Ainscough Crane Hire is the first rental company in the UK to take delivery of Liebherr’s new 500 tonner with a special boom attachment for lateral stability.
The LTM 1500/1 has an 84m telescopic boom – the largest in the world – plus a 91m luffing fly jib.
The Y-guy attachment, like Demag’s Sideways Superlift which pioneered the concept, uses cables to support the boom at the sides as well as from behind. This lateral support significantly increases capacities for lifts with the boom near to vertical.
Ivan Ellis, Ainscough’s heavy cranes manager, said: ‘The machine has many advantages. It is driveable on site when fully rigged with boom, luffer and all 165t of counterweight without the need to dismantle – invaluable where multiple lifts are required and time restrictions are in place. This new and highly versatile addition to our fleet will complement our wide range of heavy cranes.’
Ainscough has four other mobile cranes of 300t capacity and above. Its largest is a Demag AC 2000 (AC 650) with Sideways Superlift. Ainscough said that the determining factor in purchasing the LTM 1500/1 rather than the rival Demag AC 500-1 was boom length.
