KNUCKLE BOOMS Ӏ WIDER PERSPECTIVE
they look not unlike a traditional mini-crawler on steroids. Perhaps more original still is
the Erkin-patented ER-250.000 PL-10+7 hybrid crawler which has wheels as well as crawlers. The wheels have hydrostatic drives and can be lowered to lift the crawler tracks off the ground so that, despite its size, it can operate inside factory buildings as well as on tracks over rough terrain. Palfinger’s dry-land division
makes what it calls ‘compact crawler’ knuckle booms which, it claims, combines the virtues of a mobile crane, a crawler crane, a mini-crane and a tractor all in one. Capacities (and sizes) are rather smaller than Erkin’s: Palfinger’s PCC 57.002 model is 5.88 metres long, while its PCC 115.002 comes out at 7.53 metres long; the former has lifting capacity 17,900kg, while the latter can lift 30,000kg. Applications suggested by
Palfinger include overhead cable maintenance, petrochemicals and tunnelling, indoor use, and man-lifting. The knuckle boom is demountable: the crane unit can detach itself from its crawler base to become a static crane – or not quite static, since it can use its four stabiliser legs to ‘walk’ itself forward or back, or crablike sideways. In the demounted mode crane and crawler base remain connected but only though the hydraulic hose or electric cable which transfers power between the two. An optional power pack or a truck can take over the power unit function of the crawler. Mechanically-connected side
lifting forks allow the units to transport long pieces, such as pipes, of up to four tonnes. It has pick and carry capabilities, too. On difficult terrain it manages inclines of up to 60%. Optional climbing aids and wider base plates are available to give extra stability. This is clearly a workhorse, and a long way from
42 CRANES TODAY
The Copma 7500 at work
being a loader crane – although we should perhaps mention that it can, if desired, also be mounted on a truck as a loader crane. Copma is an Italian
manufacturer with worldwide distribution. Most of its knuckle booms range from 3.5 to 350 t/m capacities. Its lower-capacity models are indeed intended as loader cranes; its higher- and extreme-power models are not. The High Power range has a complete electronic system for managing additional accessories; they can carry extra functions such as winches, operator baskets, and other types of equipment and accessories. The new Copma 1800 (180 tonne range) is available in a trailer-mount model, which can be decoupled from its tractor and left at, say, a construction site for the duration of a project. Mining, handling hazardous materials, in fracking sites, handling blowout preventers in the oil and
gas industry, and placing power generators, tanks, pumps and pipes – all of these are tasks that Copma knuckle booms have handled. Equipped with grapple saws, hooks, winches and basket, urban arboriculture and rural forestry is another application – there is a Copma 650 grapplesaw machine specifically fitted for tree work.
MONSTER MODEL There is also the Copma 7500. This is rather different. It is claimed as the most powerful hydraulic knuckle boom crane in its sector. It is specifically designed for the Asian market and its capacity is rather large. Indeed, it is the largest crane ever built by Copma; it is in the 600tm class and Copma’s US office calls it ‘The Monster’.
In close-range operations the
7500.P6J6 can lift 104 tonnes at 5.70 metres and a height of 10 metres. At longer distances it can handle 16.4 tonnes at 22.40
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