Fleurieu Cranes significantly increased its heavy lift capabilities in 2023 with the arrival of the Liebherr LTM 1650-8.1. The crane has been busy on a series of projects including wind farm construction, maintenance and tower crane erection and disassembly. Paul Andrews, Heavy Lift Specialist, and Business Development Manager Chris Leane explain more.
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Fleurieu Cranes has been operating a Grove GMK6400 for almost a decade and it has proved to be a wise investment. The Grove GMK6400 is a class leading crane with a similar footprint as some 300t and 220t cranes, however boasts outstanding lift capabilities across a broad spectrum, making it an excellent crane for the business.
“The 400t Grove has been in operation for nearly 10 years and has worked on everything from infrastructure projects, wind farms, mine sites, basically all over the state and also interstate. We’ve had the 400 in Victoria working on wind farms and at the moment it’s in the Northern Territory on a mine. It’s proved to be a great asset over an extended period of time,” said Paul.
“With the luffing fly, it is arguably best in its class, with on-road permits allowing us to drive it with the boom in the cradle which is a massive plus as well. With its small footprint it’s ideal for big lifts in and around the city – constructing and deconstructing tower cranes for example.
“We’ve done a hell of a lot of tower crane work with it, and as I’ve said it’s worked on a number of infrastructure projects including the Southern Expressway Duplication, Gateway South and Northern Connector projects,” he said.
Chris explains how busy the Liebherr LTM 1650 -8.1 has been since Fleurieu Cranes took delivery earlier in the year.
“The 1650 has been busy working on a number of projects including wind farms and also tower cranes. It was on a windfarm doing some dismantling work which didn’t involve the full set up, but it wasn’t far off, it did include the luffing fly and Y guy (super-lift), coupled with 135 tonnes of counterweight, it was pretty impressive. The team is still getting their heads around the crane in terms of its full capabilities, but it is performing well for us”, he said.
Chris goes on to discuss the capabilities and what impresses the team most about the crane.
“The feedback from the team has been very positive. Although it is such a large crane, a key feature for the team is how extremely agile the crane is and that it can travel with its boom on, which leads to much quicker set ups. Obviously, mobilisation and set up costs have been reduced because of this, and for such a large crane, it’s very impressive when it’s driving down the road or the highway. It’s basically a super-sized billboard marketing the capabilities of Fleurieu Cranes.”
“The team has also been impressed with the technology built into the crane including the advanced computer systems which enhances precise movement positioning which obviously helps reduce any risk of accidents. The advances in safety also acts to improve productivity as well,” he said.
Paul has been impressed with the performance of the crane.
“Capability wise, it’s very impressive and best in class. During a wind farm project, we removed a nacelle from a turbine which weighed 63t. We had 80 metres of boom and we ran with the N-Assembly. We had 28 metres of luffer on and there were no dramas, it’s definitely a great lifter. We can run with numerous configurations which makes it a very impressive machine,” he said.
Paul has been impressed with Liebherr’s approach to after sales training and making sure everyone is comfortable with the LTM 1650-8.1.
“Liebherr has been extremely thorough throughout the hand over process. Liebherr conducted three weeks of intense training and the team was given homework every night. There was also advice and support in terms of maintaining the crane so it continues to perform at optimum levels and if we’ve had any niggling issues Liebherr have been quick to respond,” he said.
Chris explains how the Liebherr LTM 1650-8.1 helps position Fleurieu Cranes in the South Australian crane industry.
“The 1650 is now the second-largest crane in South Australia which obviously puts us at a fairly reasonable advantage. The next largest crane is significantly bigger, but that can also be a disadvantage because of the support vehicles required to mobilise the crane, the setup times and the requirement for permits to travel.”
“That’s a major reason why we went with the 1650 and we think we’ve hit a sweet spot as a result. With more capacity than our 400 and considerably more reach, it’s ideally suited for the wind farm sector. Obviously, renewable energy and wind farms are a significant focus for governments and businesses around the country and across the world, so it makes smart commercial sense to position our business in the renewable space,” said Chris.
Paul is confident the Liebherr 1650-8.1 will make a significant difference to the way clients plan future projects.
“As we have been seeing, clients are looking for fewer but much heavier lifts and now they can confidently design components knowing we have the capability of lifting much more with the 1650. We are offering a number of lifting options with the crane, and we now have the ability to provide more solutions across more industries and more customers,” he said.
READ MORE:
- Fleurieu Cranes parties on with new LTM 1650-8.1.
- Fleurieu Cranes expands fleet with new 300-tonne Tadano.
- Fleurieu Cranes acquires a range of new Tadano all-terrains.