SEGMENT REPORT Ӏ KNUCKLEBOOMS


complicated one, it’s also easier to use because the unfolding mechanism is not so complex; so someone clever in Brazil decided to do it, and the habit has stuck. “When you are in Brazil you will find customers who prefer the PK style and customers who prefer the MD style; most prefer MD. It does the job, it is simpler, they know how to use it, it has always been there; it is just part of their culture.”


Brazil is not the only country to


stick to its own traditions. Japan is another. “Knucklebooms are not seen at all in Japan,” says Tacconi of PM Group. “There they rely on straightbooms, a lot of them locally manufactured by Tadano. The reason I think is that Tadano simply got in there early, and so established the preference. At any rate selling a knuckleboom in Japan is almost impossible.” And that, curiously, has affected


the market in China. “There, Palfinger is in a joint venture with Sany,” says Oberleitner, “and the products we make for the Chinese market are branded Sany Palfinger. Here, historically, the Europeans first came in with knuckleboom cranes, then Korea and Japan exported straightbooms into China through the secondhand market; and both influences remain. But unlike in the US, the straightbooms in China are simple logistic units, used for loading and unloading the vehicle, not for construction. Congested construction needs complex cranes, so some knucklebooms, that can deliver through doorways and windows at some height, are used for that. The alternative is a tower. But stiff-booms are cheap to buy because the engineering is so simple, and are easy to operate; 80% of Chinese logistic cranes are stiff-booms, and that applies as well to most of Southeast Asia. Hong Kong, with its British


Palfinger’s MD45007 knuckleboom crane. The MD line is specifically designed for the Brazilian market.


connection, and Singapore, where space restrictions make lifting a complicated business needing high technology, are exceptions; there the knuckleboom is the norm.” Sticking with Asia, “that is a


very price-competitive market” says Catellani of Amco Veba. “But buyers there also demand a high level of quality, and especially of reliability, because in countries like Vietnam or Thailand they may be operating far from a service centre so the crane must be easy to service and maintain out in the field. “So for that market the


preference is for a crane that is very simple, and with as few electronics as possible. Electronics are hard to repair in a remote place. And this has been a reason for Amco Veba’s success there in recent years: we have cranes that are simple, which appeals to them, even if we also have other cranes of higher performance or capacity.” Finally we come to Russia.


“Here, Asia and Europe meet, and both influences are there” says Oberleitner of Palfinger. “You will


find a market for knucklebooms as well as for straightboom cranes, and it is simply up to the client which one he personally prefers. It will depend on his typical applications, and the availability of space on his truck. If all the deck-space is wanted for cargo, you might go for a knuckleboom because it folds neatly out of the way. There is another curiosity here, though. If you have imported a chassis, say a Mercedes or MAN or Scania, it is very likely that you will put a knuckleboom on it; if you are using a local Russian-built truck you will probably mount a stiff-boom. It is a tendency rather than a rule, but you will hardly find a stiffboom crane on an imported European truck. It is just a bit of a mismatch. I suppose the theory is that if you are paying extra for a knuckleboom you might as well pay for a good truck as well.” So we live in a small


interconnected planet, but one still large enough to allow local niches and variations in even so universal a machine as a knuckleboom crane. Diversity is a wonderful thing. Long may it last.


CRANES TODAY 49


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