This year has seen the unprecedented launch, broadly simultaneously, of four competing five-axle 100t all-terrain cranes. Watching the manufacturers jostle for market position, explaining the various merits of their own machine over their rivals, has been one of the highlights of the year. Next year life returns to a greater degree of normality, when each goes back to taking it in turns to bring out new models to trump an older competitor.
While reach and lifting capacity remain the key features that any crane buyer looks at, the trend today for all-terrain cranes is for the ‘all-in’ concept. All-terrain (AT) crane buyers are predominantly rental companies who want to move their cranes by road from jobsite to jobsite with minimum cost and hassle. They want to be able to drive their cranes on public highways fully equipped with ballast, hook block and boom extensions, and have the shortest possible set-up times.
Nowhere is the pursuit of the most roadable machine more evident than in the new five-axle, 100t capacity class. Deutsche Grove, Dematic, Liebherr and Faun have all launched ATs in this class onto the market this year. This month Liebherr begins deliveries of its new 100 tonner, a few months behind the rest of the pack.
According to Liebherr-Werk Ehingen technical director Ulrich Hamme, we should not regard the new five-axle machines as a single class at all. “Grove and Faun’s 100 tonners are nearer our LTM 1120/1 than our 1100/2 in terms of carrier dimensions and slewing radius,” he says. The numbers support him. The carriers of Liebherr’s LTM 1100/2 and Dematic’s AC 100 are about 11m long, give or take a centimetre or two. The carriers of Grove’s GMK 5100 and Tadano Faun’s ATF 100-5 are within a whisker of 12m, closer to the 12.4m of the 120t-rated LTM 1120/1. Counterweight slewing radius is 3.84m for the LTM 1100/2 and 3.95m for the AC 100, but 4.05m for the ATF 100-5 and 4.22m for the GMK 5100. The counterweight slewing radius of Liebherr’s 120 tonner is 4.10m.
Faun has already taken the step of re-classifying its ATF 100-5 as 110t maximum safe working load, putting it into the same class as Terex PPM’s ATT 1300 and Autogru Rigo’s RTT 1200 (110t).
All four companies report strong sales in this class and the competition is fierce – so fierce, in fact, that lawyers have been involved. Liebherr was prompted to consult its commercial property lawyers when it became concerned about similarities between its own boom pinning system and the system that Dematic was using on some of its most recent machines, including the AC 100. The dispute has now been resolved. Dematic has redesigned the pinning system on its AC 100, which instead of having a Liebherr-style single pin locking onto the top of the boom profile, now uses two pins, which are on either side of the boom. At first sight it appears that Dematic has moved away from one patent infringement allegation towards the threat of another, as the twin pinning system now adopted bears similarities with Grove’s system. “But the internal system could be different,” concedes Grove engineering manager Gerhard Kaupert. “We have not had a chance to rent a [AC 100] crane to look inside yet.” Dematic now argues that its new pinning solution – from the side – is better than top pinning. It argues that as the stresses in the boom are on top and bottom, it is less than optimum to puncture holes in the boom in these hot spots. It now says that there are no technical advantages to top pinning and is unable to explain why it top-pinned to start with. Hamme claims that the technical benefit of Liebherr’s pinning system is that “it is the easiest and absolutely the safest as it has mechanical safety as well as hydraulic”. Grove and Dematic side locking systems depend only on hydraulics, he claims.
As part of the settlement over the boom dispute, Dematic has also agreed to pay Liebherr a licence fee for every crane that they have already delivered with the top-pinning system. No AC 100s went out with this system, but the AC 500 (500t) and the AC 650 (650t) have. The sum payable is not believed to be significant, and has already been paid. Dematic has agreed to pay Liebherr further royalties for any further cranes that are delivered with the disputed pinning system.
Dematic’s logistics director Jochen Toggweiler says that the top pinning system is now used only on the AC 650 and the AC 300, and next year the AC 300 will revert to side pinning. It is stressed that customers will not notice any difference and there has been no reduction in either quality or lifting capacities from the change. The first deliveries of the AC 100 were delayed by the argument, but now the matter has been settled there will be no further impact on delivery times either, says the company.
