IN FOCUS / JONES EQUIPMENT AND SPT
BESPOKE SPT MINI CRAWLER CRANE FOR STEEL ERECTOR Jones Equipment is the national distributor for the SPT range of telescopic mini crawlers. Enquiries for the range are coming from all sectors of the market, with specific requests challenging the factory’s design and engineering teams. JONES EQUIPMENT RECENTLY RECEIVED an out of the ordinary request for a major steel erecting business in Melbourne. The client wanted a hydraulic jib fitted to a 5t-capacity mini crawler crane. Associate director for Jones Equipment, Michael Khamas, explained more. “This size of crane normally comes with a mechanical jib, not with a hydraulic jib. It is a complex process to custom engineer a hydraulic jib on a mini crawler crane and not many manufacturers would take on such a project,” he said. “It involves a lot of work and hassle to put a hydraulic jib on a small crane. It’s like taking a small car and putting full sports car features on it. “But we had a special request from a client who has been using mini crawler cranes for 15 years. He also has some larger cranes in his fleet. Some of these larger cranes are fitted with hydraulic jibs and he wanted to know if we could fit a hydraulic jib to one of our 499 mini crawlers, which has a 5t capacity at 2.2m. “I went straight to the factory and explained the request and they said: ‘Wow, we don’t normally engineer solutions like this, and we doubt if any mini crane manufacturer would; but let’s have a go.’” SPT’s design and engineering team collaborated on the project, designing a prototype and then fitting this to the crane. It has since been fully tested and complies with all Australian Standards, explained Khamas. “With the hydraulic jib, everything is automated. With a mechanical jib you have to manually open up the arm and manually pull the arm out. With www.cranesandlifting.com.au
the hydraulic jib, this is all automated and managed from the remote control system,” he said. “The customer had seen our advertising in Cranes and Lifting magazine and decided to give us a call. We gave him
a quote and a delivery time. He couldn’t believe the price we quoted and the fact the price included a two-year warranty. He was also impressed at how quickly we were able to deliver the crane. “Despite the challenges presented by SPT’s design and engineering team collaborated on the project, designing a prototype hydraulic jib, and then fitting this to the crane.
January 2022 CAL / 73
