Bigger and Stronger

3 October 2019


Over the past few years, Jaso has launched a number of models across its different ranges, among them were its highest capacity models. Dick Huitema, area manager at Jaso, talks to Sotiris Kanaris about these models and the market.

Jaso has an extensive portfolio of tower cranes which includes hammerheads, low tops, luffers and hydraulic luffers. In order to meet the demand for higher capacity models, the Spanish manufacturer has recently introduced its biggest cranes, the J1400 low top and the J780PA luffer.

The growing trend towards prefinished prefabricated volumetric construction (PPVC), particularly in Asia, has led to increased requests for cranes with heavy duty lifting capacities. As a response to this demand, Jaso designed the J1400; it has an 80m-long jib and can lift a maximum load of 64t and 10.5t at tip load. The first four units of this model have been purchased by Singapore-headquartered Crane World Asia.

The second biggest unit from this range is the J700, which has 80m reach, a maximum load of 24t and tip load of 5.5t. The manufacturer has seen demand for capacities between the J700 and J1400, with Huitema telling Cranes Today that they are currently developing models to fill that gap very soon.

The most popular low top models are the J360 and J560. The J360 has a maximum capacity of 18t, 60m reach and tip load of 4t. The J560 has a maximum capacity of 24t, 85m reach and 2.5t tip load.

Jaso’s luffing crane range consists of 11 models with capacities between 5t and 75t, and reach from 40m to 70m. At the higher capacity end is the recently-launched J780PA, which was released in two versions. The first one with a maximum capacity of 75t, a range of 70m and a 220kW engine. The second model, the J780PA.64, can lift up to 64t. The first unit of this model has been operational in Australia.

Huitema says: “Basically in Australia, one of our big markets, they request line pull and big capacity to lift huge volume elements, that is why they need these 75t or 64t units. In Australia, it is all about speed.” He added that over the years electric cranes managed to capture a good market share from the traditional dieselburning towers, so they had to grow in capacity as well in order to compete. “Our J780PA is one of the biggest luffers in the market.”

Jaso is active in more than 60 markets around the world, with some markets being buoyant and some others down.

“Overall the global market is good, but we are living in a time of big uncertainty, no one knows what is going to happen one year from now. There is Brexit and the trade war between US and China that affect the market.”

Huitema added that there are signs of recovery in the Spanish market and there are shortages in some capacity classes in the market, but companies are still not investing heavily in new machines. The reason is the low rental prices as well as political uncertainty, which affects infrastructure projects. Crane sales may be down in the local market, but Huitema says they are currently short of cranes to meet the rental market demand.

He says the company will continue to work hard to maintain its strong position in markets such as the UK, Australia and Canada as well as increase its market share in regions like the US.

Jaso’s Dutch dealer Teka Kranen has supplied two J300 and a J360 for the construction of the ‘TOREN’ apartment complex in Hoorn, the Netherlands. The complex consists of low-rise buildings and a 20-storey tower.
Nine J110N and a J140N were used for the construction of the new Termibus bus station in Bilbao, Spain. Photo courtesy of Drone by Drone.