Tadano recently delivered two new AC 7.450-1 to General Crane Services WA (GCSWA) and Fuller Mobile Cranes in Sydney. The cranes are a big step up in capacity for both businesses.
Both GCSWA and Fuller Mobile Cranes have seen significant change and growth within their businesses, which led to the purchase of a Tadano AC 7 450-1. Nick Bucciarelli, managing director of GCSWA, explains more.
“We recently moved our operation into our new purpose-built head office in Cockburn Central,” he said.
“The new facility covers 13,000 square metres and includes a 1,500 square metre bay workshop for all maintenance and repairs, a two-storey office with shared space, and private and common areas. We are in a prime location, central to all works in the Perth Metropolitan area, with access to all main highways. The new facility is five times the size of our previous facility and provides us with plenty of growing room as GCSWA is just getting started.
A key to the success of our business is the commitment from our staff. They have have supported our family business and the General Crane Services brand and we wanted to provide them with a dedicated crane yard and facility they would be proud to work in every day.”
GCSWA runs a fleet of all terrains with various capacities up to the new AC 7.450-1, a fleet of crawler cranes up to a capacity of 280t, and a fleet of Frannas, including five AT40s.
GCSWA has been a long-term partner of Terex Demag and now Tadano. Bucciarelli discusses the background to the relationship with these brands.
“Our business is built on loyalty; we focus on and stick to the Tadano product and the team associated with it. In turn they provide us with great product support and spare parts availability.Selecting the Tadano brand means we have commonality across all of the fleet, which provides an obvious advantage for our staff and for the image of the business,” said Bucciarelli.
“For any crane hire business, the support you receive from the crane OEM is critical and because we have continued to purchase the Tadano brand, we expect spare parts support and afterhours support in return.”
He goes on to discuss the relationship GCSWA has with James Greenwood and the Tadano team and what he likes about the support they provide.
“GCSWA bought its first crane through James Greenwood in 2011, and we are proud to continue the relationship today. It allows us to have a central point of contact for any issues or information we might require,” said Bucciarelli.
“The parts and service support from Tadano has been great. They certainly listen to the customer and want to understand what we would like to see more of and actively work to provide that level of service for us.
“In terms of product support, we have watched the transition from the Terex Demag brand to the Tadano/Demag brand and there has been no change in the high levels of service and parts support we receive.
“This provides us with the confidence that we have selected the right brand. The team behind Tadano support us 24/7 and we could not be happier with the relationship we have and the support we receive when there are breakdowns issues or any maintenance advice we might need.”
The new Tadano AC 7.450-1. is the largest capacity crane in the GCSWA fleet. Bucciarelli explains why he chose this model and the type of work it will be best suited to.
“We selected the AC 7.450-1 for a few reasons, with staff retention and development first and foremost. We have a very experienced work force whuich we want to retain. Providing pathways for their futures is important, and this includes new technologyy ongoing training,” he said.
“This machine provides the team with brand new technology to learn, and it will open up new types of work and projects for them to be a part of. All of this will continue to make working at GCSWA interesting.
“Staff retention is a high priority to us. We have amazing people in our team, something we are proud to say no other crane company can match us on, and we want to repay the support our staff show the business.
“We want to be the leaders in lifting solutions in WA. Being a purchaser of Tadano product, we wanted to be the first company to bring this new machine into the country.
“We knew it would also open doors for us and attract to new types of businesses.
“Getting an asset of this size internally will also give our customers the General Cranes service delivery they are used to in a greater capacity. We have always provided cranes of this size in our service offering, but bringing it internally allows us to do it our way, with our people, which is why our clients choose us,” said Bucciarelli.
Compact and manoeuvrable –
like a six-axle crane
With a carrier length of 15.99m, a total length of 17.62m, and an outrigger base of 8.45m, the AC 7.450-1 does not take up more space than a six-axle crane at the job site. However, it offers significantly larger lifting capacities and a longer main boom that comes in at 80m. All seven axles on the AC 7.450-1 are steered, and four of them are driven. This makes the crane so manoeuvrable that it can handle tight work sites at least as well as a six-axle model.
