The new carrier will also be supplied to Tadano’s Chinese manufacturing joint venture, BQ-Tadano (Beijing) Crane Co. Ltd.
Tadano truck cranes have traditionally been mounted on carriers built by commercial vehicle manufacturers such as Nissan. Tadano decided to produce its own carrier after Yusoki Kogyo, the subcontractor of Tadano’s supplier Nissan, was taken over in 2004 by Fuji Heavy Industries and stopped producing crane carriers.
Nissan Diesel Motor Company supplies the powertrain for the new Tadano carrier. The left-hand drive 8×4 carrier has a turbo-charged six-cylinder Nissan PF6TB diesel engine.
The dry single plate clutch has a hydraulically operated release mechanism with air assisted booster. The transmission has seven forward and one reverse speeds.
Front axles are reverse-Elliot type with leaf spring suspension. Rear axles are full floating type with equaliser beams and torque rods.
Tadano will also begin production of a carrier for the TL-300E this summer. An estimated 30 units a year of this carrier will be produced.
Meanwhile, the devastation caused by a massive earthquake in Pakistan, Kashmir and northern India on 8 October last year struck a chord with many people around the world, particularly in Japan, where the natives know the devastation major earthquakes can cause.
Following discussions with the Pakistani embassy in Tokyo, Tadano has donated two TM-ZR303 truck loader cranes mounted on Mitsubishi chassis to help with the emergency relief work and the necessary reconstruction. The cranes arrived in Karachi in mid February.
