Liebherr to introduce telescopic crawler

Brand new from Liebherr in Germany is a telescopic boom crawler crane, the 100 tonne (110 ton) capacity LTR 1100. The LTR Liebherr Teleskop- Raupenkran crane is only the second of its type ever built by the company.

The first was the 800 tonne (881 ton) capacity LTR 1800, a one-off delivered to Japan in 1990 now owned by the Hung Chiang Machinery Co in Taiwan.

This huge crane used the upper from the LTM 1800 and the crawler chassis from the LR 1550.

Following a similar principle but on a smaller scale, the new crane uses the upper from the LTM 1100 all terrain, built at Liebherr-Werk Ehingen in Germany, and the crawler chassis from the LR 1100 built by Liebherr-Werk Nenzing in Austria.

The new crane will be in the Ehingen product line and as this issue went to press the first unit was on test.

Benefits of the new crane, Liebherr said, include its pick and carry ability with full load on the hook, fast assembly and disassembly, and good maneuverability under poor ground conditions. Compared to a lattice boom crawler, the telescopic boom is more flexible and has shorter rigging times, Liebherr said.

The technical data sheet shows that on main boom, telescoped to 22.7 m (74 feet), at a radius of 10 m (32 feet), the LTR 1100 with 32.3 tonnes (35 tons) of superstructure counterweight and 15 tonnes (16.5 tons) in the base, will lift 30.5 tonnes (33 tons) through 360 degrees.

The six-section (including the base section) boom telescopes from 11.5 to a maximum of 52 m (37 to 170 feet). The complete basic machine, including crawlers, weighs 54 tonnes (59 tons) and is 3,500 mm wide on 900 mm track shoes. For transport the two crawler track units, each weighing 9.8 tonnes (10.8 tons), can be removed, which leaves the 34.5 tonne (37 ton) upper at 3 m (10 feet) wide.

Options include 10.8 to 19 m (32 to 62 foot) hydraulically luffing double swing away, a special 2.9 m (9 foot) short assembly jib and second winch for two-hook operation.

Assembly of prefabricated buildings and components is a target application.

Railway and bridge construction is another target market, Liebherr said, where its speed of operation and set up means, for example, the boom can be quickly retracted to allow travel under a bridge, and then quickly extended again.

First to take delivery of the LTR 1100, in the third quarter 2005, will be a customer in the Czech Republic and at the time of writing Liebherr had sold six more units, to Japan.