French lifting and transport company Gil & Fils Levage used the latest addition to its fleet, a Palfinger PK 165.002 TEC 7 mounted on a Scania 8×4 double drive, to deliver preassembled glass panels to a cinema in Rumilly, east of Lyon, France.
The crane assembled glass panels using a total outreach of 32 metres. The glass was carefully manoeuvred through a corridor with a false ceiling below where it needed to be installed.
"All the sensors in the TEC series offer safety and ease of use,” said crane operator Loïc Sonnerat, who runs the business with his father Gilles. “The radio control gave me all the onboard information I need in terms of total reach, distance extended, angles of the first and second booms, and weight. Stabilising the machine is also easier and the HPSC-Plus Load System adjusts the capacity to the truck load."
The crane has up to nine hydraulic extensions. A fly jib, and two additional manual extensions can be added providing a total reach of up to 42 metres. It has a maximum lifting capacity of 32 tonnes.
To complement the crane, the Scania was modified for weight optimisation and equipped with front stabilisers for 360-degree operations.
"With this new heavy-duty crane we want to strengthen our offering to our customers who have an increasing need for outreach and performance,” added Sonnerat. “As job sites become more difficult to access and the weight of materials increases, the truck often needs to be positioned further away. This should also allow us to develop new applications. It allows us to work easily in situations where our other equipment would have reached its limits."