Join us this week at the Miami International Boat Show!
Thursday to Monday, Feb 15-19, 2018
Miami Marina Stadium Park and Basin
Stop by Booth E416 and say hello. We’ll have reps from Sales, Engineering, Production on hand, as well as CEO Michele McDowell and President Mike Wiggins. Our Taylor SSI reps are also there, sharing the booth with us.
Don’t forget to join us for a cocktail reception at CG Marina, too! Saturday night, 6-9pm.
Trish Hamilton, owner of North Miami’s Keystone Point Marina, reports that the marina is “…taking delivery of a brand new, beautiful Wiggins forklift on the opening day of the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. Many marinas paint their forklift equipment to blend with the property colors—we’ve decided to take it a step further with custom-designed artwork by marine industry artist Hugo Cardonne.
Hamilton explained, “Since FLIBS draws such an international crowd we thought it would be the perfect venue to present a trendy, fun design for a piece of equipment that is an industry mainstay. It’s not just a forklift—it’s a moving work of art!
The new Marina Bull™ forklift will be showcased at the Wiggins Lift Company booth all week. On Thursday, November 2 at 5:30 p.m. there will be an official unveiling, with a naming ceremony and cocktail reception at the FLIBS, Worldwide Forklift booth number 1030. ALL PRESS AND MARINE INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND.
“The folks at Wiggins make the planning and purchasing of a new marine forklift really easy,” added Hamilton. “The engineers at Wiggins Lift Company have designed a powerful piece of equipment that fits our customers’ boat types, with some room to grow our larger boat-owner customer base. This is the sixth forklift we have purchased from Wiggins, and we want to have some fun with the process of taking delivery.”
How long should a marina lift last? They work in pretty tough environments: from freezing to hot temperatures, in fresh and salt water, lifting and moving heavy and uneven loads, and just the general wear and tear of heavy machinery.
Wiggins lifts are known for their durability and longevity in the field, even in the toughest environments. How about Harrison Township in Michigan? Our friends at Belle Maer Harbor Marina know this all too well—and that’s why they have been using the same Wiggins Marina Bull since 1990—twenty-seven years on the job!
The Marina Bull is a 15K Marina Bull. Check out the Wiggins classic logo on the back!
This Marina Bull has worked every day since 1990. It was recently repainted, and looking great! This lift has been working in the field almost longer than anyone else has been making marina forklifts!
Here’s a picture of the 1990 Marina Bull (right) next to their 2004 Marina Bull (left).
This is another reason why Wiggins is the world leader in the dry storage boat handling equipment industry. Wiggins can custom design what you need for your marina. We design and manufacture our trucks to meet each customer’s unique environment and needs. This makes each Marina Bull particularly suited to the job it will perform, which means better performance and—as Belle Maer Harbor Marina knows—impressive durability.
Wiggins builds machines to order, meaning you get what you need for your application, not some generalized lift that may or may not meet your needs. If you’re in need of a marina forklift, give us a call, and we’ll show you exactly what we mean.
Before 1974, fast food restaurants were food assembly lines: you got what was on the menu and didn’t ask for options because they weren’t available.
Then Burger King released a campaign saying that at their place, you could “have it your way.” The jingle became famous:
“Hold the pickles,
hold the lettuce,
special orders don’t upset us,
all we ask is that you let us serve it your way.”
It was a customer-oriented: offer a standard menu of options that satisfied most people, but allow a customer to make special requests. Today, most fast-food places allow options on their standard items.
That’s not true in the marine forklift industry. Most lifts are assembly-line products. You buy only what they offer, with relatively few options. If you have an unusual request, forget it.
But Wiggins is customer-oriented and always has been. Our mottos are “Built for the owner, designed for the operator” and “Tell us what you want; we’ll build it.”
For a marina lift, “one size” does not “fit all.” Every marina is different. Different building constraints, a different collection of boats, and different needs.
All Wiggins Marina Bulls come with standard components, of course, such as a Kessler drive axle, a Cummins engine, and a Dana transmission. These standard components are durable and high-quality, just like the Marina Bulls we put them in.
Engines and Transmissions
So many options—with security for parts and service.
But if your marina has a different preference, we’ll customize it. No matter how unique the request—as long as it’s safe and effective, we’ll make it your way. That’s why we are the leader in the marine forklift industry, with more satisfied customers than any other manufacturer. We put our customers’ needs first.
We can customize nearly every aspect of our Marina Bull to fit your marina’s wants and needs. That includes what you would expect, such as height, engine, and tires, but also things like hydraulic control configuration or even step design.
Concerned about getting parts and service for customizations? No problem. We have been servicing and supporting our custom machines for almost 70 years. Before we allow any part to be put on a Marina Bull, we make sure it meets our rigorous performance and safety standards, and that we can support that part in an exceptional manner. If a component fails either of those tests, we’ll work with you to find a suitable option, because we don’t put substandard parts on Wiggins lifts. In additions, we have parts and service centers all over the USA, including support through Taylor SSI.
Do you want an AxleTech or a John Deere axle? A Ford LPG or Volvo Penta Tier 4 engine? Something else? We’ll do it, as long as it meets the high level of performance the Marina Bull is famous for.
Don’t settle for a one-size-fits-all, assembly-line approach. With Wiggins, you’ll not only get a high-performance, durable, and custom machine—you’ll receive the highest quality service and parts support, too. No other manufacturer offers customization, quality components, and support like Wiggins.
Drive Axles
Tell us what you want, we’ll build it.
Tires
Have it your way—with confidence.
The Marina Bull LOPRO™ can save you money with reduced operating costs. Innovative features keep your marina running smoothly and efficiently. For example:
Lifting capacity and stability are the two most important characteristics of a marina truck. Wiggins specializes in long load center forklifts. Our units can safely and reliably lift longer and heavier boats than our competition because we design our lifting systems to handle the forces, stresses, and leverage needed for boats with long load centers. The counterweight and chassis designs have higher stability factors and stronger masts and forks. A Wiggins weighs more because it does more, safely, year after year.
Our Marina Bull LoPRO has the lowest center of gravity and the heaviest counterweights in the industry, ensuring that you can lift the rated boats at each rack height with the highest confidence. Wiggins Marina Bull means capacity, strength, safety, and durability.
That’s just two of the many reasons why Wiggins is the world leader in the dry storage boat handling equipment industry. From the W1.0 model (8,000 lbs @ 120″ load center) to the W10.6 model (44,000 lbs @ 240″ load center), Wiggins can custom design what you need for your marina.We design and manufacture each truck to meet the customer’s unique environment and needs. Our goal is to make you better at what you do. This approach makes each Yard Bull particularly suited to the job it will perform, which means better performance and durability.
Wiggins builds machines to order, meaning you get what you need for your application, not some generalized lift that may or may not meet your needs.
Here’s what happens when a new Marina Bull arrives…
Have you ever wondered what happens once a new Wiggins Marina Bull arrives at a marina? Our good friends at The Drystack at Trafalgar Wharf in the UK have created a great time-lapse video (complete with a soundtrack!).
After we finish constructing any Wiggins lift, it is put through a series of tests. We then remove the forks, carriage, mast, and operator guards for delivery on a flatbed truck (or two, depending on the size of the lift). For shipments outside the American/Canadian Continent (like the UK) the lift is loaded onto a ship (and then trucked).
Once the lift arrived at Trafalgar, our master mechanic, Art, traveled there from our facility. The lift is re-assembled on site and all systems are reconnected and tested.
Watch the video below to see the process from arrival to completion. (Thanks, Tom Harding and Trafalgar, for documenting it!)
