UK crane-buyers race to Haydock Park for Vertikal Days

9 July 2012

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Ever popular, and seen by many as a show for taking business decisions rather than tyre-kicking, a small audience of dedicated crane-buyers descended on Haydock Park racecource in Merseyside, UK for this year’s Vertikal Days.

Liebherr
Across two stands at this year's Vertikal Days, Liebherr exhibited a wide range of mobile cranes, along with one MK88 mobile tower crane, recently sold to UK customers.

Mobile crane models on show ranged from the 50t LTM 105-3.1 -- bought by Dewsbury & Proud of Bilston, West Midlands - to John Sutch Cranes' latest addition, the 250t LTM 1250-6.1, which was also the largest Liebherr at the show.

A new customer since last October, Select Plant Hire showed a recently acquired 90t LTM 1090-4.1, while in the green livery of Emerson Crane Hire a 200t LTM 1200-5.1 helped make up the numbers. Locally based Commhoist Logistics of Warrington also brought along an LTM 1130-5.1.

The first 45t LTC 1045-3.1 sold in England was displayed courtesy of County Lifting of Kettering, while Scottish crawler hire firm Weldex ran a demonstration showing its LTR 1100 telescopic crawler crane's capabilities.

An annual tradition on Liebherr's stand at Vertikal Days, Liebherr UK staff also made efforts to promote its CPCS accredited training school, to encourage greater interest in a career in the crane industry.

Manitowoc
One of this year's highlights at the Manitowoc stand was a 4t Igo 50 self-erector that had been extensively refurbished under Manitowoc's Crane Care EnCORE program after a large fire broke out at a residential development in Basingstoke.

While another crane at the scene was beyond salvaging, along with the entire apartment block under construction being razed to the ground, EnCORE program staff replaced the self-erector's electrical components and bottom mast section to restore the Igo 50 to top condition.

The Igo 50 was also joined by two Grove cranes at the show, a 100t GMK 4100L all terrain and the 60t RT 765E-2 representing the firm's rough-terrain range. There was also a rough-terrain crane simulator on the stand, allowing visitors to test their skills on the day.

GB Controls
GB Controls attended this year's Vertikal Days to publicise its appointment as the newest distributor for REMdevice fail-safe radio remote control systems for the UK and Ireland.

Based in Colne, Lancashire, the company has 30 years of experience providing remote controls for a variety of lifting applications and will now be providing sales and service support for Italian manuafacturer REMdevice's products.

Suitable for applications such as tower and bridge cranes, GB Controls says the REMdevice range of products are compliant with the latest safety standards, including EN ISO 13849-1.

Having been looking for an opportunity to grow the GB Controls' product offering, GB Controls Director James Hibbert is pleased with the calibre of his new partners.

He said: "REMdevice is a reputable and innovative provider of industrial radio control systems with many prestige installations throughout Europe. We are delighted with the collaboration and look forward to introducing their comprehensive product range here in the UK and Eire."

Designed to be a compact and robust range, REMdevice's remotes include patented technology including contactless battery charging and a digital addressing system that obviates the need for the code plugs typical of some radio remotes.

In addition, the manufacturers design method for the controls emphasises a reduction the number of core components which makes the stocking, therefore availability, of replacement parts far simpler.

Terex
Terex featured its Challenger series prominently on its stand with both the mainland European and UK models, the Challenger 3160 and the Challenger 3180 respectively, on display.

In addition to these taxi cranes, two all terrain cranes, the AC 140 Compact and the AC 200-1P, were on the stand, along with a scale model of Terex's largest single-boom crawler crane the CC 8800.

During the course of the show this was auctioned off to raise funds for the Lighthouse Club Charity. The eventual buyer, Atlas Cranes managing director James Smith, parted with £850 for the model.