The transport needs of one of New Zealand’s largest piling companies, Kumeu-based CLL Ltd, had grown so significantly that it made business sense to start its own trucking division Antares Transport.
From its small beginnings in 1986 CLL has contracted out most of its transport requirements. Senior Manager Alan Marychurch took on the job of setting up Antares Transport as a wholly owned CLL subsidiary.
Karl Leonard Technical Manager and Mobile Crane Sales at ALLCRANE Sales and Service provides the details regarding a recent Antares Transport project.
“We’ve known Alan Marychurch for some time, and we are always discussing projects including requirements regarding mobile and knuckle boom cranes. Late 2023 we discussed with the idea of building a 10 by 4 tractor truck with the largest crane he could put on the truck, but still have a fifth wheel and still have a ring feeder, and not be on permits.
“That was quite a narrow window to get through so we went through the feasibility study which included which crane to put on the truck, how much weight will we have available in the rear axle set allowing for the fifth wheel or for a pup deck. What would the lifting look like for this crane, where would it be it was mounted on the truck, the reach and all measures of other complexities,” said Karl.
Karl and Alan settled on a Fassi 1250R.2.4 which is the largest knuckle boom crane installed in New Zealand. The project involved a three-way working collaboration between ALLCRANE Sales and Services, OTEL (Onehunga Transport Engineering) a specialist truck body builder based in Auckland and a heavy vehicle engineer. The Fassi F1250R.2.4 was also chosen with the optional “low-base” option, where the slew ring of the crane is placed as low as possible, the cranes outrigger pushed forward more than standard, and the crane is prepared with a partial subframe ready to integrate into the locally fabricated subframe. This allows for a much lower centre of gravity when driving, increased stability towards the cab, and more control over the outcome of the final weights.
“The HVEC engineer helped bring everything together and made sure it was going to work. The truck was already here in New Zealand and the crane was produced by Fassi in record time and sent over. We put the crane on the chassis with simulated weights and it turned out we had been overly cautious in our studies and we were able to now order two more hydraulic ‘boom sets’ for the crane to make it a six hydraulic boom crane,” said Karl.
It is also the first Fassi in NZ to feature front bumper outriggers.
“In collaboration with Scania we were able to confirm engineering elements of the truck and the chassis and ordered the outrigger through Fassi based directly off the Scania VIN number to put legs on the front of the truck. The truck now has a total of six outriggers, which we have done before, on the rear of trucks, but this is our first Fassi with front bumper outriggers,” said Karl.
The knuckle boom is the first of Fassi’s TECHNO range brought into NZ. The new Techno range features more advanced electronics, simplified wiring systems, a boom structure that has 10 folds rather than eight.
“With the Techno range, we get a stronger boom structure from the telescopic booms, which gives us a 30 per cent increase in lifting capacity at high angles, compared to the equivalent sized crane that it replaces, which is a huge increase,” said Karl.
“Lifting at a radius of 4.15 metres, it will lift 22 tonne and at 82.5 degrees of boom angle with the boom hook up at just over 19 metres of height, vertical height, it will lift quite happily 5.8 tonne or nine tonne at 17 metres high so it is quite the weapon. Also based on the weight outcome we are adding a two tonne line pull winch which is ordered and will be added on in the future,” he said.
The TECHNO range of Fassi cranes now starts at the F605R and goes up to the mighty F2350R.
The Fassi features the IOC (Internet of Cranes) system which connects the crane to the internet.
“When given permission by the operator we can log into the crane at any time, and in real time, and monitor the crane’s operations, see what is happening and see what inputs the operator is providing to the crane. We can diagnose any issues if and provide technical advice if there is an issue or a breakdown. The IOC system is designed to minimise downtime, and also provide owners with statistics and service requirements” said Karl.
“Antares Transport will mainly use the crane for assisting the mobilisation and demobilisation of their equipment. They operate a lot of drilling and hammer equipment so it will be lifting this equipment on sites. It will also use for transporting and lifting equipment. By using either the fifth wheel or the ring feder it can tow a variety of trailers based on whatever it’s collecting from sites,” he said
CLL owns and operates a large inventory of piling and ground stabilisation machinery which operated and supported by 280 staff. A large project that CLL is currently leading is the restoration of the road through the Mangamuka Gorge, south of Kaitaia, which was wiped out in the 2020 storms.
Antares, and Antares Transport has enjoyed stellar growth since its launch in 2021 with only two four-wheel tipper trucks and an eight-wheel Isuzu with a Hiab from within CLL’s fleet.
“The first additional truck we bought for the company was an old Kenworth 401, and we rented a trailer go with it,” Alan says.
“We started building the fleet up from there, and we’ve now got five tractor units all with 40-ft flat or low-bed trailers, plus a couple of six-wheel flat-deck delivery trucks, and a 10-wheel DAF with a Hiab.”
This rapid growth during the current economic uncertainty was driven by CLL’s transport requirements, although Antares Transport is now widening its specialised offering to the contracting and construction market.
Alan Marychurch with his extensive experience in heavy equipment and contracting, has built an experienced team of both operational people and truck drivers to service both CLL and the wider market. They are now being led by lifetime Trucker, Jerry Kukutai who is respected and well known in the transport industry for getting the job done effectively.
Servicing the construction and contracting industry effectively requires both specialised equipment and experienced operators. No day or load is the same as the previous one. What needs to be transported is generally big, heavy and often an awkward shape.
Antares Transport has the people, equipment and experience to effectively serve both CLL and the construction and contracting industry. And the Antares Team, led by Alan and Jerry, are ready and able to deliver on this experience and capability.