March 2015 | Page 3 of 5

Sany rebrands in Europe

Sany Germany, the wholly owned subsidiary of Chinese crane and equipment manufacturer Sany, has rebranded the business as Sany Europe, changing its logo and launching a new website.

The company says the change is designed to better reflect its presence in Europe, where it is represented in 13 countries – mainly by exclusive distributors.

Sany Europe managing director Bart Decroos, said: “The name change is a take-off for a new era. It just didn’t reflect who we are any more, and definitely not who we want to be. Therefore we’ve taken this action. We’ve also seized this opportunity to improve our corporate identity to strengthen further our brand recognition.”

We have just received confirmation that the company will no longer be exhibiting at this year’s Intermat exhibition. It has cancelled its provisional booking in the external area, where it has exhibited in the past two shows.

Manitowoc completes VPC-MAX testing

Manitowoc has completed the testing of its 650 tonne MLC650 crawler crane fitted with its variable position counterweight extension (VPC-MAX) attachment.

Increasing the MLC650’s capacities from 650 to 700 tonnes, the VPX-MAX features additional counterweight and a beam that automatically extends the counterweight beyond the rear of the crane depending on the weight of the load. As part of the load testing the crane boom was positioned in a number of positions, including over one corner of the crane in order to apply the maximum level of stress through the structure.

Dustin Soerens, Manitowoc marketing manager, said: “We attached hundreds of strain gauges to the MLC650 and picked a number of loads in the test yard to test its capacity with the VPC-MAX attachment. The testing went very well with no surprises. No changes are needed on the crane, as it performed superbly. We’re well on our way to releasing this innovative crane to the global market.”

Manitowoc’s VPC-MAX attachment provides capacities similar to wagon/tray mounted attachments, but requires fewer components and assembly steps, which helps reduce setup times and transportation costs.

New 145t RT for Ravago

Phillipines based crane and access rental company Ravago Equipment Rentals has taken delivery of a new three axle 145 tonne Tadano GR-1450EX Rough Terrain crane.

The new crane boasts a 61 metre six section boom with a 10.3 to 18 metre bi-fold swingaway jib, 16.1 metres long and 3.3 metres wide, it weighs 91 tonnes fully rigged and can travel at 15kph.

Ravago is one of the largest crane rental companies in the Philippines, with a fleet of All Terrain truck and Rough Terrains up to 700 tonnes, it also offers a wide range of aerial work platforms, telehandlers and general equipment.

Liebherr provides rescue sheets

Liebherr has started to provide rescue sheets for its mobile cranes in order to assist with crane recovery following an incident.

All Liebherr LTM and LTC cranes which comply with stage 3b or higher emissions will now come with a rescue sheet as standard. Available separately and located behind the driver’s seat, the rescue sheet provides detailed information about the structure of the crane and its cab as well as the best places to cut the bodywork open in order to free a trapped operator. It also provides information on the locations, volumes and hazard classes of the crane’s fuel and oil.

Rescue sheets have been available for new cars, commercial vehicles and trucks for some time now, although cranes are a niche product and relatively unknown to fire and emergency services. Liebherr said the aim of the rescue sheets is to enable the fast rescue of passengers and the safe recovery of the crane following an incident.

First new Liebherr for Tonhout

UK crane company Tonhout Crane Hire has taken delivery of its first new Liebherr crane, a three axle 60 tonne LTM1060-3.1 All Terrain.

Based in Welwyn Garden City, the company has been in the crane rental business for almost 40 years and is a sister company of M and M Crane Hire of Uxbridge.

The new crane features a 48 metre main boom and 9.5mto 16 metre bi-fold swingaway extension, giving a maximum hook height of 63 metres and maximum radius of 48 metres. The specification includes 6x6x6 drive, Telma retarder and remote control unit for all superstructure functions.

Company owners, Maurice Tierney and sons Mark and Brian said the decision to purchase a new Liebherr was based on experience with a used Liebherr LTM1055-3.1 that it added to the fleet several years ago.

They have also ordered a Liebherr 50 tonne LTC1050-3.1 city type All Terrain crane with unique single elevating cab, for delivery to M and M later this year.

Link Belt moves into South Africa

Link-Belt has appointed Eqstra Industrial Equipment of South Africa as its distributor for Southern Africa.

The agreement covers 17 countries, including Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Eqstra will sell and market the full line of Link Belt cranes, and provide parts and service support for new and existing cranes throughout the region. The company is part of a Eqstra Holdings which is publicly traded and has a wide range of operations including car leasing and fleet management and Industrial fork truck sales in the UK through Impact Handling (UK) where it is the Cat forklift dealer. The equipment divisions are based in Johannesburg with outlets in a number of the countries that it covers.

The Industrial and heavy equipment division also distributes Toyota fork trucks, Broderson carry-deck cranes, Konecranes reachstackers and also lists Terex All Terrain, Rough Terrain and crawler cranes, although it is no longer listed as an official dealer.

Other divisions distribute Altec and Socage vehicle mounted aerial work platforms and Fassi loader cranes, while it also produces a couple of smaller articulated loader cranes of its own.

Link-Belt international sales manager Roy Burger said: “We believe that when you invest in a Link-Belt crane, you invest in outstanding customer support. As a result, we are delighted to enter into this agreement with Eqstra Heavy Equipment, whose philosophy of building lifetime partnerships with their customers underscores our vision to be a leader in customer service and satisfaction.”