Since it began deliveries in May this year, Dematic has made some improvements to the AC 100. The complete counterweight has been increased from 25t to 32t by the addition of two extra 3.5t pieces which hang under each side of current counterweight. These can be added to machines which have already been delivered.
New boom combinations are also offered. A short main main boom extension of 9.2m is available, so the whole machine has a 60t GVW (12t per axle) with 50m main boom, 9.2m extension, 12t counterweight and hook block. For those wanting maximum reach, two 8m boom extension inserts are now available, so that maximum reach is increased from 67m (50m main boom + 17m extension), it is now 83m (50m+17m+8m+8m).
Long versions
Dematic is also offering a longer version of the AC 100, using the five-axle carrier of the AC 120. Called the AC 100L, it is aimed mainly at the USA, Australia, France and other countries where the regulations might require different axle spacings. The carrier of the AC 120 is 1m longer than the AC 100, and the outrigger width is 7.5m instead of 7m, therefore the AC 100L is altogether stronger than the AC 100, particularly at radii beyond 30m or 40m. With full counterweight the capacity advantage is up to 15%. With 12t counterweight, the extra strength becomes evident at about 20m radius.
Dematic points out that the AC 100L is only about 500mm longer than Grove’s new GMK 5100 and “has a stronger chart too”.
It is interesting to note that beyond 23m radius, on full boom and with full counterweight, the smaller AC 100 has a better chart than the AC 120. This is because of boom technology advantages of the newer crane, which uses a single hydraulic cylinder for telescoping.
Liebherr has also introduced its first L model, the LTM 1080L which is the same as its 80t-rated LTM 1080 except on a new, longer chassis. It has been produced specifically for customers in California, USA where the LTM 1080 is not road legal. To date, 10 units have been sold.
Two and three axles
One of Dematic’s greatest successes of recent years has been the city crane concept, the compact AC 25 (two-axle, 25t) and AC 40-1 (three-axle, 40t) with distinctive nose-down boom styling. Sales of the AC 40-1 are approaching 250 units since its launch at Bauma 98.
These city cranes are very popular with their owners, even if there are a number of operators out there who are not extending the outriggers and are consequently turning them over.
The city crane concept originated in Japan and Kato was the first of the Japanese manufacturers to ship city cranes to Europe to take on Dematic. Kato’s CR 250 went head to head with the AC 25. Now Kato plans a three-axle, 40t-rated CR 400 to take on the AC 40-1. This new crane will be launched at Bauma next year, depending on the state of the market and no further deterioration in Euro/Yen exchange rates.
Tadano and Kobelco have also begun marketing city cranes in Europe this year, aiming slightly below the AC 25 and CR 250 with 20t machines. Marchetti of Italy is also bringing out a city crane in the 20t class, which will be a bigger version of its 12t Trio.
But other European manufacturers have not so far embraced the city crane concept. Liebherr’s Hamme is clearly prejudiced against single cabin cranes. “The crane is the workplace of the driver. It needs to be comfortable. A crane with one cabin cannot be a good mobile crane. It is not a good driving position. The operator sits on his crane like he is on a horse. Crane drivers tell us they don’t like single cab cranes.” The counter argument is that city cranes are designed for working in cities, not long-distance travel.
But more than 700 units of the two-axle LTM 1030/2 having been delivered, it easily outsells the smaller AC 25, so Liebherr feels there is no commercial imperative.
Grove and Terex PPM can also both be satisfied with sales of their two-axle ATs. To meet demand, Grove has had to outsource assembly of its GMK 2035 to GRC in Italy.
Grove’s best seller last year was the GMK 3050, its three-axle 50t rated AT. But it is unlikely to get such an easy ride for much longer with new 50 tonners set to come onto the market from both Liebherr, Dematic and PPM.
Liebherr will have a prototype of the LTM 1050/2 by the end of the year, to begin production next February and shipping directly after Bauma, which is in March. This three-axle AT replaces the LTM 1050/1. At 40m, the boom on the new crane will be 2m longer than on its predecessor and it will have a stronger chart. But the key improvement is a reduction in gross vehicle weight to 36t (12t/axle), including 8t of counterweight, making it road legal with an additional 1t of counterweight than was possible on the older model. The LTM 1050/2 will also feature such recent innovations as the new Liebherr cab and databus technology, as well as the new ZF transmission that first featured on the LTM 1100/1 (see feature, p35).
