Founded in Germany in 1875 and celebrating 150 years in 2025, the RUD Group is one of a global leader in chain technology and lifting solutions, with over 1700 employees and products sold in more than 140 countries. RUD was founded by the Rieger family who continue to blaze a path with a strong legacy of innovation, quality and technical excellence.
RUD Australia was established in 1984 and has been led by the Nuttall family since inception. It has been supporting the crane industry with innovative lifting and lashing solutions for the past 40 years through local offices across Australia and New Zealand.
RUD’s focus on safety is exemplified by the quality of its products, especially the ICE 120 chain slings which are manufactured to meet the highest safety standards for crane operators and on-site staff.
Mark Read, Director of SureLift Crane Hire, a long-term RUD customer, attests to the quality of RUD’s chain slings, labelling them the “best chains in the industry”.
SureLift Crane Hire, which started with one crane in Moranbah, Queensland, now operates more than 16 cranes and exclusively uses RUD products because of their performance which Mark believes “embodies the message of safety.”
RUD Australia has an advanced 6000 square metre engineering and manufacturing facility in Brisbane which offers bespoke lifting and material handling solutions for the crane industry. The production facility includes expanded positional robotic welding technology and multiple 200/500-tonne test beds ensuring quality work that exceeds industry standards.
RUD provides customised lifting kits and lashing solutions for the crane industry. RUD’s ICE 120 chains can be tailored to meet specific site requirements. The ICE Grade 120 chain is 30 per cent lighter than grade 80 which is a critical safety factor. Additionally, a RUD ICE 16 millimetre chain, when used with a balancer, can lift up to 48 tonnes – the highest in its capacity class. Mark highlights the balancer as a “huge point of difference” that allows higher capacity lifts while maintaining safety.
Brisbane-based Hulk Lifting, consistently turns to RUD for lifting and lashing solutions. “Knowing that we’re using RUD’s products provides us with a sense of comfort and reassurance,” said Ben Rose, Director of Hulk Lifting. “RUD really are ‘best-in-show’ for us: through the design, manufacturing and final build stages; everything is simply top-notch.”
RUD designs and manufactures a range of lifting and spreader beams locally, specified to customer applications. It also offers more than 700 boltable and weldable lifting points featuring load ranges all the way up to 250 tonnes.
RUD Australia is known for unrivalled after-sales service and support, which is highly valued by customers.
“RUD is always available to provide advice on maintenance, new products and different lifting solutions,” Mark said.
His sentiments are similarly echoed by Ben of Hulk Lifting, “Whenever we get something in from RUD, there’s always an engineer coming afterwards to inspect the product and ensure that it’s performing exactly as it should.”
The New RUD Sling Configurator
Configuring lifting chains for applications can be a time-consuming and complex task. There are multiple factors which influence safety that can complicate the choice of the right sling chain. The new Sling Configurator from RUD makes it easier to configure the perfect chain sling for any lifting application – in only six easy steps.
In addition to choosing between a VIP-100 and an ICE-120 chain, there is a choice of components, information on lifting accessories, tips on lifting and the option to save a chain configuration as a PDF or CAD (computer-aided design) file and email it to RUD.
The benefits of the Configurator
• Calculate lifting means in
six easy steps.
• Get a 3D view of final configuration.
• Compare components and parts
• Download a CAD file that can be used in lift plans.
The Sling Configurator provides a list of the parts in a configuration, making it easy to discuss the sling chain with a team and contact RUD to place an order or for more information.