Knuckle booms are familiar to us; they are generally loader cranes. See a truck trundling down the road bearing bricks, roof trusses or forestry logs and the odds are that it will also have mounted on it (behind the cab if you are in the UK or Europe or at the rear of the truck bed if you are in the US) a crane to unload that cargo at the destination. And in the UK and Europe, at least, that crane will almost aways be a knuckle boom. (In the US operators, who have wider spaces and manoeuvring room at their disposal, tend to prefer straight-boom cranes for this purpose; we shall discuss these cranes in a later article.)
So, on the east of the Atlantic, the knuckle boom and the loader crane have come to be thought of as the same thing: they are more or less synonymous. The knuckle boom is well-suited for that purpose: it is compact, folding away neatly to take up very little room on the truck, as you would not want to reduce the space available for cargo. It is flexible and versatile, too. The (generally) two or three hinge-points and the (generally) three or four jib sections can reach a good distance from the truck they are mounted on, and deposit their load in the places that are most convenient for the construction team that will use it – even if those places are otherwise hard to access. These cranes could be made by Hiab, or by Fassi, or by Effer, or by Palfinger or one of half-a-dozen other familiar names, many of them Italian or Scandinavian. And that is the end of the knuckle boom story…
Actually, of course, it’s not! The design of the knuckle boom makes it good for many other purposes. And it is scalable – both down and up. For example, variants on the knuckle boom form the superstructure of many a mini-crane while, upwards, giant truck-mounted knuckle booms can take up the entire chassis-length of a large lorry and are generally used for heavy on-site lifting. Shipmaritime versions can be larger still and are becoming a staple of the offshore power industry: their flexibility and reach make them ideal for windfarm work.
As we said, we shall examine the loader crane in a later article (December 2025). Here, though, we shall look at some areas where knuckle booms are used for other, often almost exotic, purposes.
FISH FARMING
Austria-headquartered crane manufacturer Palfinger has been a knuckle boom specialist for many years and its loader cranes are widely seen on trucks. But the company also has a marine division which also largely specialises in knuckle booms. A mainstay of the marine division’s knuckle boom portfolio is its PFM series, which ranges up to the 32000-14000kg capacity PFM 4500. And Palfinger is currently expanding the series.
In September 2024 it launched the PFM2100. It has a maximum outreach of 29 metres-plus and a lifting capacity of 4000 kg at full extension. The crane was developed specifically for the aquaculture industry, plus the service and workboat sectors.
In August this year, at the Aqua Nor aquaculture show in Trondheim, Norway, Palfinger added one more crane to the range: the PFM 1500. It is a smaller sibling of the 2100. Its maximum outreach is 26.7 metres and the lifting capacity is 3350 kg at full extension. It, like its bigger brother, has Palfinger’s patented P-profile extension boom system, which gives a wide range of movement and outreach but still provides strength and stiffness.
SUBSURFACE SECTOR
Netherlands-headquartered Huisman is well-known for its maritime operations. The company designs, manufactures and services heavy lifting equipment for companies in the renewable energy, oil and gas, port logistics, civil, and entertainment markets and knuckle booms form a large part of its offerings.
Frequently these are used for subsurface lifting. Thus, in April, the company signed a contract with Greek shipowner Capital Offshore for the delivery of four state-ofthe- art knuckle boom cranes for use in the offshore energy sector. The cranes will be integrated into platform supply vessels (PSVs) currently under construction at the Fujian Mawei shipyard in China and destined for operations in the Brazilian market, lowering and retrieving from the vessel to below the surface.
They have a lifting capacity of 100mt each and are designed to operate at depths of up to 3,000 metres. The environments are demanding: the cranes are equipped with Huisman’s proprietary Active Heave Compensation (AHC) system, which includes a patented method to cooperate with the vessel’s battery banks for re-using the regenerated power from a heave cycle for the next heave cycle – in other words recycling the energy gained from lowering loads.
Integrating the crane in this way with the DC power grid on board maximises the cranes’ power performance while significantly reducing the net energy consumption of offshore lifting. With today’s focus on high-performance, highcapacity energy storage systems in offshore construction vessels, such interaction between full electric AHC and large-scale energy regeneration has recently become much more realistic and more widely adopted.
