Aichi Japan came to Northpower in early 2019 advising us that they were going to stop the production of the SB10A which is a low voltage insulated compact EWP (Bucket Truck). The SB10A is popular for low voltage/streetlight work but with limited numbers being requested by customers Aichi decided to discontinue the production of the SB10A. After discussions with Aichi it was decided that our Fleet Team would visit Japan and discuss the possibility of having the SB10A custom built to meet the high voltage insulation requirements.

Northpower was the first customer that the Aichi design engineers had met to discuss the design requirements - the prototype design was referred to as U488 and we've committed to having four built for the Auckland Reactive Maintenance teams.

With an overall length of 6m and width of 2.2m the Aichi SH11J makes this EWP ideal for faults - the single man bucket and quick setup along the small compact footprint enable the truck to get into tight spaces. The 11m maximum reach provides enough reach for faults to be rectified without the need for a ladder. The jacks only deploy vertically. The vertical jacks do not extend horizontally keeping the footprint at 2.2m wide this is how setup time is kept to minimum.

Keep a look at for these in Auckland - Northpower is proud to be the first customer in the world to have the SH11J operating in our fleet.