BPH aims for all hydraulic fleet

UK rental company Birse Plant Hire (BPH) is aiming to transform its fleet of crawler cranes into only hydraulic machines.

BPH has 53 crawler cranes ranging from 40t capacity to 150t, of which 30 are hydraulically operated and 23 are old mechanical machines. For the six months to 31 October 2001 these 53 cranes turned over £1.78m ($2.7m), from which a profit of £501,000 ($750,000) was made. This compares with a profit of £517,000 on a turnover of £1.91m during the same period of 2000.

Parent company Birse Group plc, which is primarily a building and civil engineering contractor, reported its half-year group results on 11 December.

In their report the directors stated: 'Whilst the results of the Crawler Crane Division compare with those achieved in the corresponding period in 2000/2001, demand for its mechanical cranes has fallen whilst demand for its hydraulic machines has increased. It is a medium term objective to build up a fleet comprising exclusively of hydraulic machines.'

BPH also runs a fleet of piling rigs which turned over £457,000 during the six months and made an operating profit of £147,000. Said the directors: 'The Piling business suffered from a lack of orders for its larger hammers. Given the expected increase in the incidence of major road and marine projects prospects should improve.'