What do we strive for at Haulz-All?  Read on to get a flavor.

Elegant Simplicity. 

The soul of Haulz-All power haulers is simplicity – simplicity of purpose, operation, and ownership.  From the beginning, our engineers have been encouraged to create design solutions that are consistent with the three facets of simplicity mentioned above. However, it is not an easy task. In an ironic paradox, many times achieving simplicity can be a very complex operation. Think of the millions of lines of computer code it takes to create a simple to use software package. While Haulz-All products are no where near as complex as millions of lines of computer code, we have spent countless hours considering how our products are used, and how to make the use of our products a more enjoyable experience

Operator Interface. 

It will come as a surprise to many that the most amount of design time was spent on the operator interface, or as most call it, the hand throttle control. It is this component that is key to how the rest of the machine operates. It is critical to get it simple and right.

After many different trials, we arrived at the current design, which uses the thumb to move a lever forward or backward to control speed and direction. The operation is totally intuitive - push your thumb forward to go forward, pull it back to go backwards. The farther you push the lever forward, the faster you go forward, and the same for backwards direction. Other objectives had to be met:

·         Safety - must make absolutely sure that the lever will always return to the center, or zero speed. If the operator looses contact with the throttle, it will immediately return to center, or zero speed, and thus command the controller to slow the unit down and then lock it in place.

·          Allow the operator to control speed from .5 MPH up to the top speed of 3 to 3.6 MPH.

·         Rugged and reliable - able to withstand the harsh conditions of construction jobsites
 

The end result is what you see now. It is very simple and intuitive to operate, but to achieve this goal takes an assembly with over 25 parts. As for rugged and reliable, all of the parts are contained in a high pressure die cast housing that will not crack (like plastic) or rust (like steel).

Perhaps what we are most proud of is the reliability. Haulz-All engineers performed accelerated life tests of the throttle assembly with a goal of 10,000 cycles (one cycle equals one full forward and one full reverse activation) before wearing out. We stopped the test after over 500,000 cycles had been counted, with virtually no wear of the internal parts.

Brains and Braun

The "brains" of the Über Movers is the digital controller, which is housed along with the batteries in a 14 gage steel box. Here again we have substantial complexity to covert the information from the operator interface into controlled and predictable motion. Technically speaking, the controller is a 4 quadrant, fully programmable digital device that packs a fantastic amount of power and reliability in a tiny package. Using a PC and special software, our engineers can program almost 50 different parameters most of which give an Über Mover its "feel". Again, an enormous amount of time was spent programming, trying, and reprogramming (tweaking) the different parameters until an optimal performance and feel was achieved. We program parameters such as forward and reverse acceleration rate, forward and reverse deceleration rate, controller inhibit functions, and how sensitive throttle inputs are. It is a fun process the first couple of times you try out a new program, but by the 10th or 11th revision, it becomes a little tedious, and it's time for some pizza and Red Bull. The final result is that we believe that we have produced machines that have an unmatched feeling of intuitive control combined with power. There is no way that a conventionally powered machine (meaning gasoline-powered) comes close to how precisely you can control an Über Mover.

The sophistication of the current controllers is impressive, but will become much more impressive as computer technology, chip design, electronics components become cheaper and more powerful. Reliability has also greatly improved. These devices are now made by the hundreds of thousands, and benefit from the same reliability improvements achieved in all electronic devices.

Location Location Location…

Most will notice that the location of the battery box is at the most protected area of the particular Über Mover machine. For the wheelbarrows, it is directly beneath the tub, between the handles. On the Über Mover 300, it is tucked up underneath the bed between the front and rear axles. We have had questions about the weight distribution of the battery box - especially on the wheelbarrows - since minimizing the weight on the handles is a primary objective. We had originally placed the battery box on the front of the wheelbarrow just above the front tire. While ideal for weight balance, we thought that it was the proverbial Jay Leno chin just waiting to get hit. We decided to sacrifice a little weight distribution in favor of a more secure location for the battery box. Even with its current location, the operator only "feels" an additional 18 pounds or so at the handles. When empty, you definitely feel it, but when full, the percentage added by the battery box is tiny compared to the rest of the load.

This much power should be much noisier…

Out of all the components, the Über Mover engineers know the DC-powered drive systems. They know drives inside and out - right down to the various types of gearing, bearings, and motors available. The single wheel drive used on the Über Mover 100 wheelbarrows is a double reduction worm and worm wheel coupled to a 2-pole PMDC (permanent magnet, direct current) non-vented motor.

The two wheel drive system used on the Über Mover 200s, 300s and Uber Hand Trucks is a single reduction, open differential transaxle, coupled to a larger 4-pole, PMDC non-vented motor.

PMDC motors are ideally suited for our application since they deliver maximum output torque at zero speed, and then torque falls as speed increases. This is ideal for an Über Mover since the maximum torque required is upon start up when the machine is sitting still. Coupling a PMDC motor to a high ratio gearbox provides and incredible amount of output torque, which of course translates into surprising power to move heavy loads. In addition, these drives are manufactured by the hundreds of thousands and are sealed for life requiring no maintenance. They are extremely reliable and will last much longer than the typical equivalent internal combustion engine. For example, it is considered an impressive accomplishment to achieve a design life of a string trimmer engine for more that 500 hours. The typical design life for the drives on an Über Mover is 2000 to 3000 hours.

The Result…

Haulz-All products are the culmination of hundreds (possibly thousands) of design, material, process, and integration decisions. There are so many factors that are considered for each and every component, that it would be impossible to list. We want to assure our customers and prospective customers that we constantly measure our design efforts based on value. Haulz-All defines value as the delicate balance between minimal cost and maximum performance. Typically, this is a direct relationship - the less the cost the less the performance. We hope and believe that our products deliver maximum value, with the focus tilting on performance side of the equation.