“In 2000, I took the step of buying my own cranes: until then, we were only an intermediary for sales and for rental of cranes. Our own fleet is 100% Liebherr. As well as renting and selling cranes, we also provide services to construction companies that own their own cranes, both Liebherr and Potain. We can also offer tower crane operators, we erect cranes, we climb them and we provide other logistics support.

Transvertal 20t 301 C

Transvertal erecting a 20t maximum capacity Liebherr 301 C

“Most Potain cranes in use in Chile are from their plant in Portugal, and most Liebherrs are from Liebherr Industrias Metalicas in Pamplona, Spain. Today the Chilean tower crane market is looking to China and the presence of Chinese tower cranes in Chile is increasing.

“I buy secondhand cranes from Van Der Spek in Belgium, and refurbish them in Chile, where labour costs are lower. Then, I either sell them or run them directly in my own fleet. I´m handling around 80 tower cranes, ranging from 2t maximum capacity, up to 20t maximum capacity. This accounts for around 15% of the total Chilean tower crane fleet.

“There are six companies running tower crane fleets in Chile. The biggest dealer sells both Liebherr and Potains, and accounts for around 75% of the market. One of our competitors sells Comansa, another sells Jaso. Talking with other fleet owners, we’ve worked out there are around 500 top slewing tower cranes and about 150 bottom slewing self erectors at work in Chile. It’s an old fleet: we don’t have the same regulations as in Europe, and most of our cranes were built in the 1980s or 1990s. The crane fleet owners here self-regulate, for safety and in order to avoid court problems.

Transvertal 112 EC H

Transvertal erecting a 2t capacity Liebherr 112 EC H

“Most of our cranes are working on tower blocks, up to 100m hook height. South American economies tend to be very centralised, around big cities, and there’s a boom in building tall buildings in Santiago at the moment.”

Horst Nickel Hecht, share owner and MD, Transvertal


Transvertal erecting a 20t maximum capacity Liebherr 301 C Transvertal 20t 301 C Transvertal erecting a 2t capacity Liebherr 112 EC H Transvertal 112 EC H