The New Elgin Pelican (Owen Newsletter - July, 2007)

In designing the new Pelican, Elgin focused heavily on improved operator comfort, visibility and ease of maintenance while maintaining machine durability and sweep performance.

Sweep – The brooms are now floated with the ground, maintaining consistent ground contact pressure as set in the cab at light, medium, heavy and maximum. This feature reduces the potential for broom coning and can prolong broom life depending upon sweep conditions (no more adjusting of chains or pin settings as brooms wear). Raise in reverse is now standard enabling the brooms to go right back to the previously set sweep position when the unit is propelled forward. A single sweep/transport switch is also standard.

Convey – The conveyor angle was maintained from the past Pelican design along with clearances in the tunnel. A new belt design with chevron angled cleats out at the edges reduce edge spill which can cause streaking. By increasing the height of the cipes, fine debris is conveyed into the hopper more efficiently. The new belt is also resistant to stretching but maintains the same puncture resistance as the old, reducing the frequency of adjustments required.

Contain – The hopper and water tank shapes changed enabling ground visibility at 7’ in front of the machine compared to 13’ for the old. These shape changes achieved a 220 gallon water tank capacity without the auxiliary water tank and the usable hopper capacity has increased to 3.3 cubic yd total.

Transport – The frame changed from uni-body to a welded tube and channel construction, fully sealing the cab and isolating it from the body. The cab is wider and is sound insulated. Air vents are ducted to vents arranged throughout the dash for a very effective mixing of the heated or A/C cooled air. Increased windshield area allows for an unobstructed, panoramic view for the operator. Simple, ergonomically positioned controls reduce operation complexity and allow the operator to sweep more efficiently. Automotive style gauges allow for a diagnostic interface with control systems. The park brake hand lever has been replaced by a finger operated knob for spring applied, hydraulically released parking brakes. Dual, opposing steer cylinders control the operation of a heavy duty sprung guide-wheel with a more robust axle, hubs and 10” wheels.

Dump – The bushings on the lift and dump arms are now Teflon impregnated, composite material that operate three times longer than the previous designs but never require grease. This allowed for reduction of lube points on the machine from 35 to 14. The crossover view mirrors raise with the hopper to reduce damage potential when dumping