Timeless utility

The first rough terrain cranes can be traced back to the middle of the last century. Shinichi Iimura, executive director, international sales, Tadano, explains: “Tadano was founded in 1948. It began manufacturing rough terrains in 1955. Early in its history it focussed on truck-mounted cranes. In the 1980s, it began to push the popularity of rough terrain cranes. These now account for 80–90% of its sales.”

The story is similar across the Pacific. Neil Hollingshead, global product manager, all terrain and rough terrain cranes, Manitowoc, says: “We manufacture rough terrain cranes at Shady Grove in Pennsylvania, USA, and at Niella Tanaro, near Turin, Italy. Production at Niella is primarily for Italy and the wider European, Middle East and Africa markets. The models are essentially the same worldwide, but we have a strategy of manufacturing where the major markets are: for rough terrains, that’s North America and Italy. In Italy, we manufacture the 30t RT 530 E-2 and 35t RT 540 E.

“Niella was part of Potain, acquired by Manitowoc in 2001. After Manitowoc acquired mobile crane brands Grove and National in 2002, it built a factory at Niella, adjacent to the existing tower crane production plant, specifically for mobile crane production. The first RT 530E was built at Niella about four years ago. An extension to the plant was opened in October 2008, when we also moved production of two- and three-axle all terrains from Wilhelmshaven in Germany.”

Locatelli was founded in Italy in 1954. Sales manager Michele Mortarino says: “Locatelli was the first Italian manufacturer of telescopic hydraulic cranes, and specialised in the production of rough terrain cranes. The modern production facilities are based in Mapello (Bergamo), and cover 15,000 sqm. Locatelli sells all over the world, from the Middle East to South America, Europe and Africa. In the last year our largest rough terrain sales were in Europe.”

Rough terrains find buyers around the world, but dominate some markets in particular. Iimura says: “Rough terrains are very popular in Japan and the US. Land is very limited in Japan, and there is very little space compared to the rest of the world. In Japan the smaller sizes of rough terrains, from 10t up to 40t, can travel on the road.

“Rough terrain cranes are also taxed differently [in Japan]. Rough terrains are more attractive for Japanese customers to use, as they pay no tax on them.”

Hollingshead says: “There are markets for rough terrains worldwide: North America is the largest, but South America, the Middle East, Africa, and South East Asia and Australia are also substantial. The Middle East and Africa have been reasonably strong in some areas for rough terrains. There has been a steep decline in demand from realestate construction in markets like Dubai, but there is still demand from the oil and gas sector.

“All Grove rough terrain models are global, but we decided to regionalize these two [30t and 35t] models. We have a policy of keeping centres of excellence. The main rough terrain design office is in Shady Grove, where we have the most experience building rough terrains. But we supplement that with regional design in Italy.

“These size classes were high volume in the Italian market. The way the market is split in Italy, smaller mobile cranes tend to be rough terrains, while bigger models tend to be all terrains. In most of Europe, all terrains have replaced rough terrains for most jobs. However, the history of building rough terrains in Italy, and local construction industry norms, mean that small rough terrains still remain popular.

“Customers are always going to need cranes that are able to work on unprepared sites. In Italy, small rough terrains can drive on the highway, with a permit.

“In Africa, customers like that rough terrains are simple to operate, cheaper compared to all terrains, and the technology is simpler to maintain. Again, like in Italy, there is a tradition of using them.”

Manitowoc’s Hollingshead notes that rough terrains compete with many other crane types. He says: “As well as overlapping with all terrains on some jobs, you also have to think about the interaction with crawlers. They do similar work on many job sites. There’s also a definite market crossover with telecrawlers; the pick-and-carry capacity of telecrawlers is a little higher.