That order, as we said, was signed in April. Similar orders, for other clients, were signed in May (for two cranes), in June (for two cranes again) and in July. All these knuckle booms are of 250mt capacity.
Huisman’s new, optimised series of knuckle booms includes models from 80mt up to 550mt and cover both setups with a winch below deck as well as on the back of the crane. Water depths up to 3000 metres are included as standard, while deeper water capabilities can be provided as an option.
The cranes can be equipped with a full electric drive system or a secondary controlled hydraulic drive. The hydraulic system works with a constant high pressure, which gives the system a much higher stiffness than conventional primary-controlled systems.
During hoist operations and heave compensation the response of the load is more accurate and much faster, says Huisman. The system keeps the speed of the hoist block constant over all layers of the winch. The torque and speed of the winch are controlled by adjusting the displacement of the hydraulic motors on the winch. Vessel motions for heave compensation are measured by motion reference units. This provides more accuracy than systems that use wave prediction, says Huisman. The crane gives what Huisman says is unrivalled hoisting speeds thereby significantly reducing the time to lower loads to the seabed; the high speeds also increase the operational weather window and maximise safety during operations.
GOING BIG
Returning to dry land Turkish company Erkin makes truckmounted knuckle booms. Specifically, it makes particularly big ones. The typical loader knuckle boom, for example, lifts around five tonnes; Erkin’s can lift up to 95 tonnes.
A crane that size does not leave much – or indeed any – room on its truck for cargo. You could, in theory, tow a trailer behind the truck and use the Erkin to load and unload that. This approach, however, would seem overkill. Erkin’s truck-mounted knuckle booms are intended for construction and industrial use. In particular, they enable heavy lifting operations in low headroom and narrow spaces: moving, assembling, and disassembling machinery, and handling under a roof or within plants is their forte.
Erkin also makes a range of large truck-mounted knuckle boom tow trucks, for towing large vehicles. These are flexible machines; as Erkin says, they ‘can also function as a knuckle boom crane. This versatility allows for effective lifting capacities in horizontally constrained spaces, such as under electricity lines, bridges, or within low-roofed tunnels.’
HYBRID KNUCKLE BOOMS
The company’s innovations do not stop there: Erkin also mounts knuckle booms on crawlers – which seems to be a product unique to them. There are plenty of smaller crawler knuckle booms around – see also the Palfinger product described below – and there are small-to-medium knuckle booms on tracks fitted with grapples and saws for forestry but the full-sized crawler knuckle boom specifically for lifting seems currently to be an Erkin monopoly.
These are extraordinary machines. Their lifting capacity ranges from 8 to 70 tonnes and they look not unlike a traditional mini-crawler on steroids.
Perhaps more original still is the Erkin-patented ER-250.000 PL-10+7 hybrid crawler which has wheels as well as crawlers. The wheels have hydrostatic drives and can be lowered to lift the crawler tracks off the ground so that, despite its size, it can operate inside factory buildings as well as on tracks over rough terrain.
Palfinger’s dry-land division makes what it calls ‘compact crawler’ knuckle booms which, it claims, combines the virtues of a mobile crane, a crawler crane, a mini-crane and a tractor all in one. Capacities (and sizes) are rather smaller than Erkin’s: Palfinger’s PCC 57.002 model is 5.88 metres long, while its PCC 115.002 comes out at 7.53 metres long; the former has lifting capacity 17,900kg, while the latter can lift 30,000kg.
Applications suggested by Palfinger include overhead cable maintenance, petrochemicals and tunnelling, indoor use, and man-lifting. The knuckle boom is demountable: the crane unit can detach itself from its crawler base to become a static crane – or not quite static, since it can use its four stabiliser legs to ‘walk’ itself forward or back, or crablike sideways. In the demounted mode crane and crawler base remain connected but only though the hydraulic hose or electric cable which transfers power between the two. An optional power pack or a truck can take over the power unit function of the crawler.