While Liebherr is bringing out a totally new machine, Dematic’s AC 50-1 is more of an upgrade than a brand new machine. The most obvious change from the predecessor AC 50 is the reconfigured axle spacings. The AC 50 has two axles at the front and one at the rear, while the new AC 50-1 has one at the front and two at the rear. This enables it to travel, ready for action, with more counterweight attached, rather than having ballast stored on the centre of the deck. This rearrangement of axle spacings is also a feature of the new Liebherr 50 tonner.
The steering of the AC 50-1 has been changed from 6x4x6 to 6x4x2, making it arguably closer to a truck crane than a true AT. Other new features include a Euro 2 compliant engine, automatic transmission, ABS and cruise control, and a maximum travel speed of 80km/h instead of 70km/h.
A redesigned 50 tonner is also being offered by Terex PPM. The French manufacturer has arguably been hit harder than most by European highway regulations that stipulate a maximum loading of 12t per axle. Like all the major manufacturers, PPM says that its primary problem is still simply meeting demand for its product. There are enough European countries where the regulations are not so tight, including most notably Spain, so business remains good at PPM, the company says.
But most PPM cranes have to be stripped right down to meet 12t per axle regulations. Only the 30t-rated ATT 350 can carry any counterweight and remain under 12t per axle. The company is now addressing this issue, however. Next month PPM holds an open house at its factory in Montceau-les-Mines, France where its will show new product specifically designed to address the weight issue.
Two new PPM all-terrain prototypes are being shown: the ATT 400-3 (the third evolution of the two-axle, 35t-rated ATT 400); and the 50t-rated ATT 600-2. The new cranes feature a new chassis and new boom to bring loadings under 12t per axle even when equipped with counterweight, jib and hook block. Production of these models will begin towards the start of next year.
Visitors to next month’s PPM event will also see the first units of the Terex Compact range, cranes built by Compact Truck but badged as Terex under a license agreement. Terex begins manufacturing these cranes in competition with CT after Bauma next year, although the location has still to be decided. The Terex Compact range includes the TC 500 (two axles, 50 US ton capacity) and TC 800 (three axles, 80 US ton capacity). Compact Truck calls these cranes CT.2 and CT.4 respectively. A prototype of the TC 1500, a four-axle 110t (120 US ton) crane called the CT.4 by Compact Truck, should be ready by the end of the year and will be shown at Bauma, says Terex vice president Steve Filipov.
Four axles
The 60t to 80t lifting capacity range has seen a lot of activity in recent years, with ATs in this range becoming the basic workhorse of many fleets instead of the 25t to 50t truck crane that dominated in the 1980s. The ATF 60-4 has been a great success for Tadano Faun since its launch at Bauma 98, thanks to its adherence to the ‘all in’ concept. Faun shipped 120 of these in the first two years.
Liebherr’s LTM 1060/2 has also been spectacularly well received since being launched in September 1999: the 300th unit will be sold before the end of this year, Liebherr expects. The four-axle, single-engine LTM 1060/2 is designed as an ‘all in’, meeting 12t per axle regulations even when loaded with 17m swingaway jib, hook block, three-axle drive, eddy-current brake and a full fuel tank. It has a 42m boom and can lift 1.4t at 38m radius.
Dematic is responding with a new four-axle 60 tonner to go against the Liebherr and Faun machines. It will launch the all-new AC 60 at Bauma 2001, which is the reason that the company felt it did not need a totally new 50 tonner.
Grove recognises that its four-axle GMK 4070 and 4080 (70t and 80t respectively) are both in need of updating and plans an attack on this segment. It is also launching a new four-axle AT at Bauma 2001.
Among others offering 60t ATs are the Italian manufacturers Rigo and Ormig, but both these models, the RTT 603 and 603 TTV respectively, are on three axle carriers rather than four. Also out of Italy is the 70t-rated Marchetti MG 70.4. The first unit was sold last year and to date about 10 units have been sold.