Special purposes
One Italian truck-mounted crane builder, TCM, has seen an opportunity in new markets. TCM export manager Antonio Pucci, explains the company’s decision to develop a new range of rough terrains, the RTCW 35 and RTCW 55. “An increase of demand for rough terrain cranes in the Middle East and Russia after Bauma 2007 prompted us to develop this new crane model,” Pucci says. “Furthermore, there was the will to combine our technology in manufacturing hydraulic booms with the structure of a rough terrain crane. We tried to innovate the common concept of this type of crane which are usually very poor and basic; in fact we mounted a five-section hydraulic boom that is fully able to work under load. This means that the crane can be used also to work in plant, inside tunnels or in tube galleries, thus increasing the variety of applications.

“We see big demand coming from Africa and Middle East, but also from Eastern Europe. These new cranes are mainly used for building and construction work in oil refineries, dams, power plants, construction of bridges and so on. The light weight of the crane combined with a fully hydraulic boom, able to work completely under load, make this crane very useful in many situations such as to work inside tunnels, or inside sheds to shift mechanical equipment and mount overhead cranes without removing the roof.” Pucci claims: “This is impossible to do with any other rough terrain crane.”

Tadano’s Iimura also sees demand from specialist users. He says: “There’s a clear tendency for the use of rough terrain cranes in the energy sector, both in the construction and maintenance of facilities. Many of our machines are used for this purpose.

“Rough terrains are frequently sold to rental customers. But, end users who buy direct often prefer rough terrains over all terrains. All terrains are more multi-purpose machines, while rough terrains are more specialised. Many end users prefer these high quality, stable machines. The energy sector, for example, has very high demands, and we think that is one reason why they select Tadano rough terrain cranes.

“Everyone knows the state of the worldwide market is still very unclear. Over this year and next, we think that outside the US and Europe there will hopefully be some sign of an increase in demand. Asia and the Middle East have traditionally been very strong. We will focus our efforts on those areas. We hope that oil prices will stay at current levels.”

Locatelli’s Mortarino says: “The end use sectors that are generating the highest demand for cranes are contractors, and oil and gas field. Locatelli rough terrain cranes are suitable for highways, waterworks, basements lines, electrical networks, public and civil works. The easy manoeuvrability and the heavy duty capability are a must for shipyards and for industrial applications.”

Hollingshead says: “Rough terrains get involved in bridge building and railway work; their application is pretty much endless. About the only job they don’t do is wind turbine erection, but even on those jobs they are still used to move components around the jobsite.”

US truck-mounted crane manufacturer Manitex has, like TCM, recently entered the rough terrain market. Unlike TCM, it did so by acquiring another business, Badger Equipment. Manitex International senior vice president, sales and marketing, Scott Rolston says: “All of the cranes Manitex has built to date have gone on a commercial chassis. Manitex International acquired Badger in July 2009. Badger will continue to design and build their existing range, but we will combine engineering support and purchasing.

“Badger is a very well respected brand name. Their main niche is in the rail industry. They also used to produce a side cab rough terrain. They left the market for those cranes in the mid-1990s, but chose to move back into building cab down rough terrains last year. That move made them a lot more attractive to us as an acquisition.

“This acquisition will give us a broader range, more avenues for distribution, and access to markets that we haven’t sold our truck cranes into.”

Making a difference
In such a competitive market, how do these manufacturers differentiate themselves? Tadano’s Iimura points to the company’s four key claims: quality, high performance, safe operation, and easy operation. He says: “One advantage of Tadano rough terrain cranes is their long boom. We have the longest boom in comparison with competing cranes, and offer high lifting capacities.

“All Tadano rough terrain cranes are fitted with auto-detection of the outrigger width. This can help prevent the crane turning over.

“We offer high quality cranes. One of our customers in the US told me, ‘with a Tadano, we pay 25% less in maintenance costs’. We think the high quality of Tadano rough terrains means less downtime and less maintenance costs.”

Manitex is working with its new acquisition, Badger, to market a new crane. Rolston says: “Badger is now selling a new 30USt cab down model CD 4430. It has a fantastic load chart, full CanBUS network, a very roomy cab with doors on either side, automotive venting and air conditioning. It is mounted on a 4 x 4 drive and crab steer carrier.

“We will be targeting this new crane at the refinery and rail road markets. There has been a gap in small cranes targeting these markets. We also believe that the replacement cycle is now due for many buyers.”

