Recent exhibitions in Europe such as Intermat in Paris and SED in the UK have given crawler crane manufacturers the opportunity to show off new machines. With the European crawler crane market still apparently on the rise from the low point of the mid-1990s, it is an opportunity that the manufacturers have been eager to seize, giving us plenty of new product to review.
A symbol of the relative health of the market is the reinvigorated activity of some long established names that have experienced difficult times recently, such as NCK, R-B and American Crane.
The British are coming – perhaps
After a few lean years NCK is fighting back with what the company describes as “a complete rebirth”. It has kept a low profile since being acquired by mechanical engineering company Staffordshire Public Works in 1997. But last month it exhibited a new 90t crawler at SED. NCK has already delivered three units of this model, the Astra HC-90, with two going to GWS and one to Weldex. GWS has also ordered three units of the 65t-rated Nova. NCKs are still a familiar sight on UK construction sites and GWS used to have 130 of them in its fleet.
“They are a well made machine, we know they are going to last,” says GWS general manager Greg Shaw.
The Astra has a standard line pull of 12.3t in lift crane mode, with the option of 27.5t for foundation work. Hoist line speeds are up to 108m/min. Maximum main boom length is 60m and maximum boom and fly combination is 48m plus 18m. Its Caterpillar engine is rated at 240kW at 2,000min-1. On maximum main boom it can lift 12t at 12.1m and 1,900kg at 44m. On 45m boom it can lift 3t at 40m.
A feature of both the Astra and the Nova, an idea for which GWS takes credit, is a 1m ‘rooster jib’ which has the effect of keeping the second line clear of the main boom tip and the primary lifting rigging. Maximum capacity of the rooster jib is 12.3t which is good for all boom lengths and for radii up to 16m.
NCK says that its port crawler cranes “are also enjoying a major revival, with a growing interest being displayed in the market for the recently upgraded Nova HPC-65”.
New from R-B is a luffing tower attachment for its top of the range 135t crane. The CH 135 LT offers main boom (or tower) lengths of 24m to 57m and luffing jib lengths of 12m to 48m.
With 57m main boom and 24m fly jib it can lift 6.68t at 30m radius and 2.56t at 58m. The luffing jib itself has the same dimensions of the main boom of R-B’s 50 tonner, the CH 50.
Sales director Paul Ross is reluctant to talk of a strengthening market for crawler cranes in Europe but R-B is enjoying a relative upturn in sales. In the first half of the year it delivered one CH 50 and four CH 135s, including a luffing tower model to Weldex (this crane was exhibited at the SED show last month). It has also taken orders for five more CH 50s and five CH 135 LTs, the latter five all for Zwagerman Material of the Netherlands. R-B is now looking to make a total of 25 deliveries this year.
Ross attributes the upturn in sales to growing market acceptance of R-B’s range of hydraulic cranes. Contractors in its domestic market, the UK, are finally turning away from mechanical machines and demanding hydraulic crawlers. A mechanical crane which 18 months ago could have fetched £40,000 would today be hard to sell for £10,000 ($16,000), says Ross.
But it is apparent that demand for mechanical machines has not entirely disappeared. In the USA American Crane is still producing its 900 series, comprising the 9310A (225 US ton), the 9320 (250 US ton) and the duty-cycle 9225. And Manitowoc had an order for a new 4100 last year and is now building a 4600 for another customer.
Terex turnaround
Since being acquired by Terex in 1998, American Crane has gradually got back into the crawler crane market in North America. “As a start up operation there is no doubt that we had our challenges getting production where we needed to be,” says general manager Jerry Loughren. “We are just now starting to build for stock and getting our inventory where it needs to be.” Given the low starting position, it is not much of a boast to say that American doubled its market share in 1999, but it’s an encouraging start and more is promised. “We’ll double it again this year,” says Loughren.
A 20% share of the North American market is claimed for the HC 80, the 80 tonner built for American Crane by IHI in Japan. This class is led by the Link-Belt LS 138. The 190t (210 US ton) HC 210 is also looking at taking a similar market share this year.
New this year is a second IHI machine, the HC 100, which is being tested this month. As with the HC 80, the booms are American built.
Euro-friendly
Product development activity has not been restricted to those seeking to return to former glories. Those at the top of the market are also working hard to ensure that they stay there.
Manitowoc’s newest model, the 999, is rated at 250t (275 US ton) and sits in the range between the 202t-rated 888 and the 272t model 2250 Series 3. It has been designed firmly with European, as well as American, customers in mind.
“Before we designed the 999, we interviewed a wide range of customers from key markets worldwide,” explained marketing director Mark Marzion. “We then incorporated their most wanted features into its design. As a result, the 999 is truly a crane for the global market.
