Not very long ago, 25t capacity Japanese truck-mounted cranes were the standard tool of many rental company fleets in the the UK and elsewhere. Today, due in part to exchange rates, they have been largely displaced by German all terrains. But Marsh Plant, based in Hampshire in the south of England, has recently taken delivery of six Tadano TL 250E truck cranes, mounted in Mitsubishi carriers. ‘We still see a future with truck-mounted cranes and these six units have helped modernise the age profile of our fleet,’ said Marsh Plant operations director Andy Honeywell. These are part of a seven-crane shipment from Japan of the last-ever Tadano truck-mounted cranes that the industry can expect to see in Europe. Japan’s two main manufacturers of crane carriers, Mitsubishi and Nissan, have decided that worldwide demand for truck-mounted cranes is no longer sufficient to justify investing in the development of a Euromot II compliant engine for truck cranes. Last year was the final year that Euromot I vehicles could be manufactured, with a deadline for importing into Europe this year. The seventh crane in the shipment went to Tonhount Crane Hire in London. There will be no more new Tadano truck-mounted cranes brought into Europe, according to Tadano’s UK distributor Cranes UK.