SEGMENT REPORT Ӏ KNUCKLEBOOMS


рLACES, DIFFERENT CRANES


DIFFERENT


The knuckleboom crane is a standard product, the same around the world. Or is it? Julian Champkin finds local habits die hard, and the knuckleboom has many regional forms and favourites.


“Ever since humans built their first cranes to lift things in ancient Mesopotamia there have been different versions in different cultures and societies. There are different roads to go down to design your crane, so we find different crane concepts around the world. But they have one thing in common, for a very simple reason: they have in common the simple purpose of lifting stuff – sometimes small stuff, sometimes big stuff, sometimes high up, sometimes over long distances; but they are all about lifting goods.” That is Stefan Oberleitner of


Palfinger, their product line leader for loader cranes, wind and marine cranes, waxing philosophical about cranes in general and knuckleboom cranes in particular.


The TEC range: Palfinger's most technologically advanced knucklebooms.


One might suppose that the common knuckleboom, seen almost everywhere mounted either behind the cab of a truck or at the rear of its deck, is the same the world over. One would be wrong. The needs and cultural preferences differ around the world, causing manufacturers to offer different specifications and types of machines to different geographical markets. Knucklebooms might be mainly about loading and unloading trucks; but there are different designs that will do that job, and culture and history—and simple chance, says Oberleitner —have played their part in which methods are preferred in which continents and countries. Let us start with Europe. “That is the market that is driving and developing knucklebooms today,” he says. “It always has been, and it will stay in that leading position


CRANES TODAY 43


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