In August, operations staff at the ARM North Slope of Alaska site in Barrow welcomed a much-anticipated arrival—a “telehandler”—that will make operations at the Arctic site easier and more efficient. The unit will be used to move racks of helium, lift heavy instruments to decks for field campaigns, and move large liquid nitrogen or liquid helium dewars to instrument locations. Fresh off the summer barge from Anchorage, the vehicle immediately went to work unloading a shipping container holding 10 racks of helium bottles, with each rack weighing about 2300 pounds.

Based on a typical forklift design, the telehandler can support a payload of 6000 pounds and is equipped with a general purpose bucket and 4-foot forks. This unit also features a telescoping boom that can reach up to 42 feet, plus three different steering modes: two-wheel, “crab” and coordinated. It also includes stabilizers that provide ± 5 degrees of leveling, plus a frame-leveling system with ± 10 degrees of adjustment. As part of the Arctic Package, the unit will also accommodate a snow blower attachment – handy for removing snow drifts that can pile several feet high on the access roads and around the instruments at the North Slope during the winter.

The used vehicle had a few hundred hours of operation on it, but an inspection found it to be in very good condition and at a very reasonable price. Site operations personnel took training classes at the Caterpillar™ dealer in Anchorage to become proficient in maneuvering the unit.