SECTOR REPORT Ӏ PICK AND CARRY
tidd and franna: Doing it differently Down under
Down under they do things slightly differently. Australia has its Franna brand, owned by Terex, while New Zealand has its very own home-owned manufacturer in the form of Tidd, part of TRT Australia, which is based in Hamilton and has been in the crane-making business since 1967. The pick and carry cranes from both
manufacturers are diesel, articulated, run on road wheels and tyres, and are intended for outdoor work. Tidd says that one of the advantages of the articulation is better protection from rollover on slopes. In March this year Tidd launched its latest
pick and carry: the upgraded PC28-2. It can road its own 2.3 tonne counterweight, which means it can drive itself to the jobsite. Construction, civil projects, mining and infrastructure are all possible applications. The upgraded machine has more
powerful front suspension cylinders than its predecessor, which Tidd says gives up to 17% more lift capacity when articulated or working on a slope. The Robway crane operating software has been upgraded: three new steps have been added to it to improve lift control and the load chart – which Tidd says delivers signifi cant gains when the crane is articulating. As the crane articulates it reduces the rate of
Nolimit Cranes has added a fourth Franna MAC25 Super Lift to its fl eet which it will use for road projects across Melbourne
decrease of the load chart decrease. There is a 75% stationery chart and 66% pick and carry chart. The cabin has been re-engineered, with
a measured reduction in cabin noise levels of 8dBa at 80km/hr when on the road. There is a full power, four-section telescopic boom, with slewing up to 44° for maximum manoeuvrability onsite. The articulation gives a small footprint to move and set up in tight spaces. Turning to Franna, the Antipodean truck-
like concept of pick and carry may well derive from that company. In 1978 Dave Francis built his fi rst pick and carry crane, using truck components and found a ready market – so ready in fact that ‘Franna’ has in Australia become a generic name for any truck-based crane, regardless of manufacturer. (Fun fact: Dave Francis was married to Anna; hence the company name.) High road speeds characterise these pick
and carry cranes – which was one reason that they found favour back in 1978, as Australia has such long distances between many of its jobsites. In 1999 Franna was acquired by Terex,
and today the Franna brand is present in at least 30 countries. It now manufactures in India, as well as in Brisbane, and this summer signed up no fewer than eight new distributors in the subcontinent. The AT 15-3 is Franna’s most compact pick and carry, with a 15 tonne lifting capacity and a boom that extends to 17.9m. The AT40 is its largest – lifting up to 40 tonnes. There are 22 and 25 tonne versions in between. On some Franna machines the boom
cylinders are set one on either side of the centrally-placed full-width cab, rather than having the cab off to one side as in Italian- derived machines. This increases their resemblance to a truck. These, too, are outdoor machines that
TRT Australia’s new Tidd PC28-2
can travel between sites. They specialise, says Terex, in complex jobs that pose site access issues and height restrictions so size and manoeuvrability remain key to their design.
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