Freo Group and WGC Cranes recently engaged the team at Ben Baden Services to conduct a major inspection and refurbishment of a Liebherr LR 1280. Given that the lattice boom crawler weighs in excess of 220 tonnes and features a main boom of 90 metres or more, the logistics involved were immense. Ben Baden explains.
“The relationships with Freo Group and WGC Cranes goes back over 30 years,” Ben said. “I used to deal with Marc Sergi, then General Manager of WGC, and my father Gerhard had dealt with Marc’s father, Peter. Before that, Gerhard also sold to Tony Canci (then Managing Director of Freo Cranes), who purchased his first all-terrain crane from us – a secondhand 70t Liebherr.
“Then six years ago, Freo Group acquired WGC Cranes. If anything, the relationship has only strengthened.”
Ben said the maintenance and presentation of Freo Group and WGC Cranes assets are vital.
“It is my observation that Freo Group has placed strategic importance on ensuring assets throughout its fleet are maintained to the highest possible levels,” said Ben. “This includes conducting major inspections, but goes well beyond the requirements and we’re engaged to manage a high quality, machine strip down, overhaul, and repaint to lift the cranes to the highest possible standards.
“We’ve been managing these projects for Freo Group for quite a few years, and the teams have been great to deal with. Quality is paramount. When the machines go out, they want them to look the part obviously, but they want to ensure they perform at optimum levels.
“We’ve just completed a Liebherr LR 1280 for them. It’s had the full major inspection and, in addition, a complete repaint, including 90 metres of lattice boom. Looking at the result, you would struggle not to believe it’s a new machine. That’s what Freo Group and WGC Cranes want, and we’re striving to give it to them,” he said.
The refurbishment program is a significant commitment, and a high priority, of Freo Group. There is a planned pipeline of machines, which Ben is discussing with the relevant teams.
The logistics of managing the detailed overhaul and major inspection of the LR 1280 are complex, he said.
“There’s a lot to it. Many complexities are involved in painting the crane, more so than the major inspection side of the project. Even though we have large wash bay and paint shop facilities, the machine is far too wide to track into them.
“This meant the car body had to be put on a low loader and moved into the wash bay and steam cleaned. The low loader then takes it into the paint shop, where it is unloaded to be painted.
“The tracks, which are over nine metres long and weigh over 21 tonnes each, are also put on trailers in the wash bay to be steam cleaned and then moved into the paint shop. We find it better to blast and paint with lattice boom sections of that size. So, we send the 90 metres of lattice boom to our blasting and painting facility. A crane this size means plenty of logistics to coordinate, including many trailer movements.”
Ben discusses what is involved with the major inspection of the LR 1280.
“Liebherr is excellent, in that it has provided a descriptive document confirming what scope of work is required during a major inspection. This enables us to follow the processes, procedures, and checks and balances to ensure we adhere to the OEM recommendations.
“In many ways, crawler cranes can be easier to work on than all-terrains because they don’t have a telescopic boom. There are multiple winch assemblies, which are probably the most complex part of the unit.
“The rest of the work involved the boom sections, which are easy to inspect visually. You’ve then got the undercarriage component with the tracks and the car body, which is, again, not overly complex compared to a 500t Liebherr LTM 1500, which we worked on recently.
“Far more complexities are involved in working on a machine like that. The boom assemblies are heavy and must be disassembled, inspected, and worked on, whereas, with a pinning boom, you unpin a section, work on it, and then move and stack them,” said Ben.
Ben Baden Services has been recognised as a leading provider of major inspection services and crane overhauls for many years. Ben explains his approach and why customers continue to return for repeat business.
“There are several similar businesses around the country, and I think it’s important that crane businesses have options. My hope is that once we complete a major inspection, the customer will be satisfied with our scope, our price, and the machine’s performance. If all three of these boxes are ticked, we hope to receive repeat business from that customer – which has mostly proved to be the case,” he said.
“We’re far from perfect, and mistakes can happen. Pulling a crane apart and putting it back together is a complex process. If there are any issues when it is put back together, we address them immediately. A major inspection is not a simple undertaking; each one presents challenges.
“Whether we are working on a small pick and carry crane or a large capacity wind farm crane, the quantity of major inspections we undertake helps us refine our procedures, which helps eliminate, as much as is reasonably practical, any issues with the machine after it’s been reassembled. We are always striving to refine our processes to improve the crane’s performance once it is back in the hands of the customer.”
Ben discusses the experience in the team.
“We have many employees and, other than our apprentices, the majority have been with us for more than 10 and 20 years – some in excess of 30 years. We also have highly skilled painters, and they paint cranes all day, every day. The more you do this type of work, the more experienced you get at it,” he said.
“At any one time, we will have half a dozen major inspections in various stages of completion in our workshop, and once the crane is back together, we embark on a thorough process of load testing.
“For the final inspection, we have an independent engineer inspect the crane and witness the overload testing before final sign-off. The crane is usually due for a CraneSafe, so we’ll also undertake this.
“There are many sets of eyes and multiple third parties involved in these refurbishment projects which also assists in picking up any errors or issues to ensure that the finished product goes back to the customer as smoothly and efficiently as possible.”