Strait Up Cranes and Rigging recently took delivery of a new Grove GMK6300L-1, 300t capacity all-terrain. It’s a significant step up in capacity for the Mudgee-based crane hire business. Grant Gjessing, Strait Up’s Managing Director explains more.
“We’ve been running a few second–hand Groves for some time, and we’ve had great service and parts supply from the team at Manitowoc. I’ve built a good relationship with Neil Hollingshead, John Stewart and Garry Barker through various Crane Industry Council of Australia functions we’ve attended over the years.
“When it comes to support, they’ve always managed to help get us back up and operating quickly whenever there’s been a breakdown and that’s been very helpful. We appreciate that level of support for our business. The level of parts on the bench and shelf is excellent and that has really helped us. We have been operating two 130t Groves for some time, and a 220t Grove for 18 months.
“The Groves have been valuable cranes in the fleet and although it’s an older machine, the five-axle 220t has excelled, especially when it comes to the bigger lifts. It’s been a really good crane for the mine work we perform.
“The two 130t Groves have been our bread and butter for the last eight years, working on the mining contracts as well as the general crane hire work. We’ve also managed smaller renewable energy contracts with the 130t Groves,” said Grant.
The Grove GMK6300L-1 is the definition of a 300t mobile crane. It continues the success story of the GMK6300L and offers even better lifting capacities on the long boom.
The driveline with the 430 kilowatt (kW) Euromot 5/Tier 4 final Mercedes engine and Allison fully automatic transmission makes for a powerful and reliable crane. The GMK6300L-1 has interchangeable slabs that can be also used for the GMK5180-1, GMK5200-1, GMK 5250L-1 and the GMK5250XL-1.
The Grove GMK6300L-1 features an 80 metre(m) seven-section boom and optional extension up to 37m for a max tip height of 120m. At the full boom of 80m you can lift 14t out to 28m, and at maximum tip height of 120m the crane is capable of lifting 2.1t out to 50m. Flexibility and logistics are further enhanced thanks to an interchangeable self-rigging auxiliary hoist and a flexible counterweight.
“With the Grove GMK6300L-1, we were impressed with the boom length and also the charts, it’s an impressive heavy lifter,” said Grant. “It’s going to be working on some of the renewables work, but it will be well suited for heavier work when we are mobilising and demobilising mining equipment where some of the big excavators and dump trucks weigh 800 tonnes plus.”
Grant said Strait Up Cranes and Rigging have decided to invest in a new asset rather than a secondhand crane.
“Along with the other Strait Up business owners, I felt it was time that Strait Up stepped up and took a strong and positive step forward for the business. We have levels of confidence that we can find the work for and lined up six months of work straight away. The new Grove will be an important asset for the business for the next 10 years. With the purchase of the new Grove, we traded in one of the 130t cranes and we were pleasantly surprised at how well it held its value. It wasn’t too far short of the value we paid for it five years ago. It has been a well utilised asset and we’ve certainly seen a good return on our investment,” he said.
There has been significant investment in the Strait Up Cranes and Rigging business recently explains Grant.
“Four years ago, we moved to a larger work yard and two years ago we refurbished the office. We now operate from a professional space and it’s enjoyable to invite clients to the office and work yard. We are also ISO accredited for ISO 9001 (Quality), ISO 14001 (Environmental) and ISO 45001 (OHS) which certainly helps with our back office and maintaining a high standard in data and records.
“We work with a number of tier one customers, and they require these accreditations. We have a team of seven in the office and compliance is a major focus for the business. The mines have strict compliance requirements and our Commercial Manager, Nicole Gjessing, works diligently to ensure we are compliant with the equipment and our staff,” said Grant.