“For example, each shipping module meets the 3m width so important in Europe, and also conforms with the weight requirements for easy trucking in North America. All of the boom sections and counterweights fit on the most popular European drop-deck trucks. As a result the 999 can be shipped with maximum boom and fixed jib on a minimum number of trucks.” An unusual feature of the 999, and it will be interesting to see if the market dictates others to follow suit, is that the crawler tracks are interchangeable – not just with the crawler tracks on other 999 units, but between left and right. In other words, there is no specific left or right crawler track.
Other features include steel strap boom suspension, grooved barrels on the rope drums and a new reinforced rotating bed to enable a Max-er attachment to be developed in the future. A ringer attachment is also an option. Like all Manitowoc crawlers of recent years, it features the now-familiar EPIC controls and FACT connectors on the boom, crawlers and counterweights.
The new crane has been designed with #82 boom and rigging but it will also take the #22 boom of the 888, 4000W and 4100W. It can also use the same fixed jib as the 888 and the same luffing jib as the 888 and the 777.
The 999’s maximum boom and jib combinations include: 88.4m of heavylift boom; 94.5m of long reach boom; 112.8m of boom and luffing jib combination; and 131.1m of boom, fixed jib and luffing jib combination. It is powered by a 291kW Caterpillar 3176 diesel engine.
As reported last month, Manitowoc had already taken more than 45 orders for this crane by mid-May.
Also new from Manitowoc this year, as previously reported, are a luffing jib attachment for the 90t-rated 222 and a Max-er 2000 heavylift attachment for the 272t rated 2250.
Liebherr’s latest
Liebherr-Werk Nenzing introduced its newest lift crane to the market at the Intermat show in Paris in May – the 140t-rated LR 1140 (150 US ton capacity).
The LR 1140 is powered by a 246kW (330hp) Liebherr diesel engine. It is equipped with two 12.7t (28,000lb) operational line pull winches with non-friction type free fall brakes.
The maximum length of the main boom is 78m, though up to 46m of luffing jib can be added to 49m of main boom. As an option, a fixed jib with a maximum length of 22m can also be attached.
The operator’s cab has been redesigned to give the operator more room, and bigger front and side windows create a safer working environment, Liebherr says.
All essential operating information is displayed on a high resolution monitor. The displayed information like LML, ground pressure, working radius, load position and maximum load for the current configuration allows the operator to be in charge of the working process at all times, Liebherr says.
Out of Japan
Kobelco’s CK 2500 is a modified version of the 200t-rated 7200 and is designed especially for crane rental companies and contractors in the USA. Maximum lifting capacity is an enhanced 250 US ton, thanks to boom improvements which also make it self-erecting.
Maximum boom length is 88.4m and there is a choice of boom configurations: heavy-duty, light-duty, fly jib, long boom and luffing tower. The interchangeability of boom sections makes it easy and economical to change to the most suitable boom configuration for the job at hand, Kobelco claims.
The first two units were delivered in May to Phillips Crane & Rigging, the Houston Texas company owned by Baldwins of the UK.
Question marks surround Kobelco’s European distribution channels now. Changes of personnel at Grove UK have thrown into doubt the future of its agency agreement with Kobelco (Kobelco says nothing has changed; Grove says it is reviewing the situation). And more significantly, HD Cranes of the Netherlands is signing up as a Manitowoc dealer. HD’s managing director Dirk Benschop says that his company sold 42 Kobelco crawlers between becoming a distributor in April 1998 and May 2000 two years later.
Other distribution changes for Kobelco see the appointment of National Crane Sales as its dealer for Australia.
Hitachi last year completed its line up of CX series of hydraulic crawlers over 50t with the introduction of the 200t-rated CX 2000. The CX series, which replaces the old KH series, started in 1994 with the CX 500 (50t).
Total deliveries of KH-1 to KH-3 series cranes reached more than 5,400 units, starting with the 1971 model KH 150 (40t) which Hitachi describes as the first full-hydraulic crawler crane in the world.
The heavy-duty CX 900HD and CX 700HD, rated at 90t and 70t respectively, were also introduced last year with reinforced winches for duty-cycle work.
Hitachi also reports the delivery of various special cranes for dockside work, including a CX 550 with elevated cab (2.8m) and rubber pad shoes, a CX 900 with liftable cab and a CX 900 with a high-post type superstructure.
Sumitomo last month began international promotion of its new series three 90 tonner, the SC 900-3. Its target is to sell 15 units a year both for domestic and overseas markets.