Spoiled for choice – powerful, versatile boom options
With its fully telescoped 80m main boom, the AC 7.450-1 reaches lifting capacities of up to 25t. If the main boom’s length is not sufficient, it can, for example, be extended with a luffing jib with a maximum length of 81m. The crane’s maximum system length is 132m. The luffing jib can be divided into 3m segments from 24 to 81m. But that is not all: in addition to the luffing jib, Tadano also offers configuration options for a fixed extension, and even a runner.
Functional and powerful –
the new Superlift design
Tadano is using its new engineering design for the Sideways Superlift system for the first time ever on the AC 7.450-1. This new design is a decisive enhancement to the well-known Tadano SSL solution. The Superlift arms are now mounted all the way in the front, on the head of the base section, meaning that they are ultimately longer and accordingly well-suited to larger lifting capacities. This means that the AC 7.450-1 is considerably superior to other seven-axle cranes – in fact, it even leaves some eight-axle units behind in a number of boom positions, said Tadano.
The functionality and handling have been improved as well. The new design only requires one single wire rope line for the connection between the main boom head and the SSL arm. In addition, the SSL arms are pinned hydraulically on the main boom, which reduces manual work for securing the arms and the associated work at height.
Everything in view –
360° Surround View
The AC 7.450-1 features six cameras that keep everything in view. With the help of a computer-assisted diagram, this makes it possible to graphically show the possible extension lengths for the outriggers and the counterweight tail swing radius on the display in the carrier cab. This makes it significantly easier to position the crane at job sites. Surround View also helps on the way to the site by making it easier.
long-term relationships
Bucciarelli goes on to discuss how GCSWA services its customer base.
“We have a very solid customer base, and many have been with us since the inception of the business. As our customers have grown, we have grown our business alongside them and we have always invested in new technology and bigger equipment.
“We service a number of industry sectors including mining where we work on maintenance and construction. We are also strong in the telecommunications and renewable energy sectors. We service our customers here in the Perth metropolitan area and all the way out to the Pilbara region and the Goldfields of WA,” he said.
He highlights how experienced the team at GCSWA is.
“In terms of our operational staff, we are proud to say we have a 100 per cent staff retention record since the business started. Our operations team can job share across the fleet. We don’t pigeon-hole staff to a certain type or size of crane, we want them to learn new disciplines, which will help keep their job interesting and challenging and we want them to keep working at General Cranes.
“We have employees who have been in the industry for their working life, and we have employees who are just starting in the industry. We take our time to recruit the right person, and our decisions are not based on experience but on personal attributes. We offer them all the training they may require and as they learn the General Crane’s way, we trust them to be leaders out in the field and to represent the General Crane’s brand well.
“Our team also includes an internal draftsman and an engineer, which enables us to provide our customers with the confidence they have made the right choice in aligning with General Crane Services. Our CAD planning has recently moved
to 3D.
“Safety is at the heart of everything we do at GCSWA, and this is a major reason we continue to invest in the latest technology like the Tadano AC 7.450-1. Not only does it provide us with extra capacity to conduct the bigger lifts safely, it features the very latest safety technology built into the crane to ensure the operator, the riggers and dogmen are working in the safest possible environment.”
Kane Fuller, general manager at Fullers Mobile Cranes, went through a different justification process when it came to the purchase of the new Tadano AC 7.450-1.
“When you compare the 450t to a 500t capacity crane, we might not have the same lifting grunt, but you need a second crane to build the 500, which comes at a cost to the customer. It also requires significant set-up space. With the 450 featuring 80m of main boom and the mega wing system, the crane is lifting 37t, so it is perfect for tower crane work for example.
“For our Tier One customers, we can now complete the bridge beam lifts on the massive infrastructure projects. We are not out to challenge the larger crane hire businesses. We will stick to what we know best and that is servicing our customers with the best range of compact cranes we can offer.”
He goes onto explains how lifting capacities are changing the industry and how larger capacity cranes will help Fullers Mobile Cranes stay ahead of the general crane hire market.
“We are seeing a rapid evolution as crane capacities increase. 10 years ago, a 130t capacity crane was a rare site, now they are everywhere. We are seeing the same with 250t capacity cranes, they are becoming increasingly popular. We are seeing subcontractors running one or two cranes and they will include a 220 or a 250 in their fleet. We could see we needed to take the next step to stay ahead of the general pack and the Tadano AC 7 450-1 is that step,”
he said.