50,000th crane Liebherr milestone for BKL

BKL taking delivery of the 50,000th mobile crane built at the Liebherr factory in Ehingen, Germany. From left, Tizian Ochmann and Robert Popp from BKL Baukran Logistik, and Florian Maier at Liebherr-Werk Ehingen. Photo: Liebherr

Liebherr handed over the 50,000th crane produced by its Ehingen mobile crane factory in Germany since the plant opened in 1969.

German crane rental and tower crane specialist BKL Baukran Logistik was the lucky recipient of the landmark crane in early November. It was a 300 tonne capacity LTM 1300-6.4 wheeled mobile telescopic crane to be stationed at the BKL depot in Frankfurt.

Previous production landmarks were in 2006 when the 20,000th crane left the factory then, eight years later, the 30,000th. Just six years after that came the 40,000th and now, five years later, it was 50,000.

Robert Popp, managing director of technology at BKL, and Tizian Ochmann, head of BKL’s Frankfurt depot, went to Ehingen to take delivery. “We have a long-standing good partnership with Liebherr. We are therefore delighted to be able to take delivery of this special crane. At the same time, we congratulate Liebherr on this further major milestone in its impressive company history,” Popp commented.

New for old

The new crane, with a 90 metre boom, replaces an older LTM 1300-6.2. Ochmann said, “With its 90 metre telescopic boom, the new 300 tonne crane perfectly rounds off our portfolio in Frankfurt. The 6-axle crane is particularly well suited for inner-city areas. With its long boom, it can, for example, assemble construction cranes without a main boom extension. That will be one of its main tasks.”

The new .4 version was launched in the first quarter of 2024, replacing the LTM 1300-6.3. It has a new cab design and LICCON3 control system. BKL already has other LICCON3 cranes, including the LTM 1100-5.3 and the LTM 1110-5.2.

When it opened Liebherr-Werk Ehingen produced mobile cranes and ship cranes. Crawler cranes were added in 1978, including models lifting more than 500 tonnes. Demand was such that in 1980 production was turned over solely to mobile cranes. Ship, offshore and container cranes were moved to Liebherr-Werk Nenzing in Austria.

Nowadays Liebherr builds around 2,000 mobile cranes a year in Ehingen.