Tadano Oil&Steel has been designing and manufacturing aerial work platforms for more than 25 years, with a product range covering tracked spider booms and truck-mounted platforms for access, maintenance and specialist work at height.
The brand combines Italian design and engineering with a focus on practical features that make a difference on site, from compact tracked access and automatic levelling to different boom geometries, outrigger configurations and control systems. Oil&Steel platforms are used across sectors including arboriculture, building maintenance, utilities, facilities management and industrial work, where access conditions can be just as important as working height.
The brand combines Italian design and engineering with a focus on practical features that make a difference on site, from compact tracked access and automatic levelling to different boom geometries, outrigger configurations and control systems. Oil&Steel platforms are used across sectors including arboriculture, building maintenance, utilities, facilities management and industrial work, where access conditions can be just as important as working height.
What sets Oil&Steel apart is the way innovation is built into the equipment, not added as an afterthought. Its technology is developed around the challenges operators face in real working environments, helping make platforms quicker to set up, easier to position and more effective on difficult or restricted sites. That practical approach to innovation has helped Oil&Steel build a strong following with operators around the world.
In this feature series by Chris France, Area Sales Manager at Hird Sales, we take a closer look at some of those design details and explain what they mean when the equipment is actually being used on site.
Chris works closely with customers across the powered access market and regularly showcases the Oil&Steel range in real working conditions, from spider boom set-up and ground controls to the smaller design details that make a difference on site. His recent Oil&Steel demonstrations have focused on showing how those features work in practice, giving operators a clearer view of the technology behind the equipment.
One-button automatic levelling for faster set-up
Once your Oil&Steel spider boom has been tracked into position, the next step is establishing a level and stable working position. On sloping or uneven ground, that could involve repeatedly adjusting individual outriggers before work can begin.
The one-button automatic levelling system available across the Tadano Oil&Steel spider boom range simplifies the process. At the touch of a button, the outriggers automatically adjust to level the platform, reducing the amount of manual adjustment required and allowing the operator to move from travelling to working more quickly.
This becomes particularly useful on the type of ground these platforms are designed to reach. With gradeability of up to 18 degrees and more than 600mm of ground clearance on selected models, Oil&Steel spider booms can travel across slopes and changes in terrain that would make access difficult for conventional wheeled platforms. Once at the work area, the automatic levelling system takes over to establish the correct working position.
The Octoplus 17 adds another useful option with sliding outrigger pads. Rather than having to position separate pads as each leg is deployed, the pads move with the outriggers, reducing another step in the set-up process. Even with all four outriggers fully deployed, the platform requires a footprint of around 2.9m x 2.9m, helping it set up where both ground conditions and available space need to be considered.
For operators moving between several working positions during tree care, maintenance or inspection work, these features reduce the amount of time spent preparing the platform each time it moves. The result is improved productivity: more of the working day spent at height and less time setting up at ground level.
420-degree turret rotation for precise platform positioning
Once the platform is set up, the 420-degree turret rotation gives the operator extra freedom to fine-tune the basket position and find a more comfortable working angle without repositioning the whole platform.
With 420-degree turret rotation, the boom can slew beyond the conventional centre point before having to reverse direction. That gives the operator extra freedom to work around façades, trees or other obstacles from the same set-up position.
On jobs where several areas need to be reached from one location, that extra rotation can help save time, by reducing the need to lower the basket, retract the outriggers and reposition the whole platform just to gain a slightly different angle.
Two basket entry points for easier access
Uneven ground does not just affect the outriggers. It can also change the height and angle of the basket relative to the surrounding surface.
Having two basket entry points on the Tadano Oil&Steel series gives the operator more choice when getting in and out of the platform. If one side sits higher because of the way the machine has been levelled, the alternative access point may offer a much easier route into the basket.
It is a simple feature, but one that becomes particularly useful on sloping sites, landscaped areas or anywhere the platform cannot be set up on a perfectly level surface.
Simple ground controls for quicker operator recovery
Tadano Oil&Steel tracked access platforms are also fitted with easy to understand ground controls designed to make operating the platform from ground level quick and straightforward.
The controls are particularly useful when the platform needs to be operated from below rather than from the basket, including situations where another operator may need to take control of the equipment.
The Octoplus 17 demonstrates this clearly, with the ground control functions positioned so they are easy to access and use.