Schuch said it opted to invest in the AC 500-2 as there were numerous business opportunities available by offering this level of lifting capacity to its markets. Schuch is an all-round crane service provider, with a fleet of 89 mobile cranes at its disposal, with capacities range from 30t to 600t.
Schuch’s AC 500-2 is equipped with a 90m luffing jib and 180t of counterweight. The luffing jib can be rearranged into a 62m luffing fly jib or a 30m main boom extension. It also features sideways superlift and star-type outriggers.
It will be operated in Germany, France and across the Low Countries out of Schuch’s Saarbrücken facility. Its first job will be at a wind farm installation project near Mönchengladbach in Germany.
“It was the most powerful crane in its class,” said Christopher Schuch, who heads up the company. “The inspection and back-fitting work we do for our customers in the industrial sector require a powerful machine with excellent manoeuvrability that makes optimal use of limited space conditions thanks to the Terex star-type outriggers.”
Schuch is the latest crane firm to invest in heavy capacity cranes to meet market demands. UK-based Ainscough Crane Hire has invested in six large capacity crawler cranes for its fleet, as well as 20 Liebherr LTM 1150-6.1 mobile cranes.
Neil Partridge, managing director at Ainscough, said: “While demand for lower capacity mobile cranes is particularly depressed, the requirement for larger mobile and heavy crawler cranes is buoyant and we are shifting our fleet emphasis accordingly.”
German lifting and specialised transport provider Schmidbauer Group has also increased its lifting capabilities with the addition of a 1,250t capacity Terex CC 6800 crawler crane to its fleet. And Dutch firm Mammoet has recently announced it is developing two new super heavy lift cranes. The PTC 120 DS will offer an SWL of 3,200t, with a minimum working radius of 25m extending to a maximum of 200m. This gives a maximum load moment of 120,000tm. The PTC 160 DS can again lift 3,200t but at an extended radius of 30.5m (minimum) up to 205.5m (maximum). This results in a maximum load moment of 160,000tm.
