April 24 - GAAC Commerz GmbH, based in Germany, has taken delivery of two cranes, an AC 100/4L and a Challenger 3160, from Terex, writes Charlotte Matheson.
GAAC is a previous customer of Terex and Peer Vogel, general manager of GAAC, stated: "It wasn't only management that decided on the two new Terex cranes - our crane operators had a say as well. After all, they're the ones working with the machines day after day, and nobody knows what makes a good crane better than they do."
Crane driver, Veit Binder, commenting on the significance of the crane cabs in making them suitable for usage by Terex, said: "These cabs show that the Terex engineering staff really took our needs into account when developing the cranes. They are, quite simply, a marvel in terms of ergonomics."
Carsten Herfurth, a member of the technical staff, added, "We do a lot of work with mobile cranes in Berlin, and when you have to do a project smack in the middle of the city, a crane's axle load becomes a make-or-break factor."
The Challenger's 50 m boom enables its reach to be further than that of other cranes in the same category. It also does not require an additional transport vehicle.
The AC 100/4L also benefits from having a long boom. "Having a boom that is 59.4 m long means that we don't even have to add a jib half of the time. It goes without saying that this reduces our setup time and, once you factor everything in, our costs as well," explains Peer Vogel. In addition, the AC 100/4L's compact design makes it ideal for projects in the city (much like the Challenger): More specifically, the fact that it is a four-axle unit means that it can travel through the city at any time, unlike its five-axle counterparts, which are usually only allowed to use public roads (in big cities) at certain times."