Manitowoc’s Hollingshead says: “The key selling points of Manitowoc rough terrains are their ruggedness, their strong load chart, their pick and carry capacity, and their resale value. They are real workhorses, even if they don’t get the most high profile jobs.”

“We recently updated the RT 875 E to a new model, the RT 880 E, raising the capacity from 75t to 80t. We’ve got two or three more rough terrain products in the design pipeline, but we’re not ready to talk about them at this stage.

“There’s been some cross-fertilisation with all terrains. We use the same Megaform boom design on rough terrains over 60t as we use on all terrains. We have taken the design and adapted the basic concept of the cross section shape to rough terrains. Some of the jibs and inserts from the all terrain range have moved across. There’s also a lot of commonality on the superstructure and boom of rough terrain and truck cranes manufactured at Shady Grove. It is something that will happen increasingly.”

Terex recently launched two new rough terrain cranes. “The prototype of the brand new RT 100 rough terrain crane with a maximum lifting capacity of 90t was revealed to the public for the first time at SAIE 2009,” says company press officer Birgit Ketteman. “The RT 100 offers outstanding lifting capacity across all load ranges. The six-section boom can be extended up to a maximum length of 53.1m, with a maximum tip height of 55.8m. Two synchronised telescoping modes are available. The crane’s powerful engine features 194kW at 2200rpm. Power steering can be easily switched to two or four wheels from the cab.

“Also on display at SAIE 2009 was the Terex RT 35. It has a maximum lifting capacity of 34t. When fully extended the boom has an overall length of 30.1m, and a boom head height of 32.8 m. Its four-cylinder engine achieves a maximum output of 104kW at 2000rpm.” The company has a third addition to its range coming soon, the RT 130.

TCM’s new range only covers two cranes currently, but it has a busy development pipeline. Pucci says: “At present we have in our range 35t and 55t, but in a short time we’ll come on the market with a 45t and a 70t model. A 55t model is going to be shown at Bauma.

“The 35t and 55t models have the same chassis, 4 x 4 x 4, the only difference is in the stabilisers, with a single extension for the 35t and double sequential extension for 55t. For both models, working height is 36t under hook with up to 46t mounting the hydraulic jib; it is possible to mount a boom head tiltable in three different positions, permitting the use of the jib in negative angles.

“The chassis can be fitted with a retarder (safety system for a proportional braking); it features as a standard oil bath disc brakes on all wheels.

“It is possible to mount different brands of engine according to customer preference and market service: in fact we adopted remote gear solution, mounting a cardanic shaft between gear and engine instead of flanging the gear directly to the engine, as our competitors do.

“We mount a pump with variable displacement with the possibility of supplying high pressure in case of use of additional tools such as vibro-hammers, pile drivers, or free fall winches. A proportional distributor and a triple pump allow the operator to do three operations (boom extension, boom raising and turret rotation) at the same time and in a proportional way.

The crane weight with a 5.5t standard counterweight is slightly less than 30t;we supply homologation to tow a trailer carrying up to 15t; the design is quite innovative, with a reduced boom overhang in order to reduce the pitching effect.”

Locatelli’s Mortarino points out the depth of the company’s range, and of its aftersales capacities. He says: “The end of 2006 was a new beginning with big changes for Locatelli. The production lines have been increased and a new spare parts warehouse has been opened and expanded. The company can offer a complete line of rough terrain cranes ranging from 12.5t to 60t capacity as well as city cranes with 20t and 40t capacity, with a great choice of options for different applications.

“The main features are excellent price/quality ratio and client customisation. Our sales managers pay attention to customers’ effective needs and suggest the best solutions for lifting jobs. Every single deal is subject to deep evaluation and technical study. There is direct engagement between customers and sales team, that provides detailed information about technical specification and availability.

Competition between these manufacturers can only push innovation forward. Hollingshead says: “The largest machines on the market are 130USt. Bear in mind, the biggest all terrains are over 1,000t, so there is scope for growth. Capacities are getting larger, and booms are getting longer.”