Hiab at IAA 2016

Load handling equipment company Hiab, part of Cargotec, is exhibiting today at the 66^th IAA Commercial Vehicles exhibition until 29 September in Hanover, Germany.

Hiab is at stand P35 at the IAA - said to be the world’s leading trade fair for mobility, transport and logistics - and will be revealing several new products including its renewed mid-range loader crane portfolio.

Hans E. Ohlsson, director of medium range loader cranes at Hiab, spoke about the 24 new or updated models. He said, “The updated cranes come with features that make crane operation simpler, safer and more productive. Crane Tip Control minimises the complexity of coordinating the crane for the operator and the load stability system ensures the safe usage of the crane. Semi-automatic folding makes it possible to park or activate the crane semi-automatically, which simplifies one of the most difficult operations when working with a loader crane.”

The new cranes are at their maximum 300 kilograms lighter than the previous models, which means an equal amount of extra payload for the customer, the company said.

Hiab will also be launching two new features for loader cranes: Hiab Frameworks and Crane Tip Control to ease crane installation and operation. Hiab Frameworks is a modular system that provides a pre-manufactured, ready to install subframe that matches the chosen truck. The patented installation package offers a standardised solution for heavy crane sub-frames and comes with pump, tanks and auxiliary stabilisers.

Marcel Boxem, director of heavy loader cranes at Hiab, said, “With Hiab Frameworks the installation time can be reduced up to 75 percent. This means that the crane is ready for use much faster, which is a great benefit for installers, bodybuilders and our end customers.”

At the moment Hiab Frameworks is available for several Hiab heavy-range crane models and for truck brands Volvo, Renault, Scania and DAF.

Crane Tip Control (CTC) allows the crane operator to control the behaviour of the crane tip instead of each crane function (slewing, first boom, second boom, extensions). In effect, the crane is controlled using only three levers - slewing, horizontal movement and vertical movement, the company said.

Marcus Rösth, manager of control systems at Hiab, said, “We have developed CTC based on customer requirements. Our customers wanted to be able to move the crane tip along a perfect vertical path without using a hoist - a movement that used to demand high operator precision and skills.”

The operators can activate or deactivate the feature themselves by pressing a button on the hand controller. The crane instantly switches between CTC and normal crane mode.

The IAA is also home to the World Crane Championships hosted by Hiab on 24 and 25 September. Sixteen crane operators arrive from around the world to compete for the grand prize worth EUR €25,000.

Contestants manoeuvre a Hiab crane with the HiPro control system through a series of obstacles, trying to arrive at a best possible time. The finalists get to operate a Hiab X-HiPro 232, which is launched at the exhibition.