Just yesterday, I saw the news that Liebherr now sells chassis-mounted self-erecting tower cranes https://www.liebherr.com/in North America, and that the first two customers will take delivery sometime in June. The new-to-North-America “MK” cranes are designed and manufactured by the Liebherr factory in Biberach, Germany, — the same folks who make Liebherr’s traditional and fast-erecting tower cranes.
Although Liebherr has sold mobile self-erecting tower cranes in Europe for years, this is the first time the company has tailored the features and specs for North America and offered them here. The concept is interesting: a crane that combines the advantages of a tower crane with the easy on-road travel and fast set-up of a mobile crane, all operated by just one person. Essentially, it’s a tower crane that can move quickly from job to job as a taxi-crane to serve several sites a day.
The news release and product literature highlight several features that make the new MK mobile tower cranes very well suited for that kind of work. One is fast, pushbutton-operated self setup and take down that can be completed in minutes. A second is the ability to set up right next to a building, which reduces or eliminates the need to block streets and maximizes the crane’s reach over a building. Third, the operator can position the crane cab anywhere on the vertical mast for a clearer view across the top of many buildings. That helps make operation faster and more accurate. Fourth, the crane offers the option of being powered by the vehicle’s diesel engine or being driven electrically by an external source. That option is especially important for reducing overall emissions and noise.
Security features include the pushbutton self set up and take down; pushbutton changes in hook height; the crane’s ability to detect its configuration, including hook height, amount of ballast and outrigger position; and camera systems to aid in all-around visibility.
Liebherr currently offers three MK models. The smallest is the three-axle MK 73-3.1. It can lift up to 13,227 pounds, and can pick 4,409 pounds at its 126-foot maximum radius. The middle model is the four-axle MK 88-4.1. It can lift up to 17,636 pounds, and can pick 4,850 pounds at its 147-foot maximum radius. The largest model is the five-axle MK 140-5.1. It can lift up to 17,636 pounds and can pick 4,188 pounds at its 213-foot maximum radius.
The first two U.S. customers receiving the new MK cranes are Ideal Crane Rental Inc., headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, and SL Chasse Steel, of Hudson, New Hampshire. Ideal Crane has bought one of each model; Chasse Steel has taken an MK 88-4.1. Robert Kalhagen, managing director of Ideal Crane has been interested in having this type of crane for more than a decade, ever since he saw one at the Bauma trade show in Munich, Germany, more than 10 years ago. He says that he expects to use the MK 73-3.1 mainly for installing smaller components in apartment buildings and houses, and for working on HVAC systems. Kalhagen added that he expects the two larger models to handle larger HVAC systems, roofing, steel construction, industrial work, installing solar panels, and bridge and road projects.
Chasse Steel’s managing director, Steven L. Chasse, said his company will use its new MK 88-4.1 throughout New Hampshire and Massachusetts, and that he expects its first projects to be handling components for four- to six-story wood-frame residential buildings. I’ll be interested to see the many ways these new-to-America cranes will eventually be used here.
They’ve proven themselves in Europe for well over a decade, and although building techniques can be different from continent to continent, the concept sounds like it will work well here, too. In fact, the concept has already been proven here on a small scale. At ConExpo 2002, Manitowoc and Potain unveiled a truck-mounted lattice-boom tower crane called the S282. The S282 is smaller than Liebherr’s new MK series cranes, and just a few units were made. The only S282 I know of still in existence is in the fleet of E-Built Crane Service in Henderson, Colorado. About 2018, E-Built’s owner Eric Watson wanted a truck-mounted tower crane, so he bought the only one he could find, an S282 sitting idle in Mexico. Watson refurbished it and added it to his fleet. He told me that although the concept has worked well, the S282 is too small for many of his current projects, so he needs something larger.
Liebherr’s new MK truck-mounted tower cranes are the newest step in the trend of solutions that have proven themselves elsewhere eventually making their way to the U.S. and Canada. Just last August, Australian manufacturer Franna, part of Terex, began selling its well-proven articulating pick-and-carry cranes here. Not all that many years ago, self-erecting tower cranes that can be transported on a tractor-trailer truck or towed to jobs debuted here. It’s a fascinating trend, and I can’t wait to see what comes next.