New medium-duty and heavy loader cranes do more than just set down large loads by the side of the trailer. They can now be specified with eight or nine hydraulically-extended boom sections to reach out more than 20m, dropping off their cargo over obstacles or past inaccessible areas. Hydraulic fly jibs and manually-pinned boom extensions that are available on most of these new cranes can increase reach even further. With outreach comes lifting height – they can reach up a building as well as across a site. This makes them versatile, and a contender for general site lifting jobs. If a truck loader can pick up a pallet of bricks from a builders’ yard, drive it to the building site and place it on the third storey of a building, who needs a telehandler or rough terrain crane?
Standard models generally only come with as much boom as will lift the load off the back of the truck. But nobody buys a standard loader – most often, these cranes are tailored to fit the user’s lifting needs. Manufacturers are especially enthusiastic about how far they can make their loaders go. Available boom length seems to be the most important characteristic of new medium to- large loader cranes, even if they can lift only about 500kg at full stretch.
The lightest touch in the long booms is Amco Veba’s 24tm 924 crane, launched in October, which can be specified with up to eight cylinders. The 17.7tm 924/8s model can lift about 1.5t to a maximum height of 26m. At maximum outreach, 20.5m, it can lift 500kg.
Palfinger boasts that the lightest of its three 25tm-class cranes launched in October last year, all of which can be specified with long booms,‘offers optimum outreach and manoeuvrability. With eight hydraulic extensions it is unrivalled in its class.’ The PK 24502 lifts 510kg at a maximum extension of 21.3m.
The larger PK 26502 from Palfinger can lift 570kg at maximum extension of 21.3m. And the PK 27002 can lift 640kg at full stretch of 21.3m. All three cranes can angle their booms upwards by 15°, thanks to a feature that Palfinger calls Power Link Plus. An optional fly jib on all three models increases outreach by about 8m.
When launching two new versions of 30tm-class loaders models at last October’s SAIE show in Italy, Fassi particularly emphasised length. ‘A new version with eight hydraulic extension sections is designed to reach even the most distant and difficult points in the construction site,’ the company says.
Maximum horizontal outreach on the 30tm-class F330/F360XP.28 – when using the slow ‘extra power’ control system – is about 20m (at which it can lift 835kg). It can lift 2t to maximum hook height of 24m. Fully extended, its slightly beefier sibling, the 35tm F380/F420XP.28 has no extra reach but it can lift 200kg more at the same maximum horizontal extension. At height it lifts the same. Neither of these two crane ranges comes with fly jib.
Fratelli Ferrari also emphasises the boom length on its two newest models at the very upper end of its midsize series, the 35tm (model 735) and 41tm (the 741), both of which were also launched at the SAIE exhibition. ‘The ability to place loads with precision into otherwise inaccessible locations will be appreciated by many users, especially in the construction industry,’ the company says.
The F.lli Ferrari 735 can be specified with up to six hydraulic extensions, lifting 1,355kg at maximum outreach of 16.4m, according to a provisional load chart. The 735 A6 can lift 1.3t at maximum horizontal outreach of 16.3m, or to a hook height of 20m above the ground. The larger 741 A8 lifts 970kg at 21m horizontal outreach and up to a maximum distance of 24.5m. Unlike the Fassi cranes, though, these two models also have hydraulically-powered fly jib extensions. With a maximum of four main jib sections and four flying jib hydraulic sections, the 735 A4J3 can lift 675kg at 21.2m horizontal outreach, or 1t at 8.5m outreach at 16m above the ground. Again, the 741 is slightly larger: the largest, the 741 A6J5 can lift 375kg at an outreach of 27.7m, or 440kg at an outreach of 17m at a height of 19m above the ground. On both models, the booms have a twin linkage to support lifting toward maximum extension.
Many of the latest loaders that offer a shorter, stockier boom also offer a long boom, and emphasise the versatility of the model. Even where strength is promoted, it seems that length remains a strong selling point.
Hiab’s two heavy XS cranes that were launched last October are cases in point. The 28tm-class 288XS and 40tm-class 422 come with a choice of boom systems – heavy P boom and long E boom. Rather than compromise, Hiab decided to offer different options. ‘For some truck crane applications, the longest possible reach is the most important feature,’ Hiab says. ‘For others, it may be greater power, minimum crane weight or compact design. It is not possible to combine all of these characteristics as top priorities into one crane.’
When maximised for length, both cranes can be fitted with eight hydraulic sections and reach out 21m. Specified with eight cylinders, the 288XS’s load moment ranges from 21.8tm to 24.1tm depending on whether customers choose Duo, HiDuo or HiPro control systems. At maximum outreach, loads range from 600kg to 700kg. The 422XS, with the HiPro system fitted as standard, is rated at 36.2tm with eight cylinders. At maximum 20.8m outreach, the crane can lift 1.2t. Hydraulic jibs are also available on both models.
Hiab emphasises that long booms are not only good for placing loads a longdistance horizontally, but also vertically. ‘With four to eight hydraulic extensions, the XS 422 is not only great for close-in work, it can reach out as far as 21 metres to high structures and buildings,’ the company says.
Many new larger loader cranes are also emphasising maximum reach. Amco Veba’s heavy 62tm VR 66 loader, which it showed for the first time at SAIE, can be specified with up to eight extensions (VR 66/8s has load moment of 54.5tm). At maximum outreach of 20m it can lift 1950kg.
Fly jibs further extend these loaders. One example is PM’s new 50tm class 63 SP. Model 63029 SP is specified with nine extensions. At maximum hook height of about 25.5m, the crane can lift about 4t. At maximum horizontal extension, 22m, it can lift 1.6t. The crane can also be specified with either a three- or four-section jib. The largest configuration, six-section main boom and four-section fly jib, reaches hook heights of 28m and an outreach of 25m. At these extremes, the crane can lift 800kg.
Effer’s 60tm 750/850 series, launched at SAIE, can be specified with nine hydraulic sections. Fully extended, the 750 can lift 2.4t at 21m outreach. The crane can lift 4.6t up to hook height of 24.5m, according to preliminary load charts. The slightly heavier 850 can lift 2.8t at 21m outreach, but at height is the same as the 750.
‘It’s an ideal crane for working at long boom lengths – more than 23m with nine cylinders – which, thanks to the vast fly jib, can reach longer than 34m and work heights of 38m,’ says a spokesman. The 850’s fly jib load capacities at full reach are about 500kg, according to preliminary load charts. With six hydraulically powered sections of fly jib and eight of main boom, the 850 8s+6s can fix its fly jib at two angles. At the higher angle of 75° it lifts 610kg to an outreach of 18.8m at 24.5m hook height. At 45° it lifts 560kg at 28m, 19m above the ground. ‘This means the certainty of reaching the rooves of buildings of more than eight storeys, but also that of being able to cover areas of work much larger,’ he says.
Or smaller. The fully erected boom is 85° relative to the ground – so it is nearly vertical. That means that the crane can slew its boom in a tight space, such as alleyways between multi-storey buildings. The high boom angle is made possible by an articulation joint that, like the Palfinger Power Link Plus system, extends more than 180°, which a spokesperson claims is completely new in this class of crane. But precisely which class is unclear, because fully-specced the geometry and capability of this size of loader starts to resemble a self-erecting tower crane.
