Sarens has used an eye-catching alternative for the derrick ballast of a recently acquired Liebherr LR 1100 crawler crane – SPMTs controlled directly by the crane operator.
Sarens supplied Liebherr with two K24 SPMTs from Kamag for the development and testing operations. Kamag developed a bespoke control box to ensure communication between the crane and SPMTs, enabling the crane to control the movement of the vehicles. Liebherr said this was aided by the fact the Liebherr LICCON control system and Kamag control system are similar.
Sarens said that it has Kamag K25 SPMTs at almost all of its outlets and their use as a ballast trailer was a clear benefit. Liebherr added that it had already tried similar solutions with other crane models. However, to date the SPMTs had never been controlled direct from the crane. Separate personnel had to communicate with the crane operator and enabled the SPMTs to track the crane’s movements.
Jens Könneker from Liebherr’s lattice boom cranes product management team was able to demonstrate a fully functional SPMT solution during November– circling, moving in parallel, towing – with everything working in exactly the same way as on a standard ballast trailer.
Carl Sarens, director of global operations and technical solutions at Sarens, said: “All our requirements have been met and we are confident that this will deliver significant added value for future projects as a result of the operative benefits and flexibility.”
