MINI CRANES Ӏ SECTOR REPORT
customer demand,” he says.
It is a trend he sees followed by both Japanese and European manufacturers. “The market was built and well established by Japanese cranes. European manufacturers have come in and they put more basic facilities within the concept, and that option created a new demand that new products are catering for.” As witness, he points to Unic’s
new products that debuted at Bauma. “We launched a hydraulic fly-jib for the 295 and the 546. We've had hydraulic fly jibs for years but they have been on the larger cranes, the URW 1006, which is a ten-tonne machine, and
Italian company
Eurokran using a Hoeflon C10e to lift glass
also the URW 7062, which goes to six tonnes. Now Unic has taken that and brought them onto the smaller models." Unic also launched a pop- up crane: the ECO 325. As a spider crane, the design of this is innovatory and ingenious: it has a vertical king-post which, as the name suggests, pops up while the four-section telescoping hydraulic jib articulates from the top of it. The king-post is positioned centrally on the chassis to increase stability. Because of the minimal overhang the design gives the ability to work closer to obstacles than its competitors. It has expandable tracks, which
take the width from 1100mm to 750mm, so it can fit through doorways. The hydraulic jib takes the lifting height from 10.9m to 16.5m and the maximum working radius from 9.82m to 15.7m. Variable outriggers fit into some of the most confined working areas. Power is from a rechargeable lithium-ion battery which can also be used while still charging. Ezzatvar points to the three-
way relationship between Japanese makers, European makes, and customer demand for one- stop-shopping. “At GGR we've always paired the cranes up with attachments. We looked for the best manufacturers of cranes, and of attachments, and offered them as a package. Now it appears that the European mini-crane manufacturers are offering the attachments as well as integrated features. That is a case of manufacturers responding to the demand that we set and created.” GGR was, in particular, a pioneer of glazing robots – which are effectively very small mini-cranes with suction-pad manipulator heads attached. “That was very much an innovation that GGR brought to the table. It now appears that European manufacturers are going down the same route from a crane perspective, whereas we offer cranes with them the full range of different attachments.” As is, for example, Dutch
manufacturer Hoeflon, who is offering vacuum lifters for glass as accessories for its range of tracked compact cranes. Jekko, as noted above, does the same. So, on both sides of the
Atlantic, small is becoming beautiful. Uses for the mini crane are legion; and the advantages of doing more with less are taking hold not only in Europe but even in the strongholds of Bubba philosophy.
42 CRANES TODAY
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