Mechanically-connected side lifting forks allow the units to transport long pieces, such as pipes, of up to four tonnes. It has pick and carry capabilities, too. On difficult terrain it manages inclines of up to 60%. Optional climbing aids and wider base plates are available to give extra stability. This is clearly a workhorse, and a long way from being a loader crane – although we should perhaps mention that it can, if desired, also be mounted on a truck as a loader crane.
Copma is an Italian manufacturer with worldwide distribution. Most of its knuckle booms range from 3.5 to 350 t/m capacities. Its lower-capacity models are indeed intended as loader cranes; its higher- and extreme-power models are not. The High Power range has a complete electronic system for managing additional accessories; they can carry extra functions such as winches, operator baskets, and other types of equipment and accessories. The new Copma 1800 (180 tonne range) is available in a trailer-mount model, which can be decoupled from its tractor and left at, say, a construction site for the duration of a project.
Mining, handling hazardous materials, in fracking sites, handling blowout preventers in the oil and gas industry, and placing power generators, tanks, pumps and pipes – all of these are tasks that Copma knuckle booms have handled. Equipped with grapple saws, hooks, winches and basket, urban arboriculture and rural forestry is another application – there is a Copma 650 grapplesaw machine specifically fitted for tree work.
MONSTER MODEL
There is also the Copma 7500. This is rather different. It is claimed as the most powerful hydraulic knuckle boom crane in its sector. It is specifically designed for the Asian market and its capacity is rather large. Indeed, it is the largest crane ever built by Copma; it is in the 600tm class and Copma’s US office calls it ‘The Monster’.
In close-range operations the 7500.P6J6 can lift 104 tonnes at 5.70 metres and a height of 10 metres. At longer distances it can handle 16.4 tonnes at 22.40 metres with the base crane and 2.3 tonnes at 46.10 metres with the fly-jib.
The close-range performance is helped by the fact that the base boom is telescopic, extendable to double its closed length. It is, as you would expect, large – in fact huge – and is actually a twin boom, made up of two units side by side, connected at each end; four hydraulic cylinders actuate it. It is also telescopic – extendable by double its closed length. The telescoping helps increase the close-range performance and means that the crane can be compact if necessary but can give more tipping height for the main boom when that is required.
Truck-mounted, offered on an eight-axle Scania, it, of course, needs outriggers and counterweights to lift the massive loads it is designed for. The turret of the crane holds eight tonnes of ballast on arms that can be extended rearwards to increase the counterbalancing moment. U-shaped ballast units can be hooked over the outriggers as well. The crane has negative boom articulation for operating in low or ultra-confined spaces, Sirlock 3 intelligent control system for realtime load monitoring, and TES 4.0 active stability monitoring designed to enhance safety on any terrain.
Suggested applications include what Copma describes as ‘infrastructure mega-lifts’ and also heavy industrial repair. These tasks could include relocating presses and production lines or lifting generators and compressors during retrofits. It can do such tasks with negative boom articulation through low entryways or under mezzanines or elevated gantries; equally it can lift factory equipment over roofs and lower it through narrow floor gaps. It is a huge and very versatile machine; and it is an awful long way from a loader crane.
From fish farming to subsea lifting to heavy construction and industrial repair, knuckle boom cranes have proven themselves to be far more than just truck-mounted loaders. Their adaptability, scalability and technical evolution make them indispensable across industries both on land and sea. Whether compact or colossal, mounted on trucks, crawlers or boats, the knuckle boom continues to push boundaries – demonstrating that its story is still very much unfolding.
TWO PALFINGER PCC 115.002 CRAWLER CRANES FOR GGR GROUP
UK company GGR Group, a provider of mini spider cranes, mini crawler cranes, and pick and carry cranes, plus other bespoke lifting products for hire and sale, has taken delivery of two new Palfinger PCC 115.002 crawler cranes. It plans to deploy one of these cranes at one of the UK’s largest nuclear power projects.
The PCC 115.002 has a maximum lifting capacity of 30 tonnes. Its six-section articulated knuckle boom and modular build allow it to be disassembled for easier transport and access to restricted spaces. This, GGR points out, is a key advantage for complex infrastructure environments such as nuclear facilities.
