February 6 - South Africa based Johnson Crane Hire has acquired a 1,200-tonne capacity Liebherr LTR 11200 hydraulic crawler crane, to handle lifts within the wind power generation industry.
According to Johnson Crane Hire, the large hydraulic boom crane is mounted on a narrow track crawler crane undercarriage, which enables the hydraulic boom to be retracted and extended without it needing to be dismantled.
Johnson Crane Hires claims this is a major advantage, as the move between locations can be done within six hours rather than the ten to 20 hours required for the relocation of a lattice boom crane, resulting in significant savings in time and associated costs.
Cornelis Grotius, general manager - heavy lift division at Johnson Crane Hire, said: "It is the ability of this crawler crane to move along a fairly narrow road between the wind turbines that made it most attractive."
When the crane arrives at the installation site, the outriggers are fully extended to provide it with the stability and capacity to lift the wind turbine components.
The new crane is currently working on a wind farm outside De Aar in the Northern Cape, South Africa.
