Dutch rental company M Verschoor BV has ordered six units of the new six-axle ‘Mighty Tiny’ Spierings truck-mounted tower crane.
Launched in February, 18 units of this SK 1265-AT6 model had been sold within six weeks.
The crane has a 60m jib, a 64m maximum height under hook in luffing position and 35m height under hook in horizontal position. Maximum load is 10t on four falls of rope, or 5t on two falls. At jib end it lifts 1.7t.
It was originally designed to lift 6t on two falls of rope and was thus called the SK 1266. But with such a long jib, thinner diameter rope had to be used, reducing its capacity slightly, said general manager Leo Spierings.
Verschoor’s cranes will be delivered in stages over the next two years. Most of the other customers are also based in the Netherlands, where the truck-mounted self-erecting tower crane concept is well accepted. But there have also been orders from Switzerland, Belgium and the UK. The UK order, from City Lifting, is likely to be delivered towards the end of 2004.
With six units already, City Lifting runs the UK’s largest fleet of Spierings. Its newest arrival, the four-axle SK 488-AT4 (which lifts 2.1t at 40m jib end) will be shown at the UK’s Site Equipment Demonstration (SED), taking place from 29 April to 1 May. Also at SED will be a three-axle Spierings crane that has been sold to UK rental company John Sutch, which also took a five-axle Spierings last year.
This month sees a landmark in the short history of the Spierings company – the first unit to reach the Americas. An SK 488 model, usually mounted on four axles, has been mounted on a special seven-axle carrier to decrease axle loadings from 12t per axle to 7.6t to meet local road regulations. The crane is on its way to Northern Crane Service in Edmonton.
