There was an announcement of a Japanese contender in the UK rough terrain market – “yet another contestant”–the Tadano TR-150, with 15t maximum lifting capacity, four-wheel drive and steer, and a spring locking system. The crane was to be imported by Woodend Plant.
UK firm Eddison Plant Hire took delivery of a Grove TM 800 mobile telescopic crane. Ordered through John Allen Equipment, the six-axle American manufactured machine had a lifting capacity of 71.4 tons and was mounted on a Consolidated Dynamics carrier.
News that Grayston had gained its first foothold on the European mainland with the acquisition of J G Van Leonhout, a Dutch crane hire company based in Rotterdam was seen as “yet more proof that the British crane industry intends to move firmly into the [European] Common Market.” Britain joined the ECM the previous month.
There was a discussion of the merits of the strut (lattice) jib. “The telescopic boom was, without doubt, a great advance in crane design, with its speed both of erection and travel between sites. It has many advantages, and perhaps the strut jib machine may be regarded by some as old fashioned,” the unnamed author wrote.
