Mobile Cranes Catering to Major Projects
Rough terrain and new variants of mobile crane manufacturers are putting up an impressive offer of solutions with advanced features such as higher reach and safety in their products to meet the construction requirements of major urban infrastructure projects. NBM&CW reports.
He adds, “To enhance the safety in our 90 and 100-ton cranes, the derating of the cranes has been done keeping at least 75% as reserved load, and the load chart is configured accordingly. Liebherr’s unique Vario Base mechanism automatically calculates the load being lifted given the axle load of the cranes and center of gravity.”
Liebherr’s new LRT series of RT cranes have a long OVI boom - similar to that of Liebherr’s all-terrain cranes. According to Chandra, the OVI design features higher tensile steel strength while making the booms lighter. This enables the cranes to deliver better load and remain stable while working.
To meet the rising demand for RT cranes, especially from the infrastructure and mining sectors, TIL Limited is putting special focus on its 20 and 30-ton cranes along with its popular 40-50-60-75-80-100-ton RT cranes. TIL in alliance with Grove worldwide – a part of Manitowoc, is importing Grove’s 80-ton and 100-ton cranes from Germany, while other RT cranes in the range of 20-ton 80-ton are being manufactured at its Kamarhatty facility in Kolkata and at Kharagpur in West Bengal.
He adds, “Our RT cranes come with high grade-ability, large ground clearance, as well as rider comfort. A large approach angle and departure angle, all-wheel steering and driving, and pivot swing suspension help deliver greater efficiency. A dual circuit braking system with individual brakes for front and rear wheels provide the crane a more reliable braking effect. Simultaneously, a priority valve controls the slewing and steering circuits, providing priority for steering control and rapid response of slewing action. The four-wheel steering control system with four individual steering modes further give the required flexibility during operation.”
He informs that the cranes’ basic structure has also been optimized to enhance performance. For instance, their two-axle off-roader chassis, four-wheel driving, and four-steering modes enable better mobility. Additionally, a high tensile steel U-shaped boom and over-length boom give a decreased boom weight but increased boom strength. An integrated intelligent control electrical system in the RT cranes allows operators to grasp running parameters at any time, while the engine fault prompt function facilitates rapid maintenance and troubleshooting. Operators have the convenience of easy driving within the comfort of a spacious cabin with air conditioning and an electric wiper.
A dead-weight luffing compensation hydraulic system, safety valves for overflow and hydraulic balance, and a two-way hydraulic lock, enable micro-mobility and better stability. For reduced energy loss, a load sensitive, variable displacement piston pump is applied to adjust the pump displacement in real-time.
Says Ravi Chauhan, National Portfolio Manager, PnC, Escorts Construction Equipments, “There has been an encouraging response to our recently introduced NXT series of 13-ton mobile crane, which comes in 2 variants of 11 & 15.3 meter height options with three section telescopic boom and fly jib arrangement.
The product has been targeted towards value conscious buyers, both in the hiring and end-user segments, who are looking for higher safety, compactness, ease of maneuverability, travel speed, and fuel efficiency. We are working on business strategies to introduce more models with higher tonnage and advanced aggregates. These will be promoted in tier II and tier III cities, as these places are seeing new infrastructure developments like better roads, flyovers, water pipelines etc; and many of the cities are expanding their metro network as well.”
Demand for pic-n-carry will continue to remain strong. However, price will remain one of the major factors but going forward, the market will continue to graduate to more advanced, stronger and safer products. “Our plan is to tap this segment of buyers who want to migrate to newer solutions,” says Ravi Chauhan.
He informs that the acceptance of ESCORTS NXT range has been mainly due to the fusion engineering in the cranes, to make them suitable for all kind of working conditions, while keeping ownership costs low. “We have used the drive lines from our proven ‘Hydra’ pic-n-carry cranes with features like outriggers for better stability, shortest turning radius to suit any application, spacious front cabin for better visibility, Overload cut off and safe load indicators and steering driven operations, which makes NXT unique in its segment. We are also investing in fine tuning our product sales and support plan for the benefit of our customers.
While ESCORTS will be extending its portfolio with the NXT series, it will continue to promote and improve its exiting wide range of pic and carry cranes. “This is our mainstay business. The product has a strong demand in various projects with its ability to transport utilities. It remains an attraction for quarry and stone mining segments and is in high demand in rural markets where it enjoys a strong brand recall. Escorts always aims at creating conditions that maximise the national economic strength. To achieve the same we consistently work on the innovation in technology and reliability of our products in terms of value ,performance, safety and quality.” says Chauhan.
NBM&CW May 2021
