alternatives for mainstream timber handling operations. At Dindas, the move towards electric sideloaders formed part of a wider focus on environmental responsibility and operational efficiency. After testing electrics on site, the company placed orders for multiple five and six tonne electric Baumanns capable of lifting beyond six metres.
The change is no longer simply about emissions targets. Electric sideloaders are increasingly making operational sense in their own right, particularly in environments where long shifts, indoor handling, noise reduction and precise load control all play a role. For the timber industry, the advantages are becoming increasingly practical rather than theoretical:
• lower operating noise • reduced maintenance requirements • opportunity charging during breaks • improved indoor suitability • lower local emissions • increasingly competitive operating costs
In engineered timber facilities, where indoor production, handling precision and environmental performance are all under greater scrutiny, those advantages are becoming increasingly significant.
CHANGING PERSPECTIVES Ultimately, the biggest shift may not be technological at all. It may simply be a change in mindset. For decades, materials handling discussions focused primarily on the machine itself. But as timber products become increasingly engineered, standardised and logistics-sensitive, the handling process surrounding them is also evolving. Mr Bove believes the starting point should always remain the material. “What is the structure of the load? How does it behave when moved? Where are the risks in the process?” he asks. “Only once those things are understood can the correct solution be defined.”
It is a perspective that feels increasingly relevant. The machine, after all, is not the starting point, it is the consequence of understanding the load correctly.
www.ttjonline.com | Summer 2026 | TTJ
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