The crane has a maximum main boom outreach of 20.7m. This can be extended to 33.3m with a six-section jib. Maximum hook height is 22.5m via the main boom, extending to 36m with a jib. The crane has a 3.5-tonne hydraulic winch, with 66m of rope (90m optional), and it offers pick and carry capabilities. It also has 360° continuous slewing and non-marking tracks.
The PCC 115.002 is powered by a Stage V diesel engine, with optional 415V electric mains power. This makes it suitable for both indoor and outdoor lifting operations, even in environmentally sensitive or low-emission zones.
Standard features include: an H-frame stabiliser system; PALcom P7 full-colour radio remote control; P-Fold assistance system for automated boom folding/unfolding; Active Oscillation Suppression for reduced boom sway; Paltronic P150 overload protection system; Dual power system (diesel + electric); Hydraulic winch with rope tension and synchronisation control.
In addition, a two-man work basket can be specified, if required.
“The purchase of these machines was secured through Palfinger Europe, with Hemmo Luijerink providing great support from initial discussions through to delivery,” says Graeme Riley CEO of GGR Group. “As part of the collaboration, specialist engineers from Palfinger’s Austrian HQ travelled to the UK to deliver technical, handson training to our team at GGR Group.
“We are really proud to bring the Palfinger PCC 115.002 to the UK market, its arrival represents not only a significant investment in the future of compact lifting technology but also our commitment to being the first to deliver cutting-edge lifting solutions for high profile projects across the UK.”
HMF SPAIN: NEW SUBSIDIARY TO DRIVE GROWTH IN SPAIN
In March this year Danish loader crane manufacturer HMF Group established HMF Spain as part of its international growth strategy. The company says the new subsidiary will strengthen its presence in one of Europe’s key markets, ensuring closer customer relationships, improved service, and a stronger dealer network.
For the last 29 years HMF has collaborated with Eurogruas as its importer in Spain. Now, by transitioning to a direct subsidiary, HMF gains full control over its market approach, aligning resources and strategies to accelerate growth.
The new subsidiary will operate independently, mirroring HMF’s successful models in Denmark, Norway, the UK, and Germany. The new subsidiary will operate under its official name: HMF España.
“Spain is a key market for us, with significant opportunities for growth,” says Mikkel Andersen, CEO of HMF. “”We see tremendous potential there and by establishing HMF Spain we are laying the foundation for long-term growth. This move allows us to invest further in the market, strengthen our local presence, and ensure that we continue to provide the best possible support to our dealers and customers.”
HYVA LOADER CRANE BUSINESS TO BE ACQUIRED BY MUTARES
German private equity firm Mutares has signed an agreement to acquire the crane business unit of Hyva. The transaction strengthens the Mutares Goods & Services segment as a new platform investment and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2025, subject to merger control approval.
The crane business unit of Hyva generates approximately EUR 100 million in revenue per year and employs around 400 staff. It has production and assembly plants in Italy, Brazil and China, and a global network of sales and distribution offices.
“The crane business unit of Hyva is a very promising new platform for our Goods & Services segment with a globally recognised brand in truck-mounted cranes,” says Johannes Laumann, CIO of Mutares. “The business presents a turnaround and carve-out opportunity due to recent financial underperformance and operational inefficiencies. With our proven expertise in carve-outs and restructuring, we aim to restore profitability and drive sustainable growth. With a hands-on approach and long-term investment strategy, we see the company as a valuable addition to the Mutares portfolio.”
THE ART OF LIFTING: FOSSEWAY HIRE INSTALLS SCULPTURE WITH FASSI CRANE
UK lifting, transportation, haulage and storage specialist Fosseway Hire was commissioned to transport and lift a series of valuable sculptures into place at Compton Verney art gallery in Warwickshire.
To lift the sculptures Fosseway used its Fassi F485A2.25 xedynamic crane with Scanreco remote control. The crane is part of Fassi’s heavy-duty range and is in the 48tm class.
Originally made for and installed on the facade of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, USA, in 2022-23, ‘Gilt’ by internationally acclaimed artist Hew Locke has now been installed on Compton Verney portico where it will be on display for the next two years.
