Kobelco hands over CK2750 to Bigge

At the Kobelco stand, Bigge Crane & Rigging President Weston Settlemier officially accepted ownership of a new Kobelco CK2750 crawler, one of 25 new crawlers the company purchased from Kobelco in the past three months. After shaking up and popping the cork on a bottle of champagne, Settlemier said: “We are very excited and happy to celebrate the opening of ConExpo with Kobelco.”

Bigge has been a Kobelco dealer for about seven years, according to Jack Fendrick, president of Kobelco Cranes North America.

“Bigge has been a very good dealer for us in the Western U.S. and Pacific Northwest,” Fendrick said. “They have gotten really good at retailing new cranes and they have a lot invested in parts and servicing Kobelco crawler cranes.”

The 275-ton capacity CK2750 crawler has a nested boom length that expands from 50 to 300 feet. Its fixed jib extends the reach of the boom by 100 feet. The crane has a transport weight of 99,800 pounds and features 200,900 pounds of counterweight.

Fendrick was very optimistic about ConExpo and the demand for cranes through 2014 and beyond.

“I expect we will be sold out for the year after this show,” he said. “I’m very optimistic about what we are seeing economy wise. Oil, gas and wind markets are strong and road and bridge projects have picked up. The only area that needs to come back is the commercial sector, and we are seeing signs of this.”