Several thousand customers, distributors, employees and friends of the Liebherr group of companies descended from all over the world onto its Ehingen and Biberach factories for the group’s 50th anniversary celebrations last month.

The Ehingen mobile crane factory used the event as an opportunity to unveil two new all-terrain models, the 60t-capacity LTM 1060/2 and the 300t LTM 1300/1.

Managing director Friedrich Bär said that Ehingen had orders in hand for 180 units of the 60 tonner and 65 orders for the 300 tonner. He added that 50 units of each would be delivered by the end of this year.

Bär explained why the LTM 1300/1 had suffered delays in coming to market. He said that it had originally been conceived as a 250t-capacity machine to succeed the LTM 1225, was redesigned as a 280t, and then had to be further redesigned when Mannesmann Dematic brought out its 300t-capacity AC 300. Changes included redesigning the boom to increase luffing capacity and moving the operator’s cabin to the back.

Unique to the six-axle LTM 1300/1, Bär said, was its ability to tilt the main boom and fly jib simultaneously. Liebherr said that this is its most modern heavy-duty mobile and the guying facility of the 60m telescopic boom made it “by far the strongest crane in its class”.

The guying equipment, plus 12.5t of counterweight and the 21m biparted swing-away jib can all be carried by the crane during transport. Total counterweight is 87.5t, though 112.5t is needed if the boom is guyed.

Data bus technology interconnects in series all the functions on the carrier and all sensors on the superstructure and boom.

Crane operations are controlled by a Liccon computer and remotely serviced and diagnosed by a new system called LISSy.

The four-axle, single-engine LTM 1060/2 is designed to be road legal in Europe, weighing 12t per axle even when loaded with 17m swingaway jib, hook block, three-axle drive, eddy-current brake and a full fuel tank. It has a 42m boom and can lift 1.4t at 38m radius.

It is primarily aimed at Tadano Faun’s successful ATF 60-4 taxi crane.