A key focus for the celebrations of Smithbridge Group’s 60th anniversary is the arrival of the latest addition to the fleet, a Liebherr LTR 11200 – 1,200-ton capacity telescopic crawler. Smithbridge Group’s Managing Director, Albert Smith, provides the background to the purchase.
- Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter to receive the latest news from Australasia’s lifting industry.
- Don’t miss a lift and subscribe to our monthly magazine.
- Download our latest digital magazine to catch up on the biggest news and developments in the crane industry.
“We have been working in the wind industry in Australia since 2005 and in New Zealand with Smith Cranes & Construction Ltd since 2019.
New Zealand wind farms are different to the current Australian versions, with shorter towers constructed on high, hilled exposed locations. When we started in the Australian wind industry, you needed a 600t capacity crane, typically a Liebherr LG 1550 truck crane or a Demag CC2800 narrow track crawler, to construct wind turbines that were typically 80 meters in height with efficient relocation between tower sites.
In 2015, the Australian wind turbines jumped to 120 meters in height and needed an 800t capacity crane to do the job, so the crane of choice became the Liebherr LG 1750,” said Albert.
At that time, the market was tough, and we didn’t have the $10 million required to invest in the very specialised wind industry crane, specifically the LG1750 crane for the Australian market. So, we excluded ourselves from the Australian market.
When the NZ market picked up in 2019, we purchased the Demag CC2800 narrow truck crawler crane, which was by then too small for the Australian wind farms, with the plan to transfer her to NZ to track between turbine platforms fully rigged. Careful consideration of the site topography identified that the CC2800 narrow truck with her high centre of gravity in rigged travel mode was a risky solution for the steep high New Zealand wind farm sites at Turitea Stage 2 and Harapaki.
The combined Smith—Universal team then identified the Liebherr LTR11200, a 1200-ton capacity telescopic boom crawler crane, as the ideal solution for steeper country, sub 100m hub height wind farms.
Liebherr purposely designed this machine for this exact situation, but only 17 were ever produced. Therefore, an LTR11200 was purchased for the Smith Cranes & Construction Ltd New Zealand business in March 2022, ex-Germany, for deployment to the Turitea stage 2 wind farm in October 2022.
Image: Universal Cranes and Prime Creative Media
The LTR 11200, a 1,200-ton capacity telescopic crawler crane, is the strongest telescopic crane on the market and has the longest telescopic boom in the world. Although designed for the wind industry due to her high lifting capacity, variable boom options, and small footprint, she is is well suited to a wide range of jobs in the industrial, mining, infrastructure, wind and energy sectors.
The narrow-track crawler can travel on the 5 metre wide wind farm site roads and on infrastructure sites fully rigged with the boom telescoped in and luffed down so the centre of gravity is low, the transverse stability is good and the track-to-ground pressures are low and even along the track length. During crane operation, the LTR 11200 is supported on star-pattern outriggers with a square footprint of 13 metres by 13 metres on large low-ground pressure pads.
The LTR 11200 has strong lifting capacity charts and a small footprint compared to similar large-capacity mobile cranes. The 100m telescopic boom, Y-guy boom suspension, lattice fly jibs and much of the slewing platform are sourced from the LTM 11200-9.1 All-Terrain crane. Lift heights of more than 220 metres are possible with available boom attachments, including the Y-suspension system and fixed and luffing lattice fly jibs.
“We looked at what other crane companies were doing around the world. There was a need here for wind maintenance cranes and for big mobile cranes. But once we got to understand the capabilities of the LTR 11200 and looked at what other owners in the world were doing, a German company of similar style to ours – they were using it in the mobile crane business,” said Albert.
“When you take a very big hydraulic mobile crane, with the biggest on the East Coast a Liebherr LTM 1750 with a lifting capacity of 750t, you’ve got to pull it to pieces to move it using multiple truckloads, so the crane relocation logistics are like the LTR 11200 narrow track crawler.
