The crane industry boasts even bigger thrills. Here is my top five wish-list of gas-guzzling dirty pleasures involving cranes:
5. My old 12t Kato truck crane. During my crane apprentice course at Ainscough five years ago, I drove an old hydraulic Kato truck crane on the old Mitsubishi carrier. Although it had an electronic LMI, all the levers were connected in to the hydraulic system, so you could hear (and feel) the whistling of the oil beneath you. Perhaps not the safest design should one of the pipes break. But I wish my car would sing as sweetly as that old Kato did.
4. Grove’s RT 9130E. The great thing about American rough terrain cranes is their sheer size. They are like mining trucks. On the biggest, the driver’s cab is 2m off the ground. Imagine driving that down the road, and looking down on the SUVs. It’s better than being in a monster truck. And a lot tougher. Engine: 300hp (223kW).
3. This one is a cheat – it’s not a crane. But Nicolas’s Tractomas TR 8×8 prime mover is probably the biggest truck in the business. The throb of the V12 Caterpiller engine, 876hp, 653kW must be awesome.
2. The Favelle Favco M760D diesel luffer on top of the Burj Dubai, the world’s tallest building, 700m high. Enough said.
1. A Liebherr HS 895 HD duty-cycle crawler doing dragline work. Most big cranes are too boring to drive; the lift is locked down by meddling project managers and lift directors. With draglines, it’s just you and dirt. On your side are 900 horses (670kW) pumping power to winches whipping in a huge bucket. What a rush.
Oh, one other thing: I actually drive a Honda Civic. Automatic. With dents. But I can dream.
