Hemschiedt helps Humma
14 March 2018Humma cranes, based in Western Australia, has been manufacturing pick and carry cranes since 1996. Their latest offering, the Humma 55, features a hydropneumatic suspension and damping system by Hemscheidt.
Designed as a modular system and already used for construction and mining vehicles and fire engines, the suspension can be quickly adapted to different vehicle configurations. In contrast to steel spring suspension, the spring stiffness is not constant in this system but depends on the load acting on the gas spring. On the Humma 55 these load changes are up to 55t. During loading and unloading, the hydropneumatic suspension system returns to its level position in fractions of a second. This provides safety, and also comfort for the driver, one of Humma Cranes’ key requirements.
Peter Dalla Riva, divisional head of cranes and engineering at Humma, attributed the strong interest in the crane to its suspension system. “This is the beginning of the heavy lift, high tech era of pick and carry cranes,” he said. ‘There is no technical reason why a Humma 75 or a Humma 100 (at 75t and 100t respectively) could not be built to meet market demand.”
“That would be no challenge for Hemscheidt” said Dr-Ing Mark Wohrmann of Hemscheidt Fahrwertechnik. He added that the system is already installed in vehicles that carry a load of 400t. “We’re ready for the Humma 400.”
The pick and carry Humma 55 has been on test in a mine in western Australia since the end of 2017.