“When you have a project lifting bridge beams in the middle of the night, you get to the site and lose the first four to five hours assembling the all-terrain crane in her exact working position. Then she needs a partial dismantle and re assemble each time you need to move her.
“The LTR11200 has the advantage that she can be assembled near the site and then very quickly be tracked into the lifting position, or track between lifting positions fully rigged,” said Albert.
“With this crane, we intend to compete in the large capacity mobile crane space with a focus on the high, heavy, and long reach projects at confined or congested sites. Even though it’s a crawler crane, we see it as a taxi crane. That is a crane that goes to site sets up fast, really quick.”
Liebherr stopped making these cranes in 2015 due to lack of demand created by the increased height of turbines.
Smithbridge Group located its first LTR 11200 second hand in the German market, buying it for the New Zealand Smith Cranes business mid-2022 for deployment to the Turitea stage 2 Wind Farm in October 2022.
Since then, the crane has completed two wind farms, plus bridge beams and precast building works, and is currently in a Hangar Project at Auckland Airport, where the telescopic boom is a significant advantage for air traffic safety. The second LTR 11200 was purchased from the Liebherr used crane team in late 2022, and is a trade machine ex-Mexico.
Main specifications include :
- 100m Main Boom
- Maximum Lifting Height: 189m
- Maximum radius: 124m
- Counterweight: 202 tonnes
- Crawler Track Width: 4.80m
- Star-pattern Outriggers 13mx13m
- Fly Jib up to 126m
has the longest telescopic boom in the world.
Image: Universal Cranes and Prime Creative Media
“We love rebuilding machines ourselves, and the Universal Cranes business has excellent well trained crane technician who thrive on these types of projects. We were therefore very motivated to bring the crane to Brisbane for the necessary in-house rebuild, 10-year major inspection and refurbish her,” Albert said.
“Liebherr then took me to their newly built refurbishment factory in Germany and convinced me to spend over a million Euros to have them rebuild her. Their labour costs are about the same as ours in dollars per man-hour.
Still, their operation is an efficient re-manufacture process with the full support of the factory engineering and logistics and of nearby original component manufacturers. There was no comparison to what we might be able to do in Brisbane, as the Liebherr rebuild shop is run like a factory.
All minor and wearing parts were replaced, and all major components, such as engines and winches, were returned to the original manufacturer supplier for reconditioning. The process took over a year, and she came out of the factory looking and working as a new crane.”
Albert looks to the future of the group, under the guidance of the third generation of Smiths, to identify industry sectors that will sustain the growth of the business.
The business was started by Albert’s father, John Smith, in 1964 in Rangiora, just North of Christchurch. It was split in the early 1990s by the second generation into three groups, these being Daniel Smith Industries, which is still based at Rangiora, Smith Cranes and Construction Ltd, based in Christchurch, and the Smithbridge- Universal Cranes operations are based in Brisbane.
The combined full-time workforce of the three independent groups is more than 1,000 people and the combined fleet is over 500 cranes. Operations span the North Pacific Marianas region to Australia, New Zealand and south to Antarctica. “The transition to the third generation is well underway with the focus on the latest machinery technology, as well as devising innovative and alternative designs and methodologies and team management and advancement systems because that’s how the business has grown so successfully since its inception,” he said.
“Diversification and geographic expansion in the right places will stand us in good stead. We have a successful business model that combines size and capacity with a simple family-style, customer-first culture. The third-generation team plans
to manage the combination of our capital, equipment, people, and systems to continue for many more years as a family business.”
Retaining family values and committing to providing engineering passion and adding value to its comprehensive operations are also key focuses.
Measures are being taken to ensure the third generation of Smiths—Ben, Dashelle and Joe—are well equipped to ensure success for the Australia based business for many more years, retaining the mindset that took Smithbridge Group from one Fordson Major backhoe to a multinational, multidisciplinary engineering and equipment company.
“The key to our long-term success is to make all our operations sustainable. This includes economic, environmental, cultural, technical, and social sustainability,” said Albert.