Kobelco unveils new crawler in Houston

Kobelco Cranes unveiled a new crawler crane model on April 4 in Houston, the CK-3300G-2. The crane has been developed in three models – the CK3300G-2 for the North American market, the CKE3000G for the European market and the CKS3000 standard model. The crane has a maximum lifting capacity of 300 metric tons (330 U.S. tons) for the standard crane and 350 metric tons (385 U.S. tons) with an SHL specification.

The new crane debuts as the largest model of Kobelco’s multi-purpose crawler crane CK / CKE / CKS series, which has been a best seller in the market for many years, according to the company.

“The basic concept of this new model is its versatility and ease of operation,” said Jack Fendrick, vice president of cranes for Kobelco Construction Equipment at an open house and crane demonstration in Houston last week. The company has been introducing the crane to its dealers and customers over the past two weeks.

“Simply put, this crane is a Kobelco,” said Fendrick. “It has many of the same designs and components as our other cranes, which means it will be familiar to your operators and this also makes things easier to fix.”

Fendrick pointed out that the crane features a new engine made by Scania, which has a convenient U.S. location in San Antonio.

“We are very excited about this engine and our relationship with Scania,” said Fendrick. “They have a strong reputation in Europe. We recently bought every single part to build the engine and we are very confident in this new engine.”

The new CK3300G-2 has a maximum crane boom length of 295 feet and a maximum fixed jib combination of 256 feet plus 100 feet. The heavy fixed jib combination is 236 feet plus 98 feet. The maximum lifting capacity with the luffing jib is 132 tons and the maximum luffing boom length is 197 feet. The maximum luffing jib length is 217 feet.

The crane was designed with various attachments ranging from standard crane configuration, including fixed jib, heavy fixed jib and luffing jib, which are most suitable for multipurpose works, to the super heavy lift configuration, including luffing jib, for the heaviest lifts, the company said.

“We designed these cranes taking into consideration maximum compatibility, such as jibs and pallet weights, with our other models,” said Fendrick. “After in-depth marketing research on the 300-ton crane market, we positioned these models to provide superior lifting capacity.”

As an example, when compared to Kobelco’s CKE2500G-2 (250-ton crane), the load moment in the standard crane specification is 40 percent higher and in the standard luffing configuration it is 60 percent higher. The Super Heavy Lift specification can compete with the 400 to 500-ton crane classes, the company said.

Other design enhancements include:

• The performance of the undercarriage has been enhanced to operate on rough ground jobsites, with high ground clearance and outstanding propelling performance, while minimizing the overall footprint.
• To correspond to specific jobsite needs, a free-fall winch (optional) is also available.
• The cabin is designed for an operator-friendly environment taking into consideration comfort, ease of operation and safety. The extra-wide windows and tilt mechanism of the cabin offer excellent visibility.
• An intuitive-designed Moment Limiter monitor makes it simple for anyone to quickly master the operation with easily understandable pictograms and a touch screen panel. As an added safety function, a working range limiter will assist the operator in preventing collisions.
• The design considered customer’s needs so that these cranes can conform to the local transport regulations. Transport width is less than 10 feet (3 meters) for all components. Main machine weights can be adjusted with some variations in order to meet transport restrictions. It can be transported with 17 trailers.
• The standard crane weighs 352,700 pounds. The carbody weight is 88,200 pounds.
• A self-assembly system is available for crawlers, lower boom, carbody weights and counterweights.

The crane shown in Houston was sold by distributor Bigge Crane & Rigging to Postel International. The crane will be transported to LaPorte, TX for its first job erecting tilt walls in a couple of weeks. Mike, Jeff and Matt Postel were on hand to take delivery of the new crane.