The top end of the four-axle category includes 80 tonners from Dematic (AC 80-1), Liebherr (LTM 1080/1), Marchetti (MG 80.4) and PPM (ATT 900).
The 90t class, including Liebherr’s LTM 1090/2, has been largely replaced by the new 100t machines mentioned previously.
Five and six axles
With so much activity at 100t, there does not appear to be much development in the range immediately above, with nothing new to attack Liebherr’s LTM 1120/1, the Demag AC 120, Marchetti’s MG 110.5, or PPM’s ATT 1354 – all rated at 120t. Further up the scale, at 200t and 300t, it starts to get livelier again.
When Grove launched its GMK 6250 in 1998, this 250t AT soon found itself trumped by the 300 tonners – Dematic’s AC 300 and, in due course, Liebherr’s LTM 1300/1. With the Demag AC 300 having a six-axle carrier, Liebherr needed to freshen up its seven-axle LTM 1300. It was finally unveiled to the public in October 1999, some months later than expected.
Managing director Friedrich Bär explained to Cranes Today at the time why the LTM 1300/1 had suffered delays in coming to market. He said that it had originally been conceived as a 250t-capacity machine to succeed the LTM 1225, was redesigned at 280t capacity to top the GMK 6250, and then had to be further redesigned when Mannesmann Dematic brought out its 300t-capacity AC 300. Changes included redesigning the boom to increase luffing capacity and moving the operator’s cabin to the back.
Unique to the six-axle LTM 1300/1, Bär said, is its ability to tilt the main boom and fly jib simultaneously.
The guying equipment, plus 12.5t of counterweight and the 21m two part swing-away jib can all be carried by the crane during transport. Total counterweight is 87.5t, though 112.5t is needed if the boom is guyed. Data bus technology interconnects in series all the functions on the carrier and all sensors on the superstructure and boom. Crane operations are controlled by a Liccon computer and remotely serviced and diagnosed by a new system called LISSy.
Grove has responded again this year by upgrading the GMK 6250 to 300t – the GMK 6300.
However, Grove may be about to face the same scenario all over again. It has been greatly boosted by the success of the GMK 5180, a five-axle 180t-rated AT launched last year. In Switzerland, in particular, it has won market share from Liebherr’s 160t-rated LTM 1160/2. The LTM 1160/2, launched in 1996, was the first Liebherr model to feature the Telematik boom.
But Liebherr is hitting back with a new five-axle (not six, as previously reported) 200 tonner, the LTM 1200/1. The prototype is planned for completion this month, with the official launch taking place at Bauma next March.
This new Liebherr also follows the launch of a new 200t machine from Dematic this year, the AC 200, which replaces the AC 180.
While Liebherr stole a lead on the competition with the 60t-capacity LTM 1060/2, in other categories it seems to have been following behind. The LTM 1100/2, the LTM1050/2 and now the LTM 1200/1 all hit the market after rival Demags. It is an analysis that Friedrich Bär firmly rejects.
“Our LTM 1200/1 is a completely different concept to the Demag,” says Bär. The AC 200 is offered on five or six axle carriers, he says, while the LTM 1200 comes only with five axles.
“If we go to six axles, that is a whole new concept that we plan to surprise people with when we reveal our plans at Bauma,” he adds. He is not ready to give any details of this ‘surprise’ but stresses that it will only be plans that are announced at Bauma. The actual crane will not have been built by that time.
But Grove also has a new 200t offering, the hybrid GMK 6200-1, which is made up of the upper of the GMK 5180 with the six-axle carrier of the 6250.
For all-terrains above 300t capacity, buyers still only have a choice between Liebherr and Dematic. Having established itself as a manufacturer of heavylift ATs, Grove has made no secret of a desire to move into the super heavylift division. Earlier this year it began working on a new machine in a joint venture between the Wilhelmshaven factory in Germany, which will build the upper, and the Shady Grove factory in the USA, which will build the carrier. This crane is expected to be rated at 450t capacity and the intention is to show the prototype at Conexpo 2002.
