SECTOR REPORT Ӏ KNUCKLEBOOMS
Hiab are major players in the field and it too has a new electric knuckleboom. In October 2022 it launched the ePTO 44, its second generation Electric Power Take-Off machine. The plug-in system has more
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power and longer battery life with less weight than its predecessor. As an electric, emission-free, alternative to drawing power from the vehicle’s engine it allows the crane operator to work with the engine switched off – quietly and free from exhaust fumes. Hiab says that using electricity
reduces energy costs by up to 90% compared to diesel alternatives, and that the ePTO 44 offers further energy efficiency as it only delivers the energy that is required to move the crane: no energy is lost by idling the truck engine while the crane is not moving. The operating hours of the vehicle are increased as the ePTO allows the crane to be operated with the truck engine switched off so unloading hours no longer count in the truck’s useage time.
Hiab’s second generation electric- powered ePTO
The setup consists of a battery, The new
medium-range iX.162 HiPro from Hiab
an electric motor, a hydraulic pump and a smart electronic control system, all of it packaged on the truck chassis. The status of the ePTO 44 is visible in the
CombiDrive4 remote control display or on a display mounted on the crane. The ePTO 44 can be used with any Hiab HiPro loader crane. The crane capacity is the same, and the already-familiar Hiab operational response is even enhanced. When the crane is not in use the electric pump is automatically switched off to save energy and battery capacity; the ePTO 44 starts up again with the control lever. As with the HMF electric knuckeboom the Hiab crane is virtually silent, enabling safe communication and a greatly improved working environment for operators. UK timber and builders’
merchant Lawsons has already been using Hiab’s ePTO system. According to one of its delivery drivers, “from an operator’s point of view, using the crane is far less tiring. We’re not fatigued because we’re not working with the constant drone of the truck’s engine running all the time when we’re unloading. After a ten-hour shift, you really notice the noise difference.
f 38 CRANES TODAY
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