As a lift crane its maximum lift is 90t at 4m radius. In tower crane applications it can lift 15t at 14m. Powered by a Mitsubishi 6D24TE1 diesel engine, its rated output is 184kw/2000min-1.
Maximum boom length is 61m, and maximum boom with fly jib combination is 49m plus 23m. Maximum line pull is 22t while its rated line pull is 11t.
With crawlers extended the overall width is 5m, retracted it is 3.5m. Tail swing radius is 4.4m.
Over in North America, Link-Belt has been busy with launches over the past year or so. Deliveries began in the middle of last year of the LS 138H II and more than 100 units had been shipped to North American jobsites before the end of the year. This machine is rated at 72.5t (80 US ton).
Last September Link-Belt began shipping the 227t-capacity LS 278H, taking several orders in southeastern states from the Manitowoc 888.
Also launched last year was the LS 208H II, a duty-cycle version of the 138H II. It has similar basic features such as capacity and boom length but whereas the 138 has an 154kW Isuzu engine, the 208 is powered by a 196kW Mitsubishi engine.
New this year is the LS 218H II, which is an upgrade of the earlier 218H model, increasing its capacity from 100 US ton to 110 US ton. Improvements include a new lower featuring a simplified jacking system with remote control, hydraulic counterweight removal and a bigger footprint (4.57m track gauge, 5.33m side frames) to enhance stability and capacity. Side frames can retract hydraulically to 3.66m if space is an issue. Maximum tip height of 80.77m is achieved with 57.91m of main boom and 22.86m of jib (190ft + 75ft). It is powered by a 196kW Mitsubishi engine.
CraneFest
In October Link-Belt holds its CraneFest event at its Lexington, Kentucky plant where among the new cranes to be shown will be a 50t machine. “It’s smaller than anyone has recognised in North America as a market to go after,” explains product manager Pat Collins. “But there are a lot of LS 108s out there and no one has given them a viable alternative to upgrade to.” The LS 108 is a mechanical machine dating back to the early 1960s.
The hydraulic LS 108H II, designed as a duty-cycle machine for contractors, comes in at less than 41t (90,000lb) gross vehicle weight with all counterweight, third drum and base section, and can be transported in just two loads, says Link-Belt.
Also new this year is a luffing boom attachment for the 130t (150 US ton) LS 238H, to give a maximum boom configuration of 47.2m main boom, 48.7m luffer and 9.1m fixed jib (155ft + 160ft + 30ft). Ten units have so far been shipped since January.
A luffing boom attachment is also on the test pad now for the LS 278H, with a view for deliveries to begin by the end of the year. Maximum boom combination for the 278H will be at least 61m + 61m + 9.1m (200ft + 200ft + 30ft), though testing may take it further.
Like all Link-Belt crawler developments, the new luffer is designed to aid mobilisation. Link-Belt’s conventional luffer was strong and stable but not as easy as it could be to put together. The new style sacrifices a degree of lifting strength for greater ease of assembly.
Demag developments New from Mannesmann Dematic is the 450t-rated CC 2500, whose maximum load moment of 2,750tm increases to 5,200tm with the addition of Superlift attachments. On show at Intermat, it fills the gap between the 300t-capacity Demag CC 1800 and the 600t CC 2800.
Like all Demag crawlers, the boom system can be rigged in various configurations. With heavy main boom and Superlift attachment it can lift 222t at 12m on 72m of boom. With 72m of heavy main boom, 84m of luffing jib and Superlift it can lift 14t at 86m radius with 156m of boom. This combination (SWSL in Demag terminology) can be reconfigured into any of the other variations without the need for additional sections.
This is another crane designed for easy mobilisation. The basic machine of superstructure and carbody weighs 60.5t and a quick-connection system enables them to be easily separated, the manufacturer says. The weight of the superstructure can be stripped down from 42.5t to 30.8t, should transport regulations dictate the need, and crawler modules weigh 32t, safely within transport weight limits for even the tightest US state highway regulations. Boom sections are designed to slot into each other when being transported. The complete crane in basic 102m main boom configuration (without boom attachments), with 170t of counterweight, can be transported on 10 low-bed trailers.
Mannesmann Dematic is now working on a CC 5600, a 1,000t capacity crawler commissioned by Marino Crane of the USA.
Sennebogen was unable to show its newest crawler at the Intermat show in May because, the company explains, the customers of the two machines that had been built could not wait until after the show for delivery.
The 6150 is a 150t rated machine and is Sennebogen’s only crawler designed specifically as a lift crane rather than for duty-cycle work. As such, it competes with Liebherr’s new LR 1140, for example. Among customers for the 6150 is Van Seumeren of the Netherlands which has ordered five units.