The 250t Model 15000 was rigged with an 87.5m main boom and 159t counterweight. It was paired with a 100t Grove GMK5095 all-terrain model for the job, which required the removal and lowering of the hub, blades and gearbox from the turbine.
With the GMK5095 acting as an assist crane, the Model 15000 removed and lowered the hub and blades, weighing 33t, which were rotated from a vertical to a horizontal position at ground level. This lift was carried out at an 18m radius and from a hook height of 84m. The 23t gearbox was then removed and brought to the ground, also at an 18m radius and 84m hook height.
The Model 15000 can also be equipped with a fixed jib extendable to 24.4m, allowing a maximum fixed jib and boom combination of 100m; and a luffing jib extendable to 73.2m, with a maximum boom and luffing jib combination of 128m.
Frank Lichtenberg, general manager at Manitowoc’s German sales agent KranAgentur Werner, which supplied the cranes to lifting specialist Grohmann GmbH, says, “This crane is the biggest Manitowoc crawler crane to enter our market for quite some time.
“It is already doing great things, and I believe that demand for this size of crane will continue to increase in Germany.”
