McNair Engineering, the Scottish based distributor of the Herkules portable crane, is hoping for strong sales following interest shown in the crane by the UK armed forces. The crane was demonstrated in October to the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) at the Royal School of Artillery on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire.
The MoD is considering the crane for assisting in repair and service operations on field artillery equipment such as howitzers, and on radar equipment. There is also a possibility that bomb disposal units could use the Herkules, as well as the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force.
Brian Thomson, project leader for McNair Engineering, explained that there are several changes that would be made for the military version of the crane, including installation of a Paxton or Volkswagen diesel engine instead of the standard electric motor. Further modifications have yet to be specified by the MoD.
The Herkules is usually installed in high buildings where its 66m of wire rope can be used to lift materials and other objects up into the building. Because of its small size it can work in tight spaces and its boom can be extended to a maximum reach of 13m over or through obstacles. Strip down for transport can be done in an hour by a team of three people, Thomson said, partly because it is pinned together and weighs only 7.5t.
The Herkules is currently built in Thailand by STC ScanTech but Thomson says that production would start in the UK if a contract with the MoD is signed.
