Rough Terrain Cranes On Resurgent Mode

Rough terrain crane manufacturers are giving a facelift to their products in line with the new market regulations and changing application requirements, with emphasis on safety. P.P. Basistha looks at the improvisations being made.

Unlike the wider appeal of all-terrain and truck cranes that have higher mobility, rough terrain cranes (RT) have a more focused usage in India. They are commonly used for general construction, material handling, steel erection, low-rise apartment construction, and also in refinery, mining, maintenance and repair work. Since RTs have restricted mobility, rental agencies prefer to use them mainly for long-term contracts. Long-term deployment would require them to be highly productive and have a better load-out as they will be expected to perform varied lifting jobs within a single job site.

Tadano’s RT cranes are known for their advanced safety features, low operating and maintenance cost, low downtime and longer service life. The company is looking to leverage its business presence in rough terrain cranes based on these features. Says Shigenobu Yamazaki, MD, Tadano India, “Our R&D is continuously working on a better product experience and high satisfaction of our customers. The Hello-Net systems in our RT cranes provide vital information on the current status of owners’ fleet, including their working location, maintenance schedules, etc, so that customers can plan timely maintenance and avoid costly downtime.”

He adds, “Our newly developed Smart Chart taps the potential of the crane by expanding the circular conventional area into a square one, thereby, improving work safety and efficiency.”


Tadano India offers product support through trained service personnel, and stocks spare parts at its warehouse in Bangalore. From April this year, the company has set up advanced processes to fasten delivery of spare parts and services. It has an active fleet of 200 units working in India, and markets its RT cranes of 13 MT – 145 MT from its global platforms.

Liebherr has entered the RT market with two models. Says Subhajit Chandra, Head Sales, Liebherr, Mobile Crane India. “Our new LRT 1100-2.1, 100-ton, dual axle rough terrain crane, with 50-m telescopic boom, and the LRT 1090-2.1, 90-ton crane, with the capability to lift maximum load at 2.7 meters working radius, are safe, powerful and economical. They meet all the application requirements of RTs from off road pick up to flexible usage in industrial sites. These two highly efficient products from our global platform will enable us to invade the Indian RT cranes’ market, with our more economically priced products.”

He adds, “The 100-ton crane comes with 14-ton counterweight for higher stability. Lifting capacity of the larger LRT crane is approximately 15% greater than the 90-ton version. LRT 1090-2.1 comes with a Hydro mechanical telescoping system with stage cylinder and two-way pulley tackle A total of 12-ton counterweight is located on the turntable. As in the 100-ton version, boom extension can be pre-selected easily, as all telescopic sections extendable individually by means of the rapid-cycle telescoping system TELEMATIK.”

Elaborating further, he says, “Both the cranes score high on safety and stability due to Liebherr’s award-winning VarioBase feature that allows the cranes to arbitrarily spread the outriggers, even on heavily undulated grounds. The VarioBase system automatically examines the ground, following which, it calculates the load chart to have the right load out and center for gravity for the cranes. This prevents toppling of the crane when lifting loads. Higher safety and lifting capability are also due to the oval boom profile which offers maximum stability during bending and torsion. The cranes with hydraulic powered steering on both the axle and rear differential lock provision and hydraulically shiftable. Both the cranes have Liebherr’s patented Liccon electronic computer control systems which makes the operation friendly and establish the Liebherr rough terrain crane as a most reliable partner for your progress.”

Informs Anil Bhatia, VP – Sales & Marketing, TIL Limited, “A prime requirement of the RT Crane is to lift a higher load at shorter working radius. Our new indigenously manufactured 50-ton RT 750, with a 40-m long boom, is highly suitable for big refineries, metro projects and cement plant maintenance. Our range of highly reliable RT Cranes from Grove are designed to meet all job requirements, and they score high on stability and maneuverability, making them ideal for constricted sites.”

The indigenous range of RT Cranes - Husky RT 620 (20-ton), RT 630 (30 ton), RT 740 (40 ton), RT 750 (50 ton), RT 760 (55 ton) and RT 880 (75 ton) – are manufactured by TIL at its Kamarhatty facility in Kolkata. Bhatia adds, “At TIL we pay a lot of attention to the safety parameters of our equipment, and strictly comply with ARI regulations and other Govt. stipulations.”

“To support the rising population of RTs, we have also stepped up our hiring of service engineers and are adding more mobile workshops for onsite support. We will continue to offer our annual operation and maintenance contracts,” says Bhatia.

While its commendable to have the new range of RT cranes, featuring higher levels of advancements. It will be vital to render the right product support, enabling the customers have optimized usage of the machineries.

Lifting & Specialized Transport — April - June 2018