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GCSWA Gets New Franna AT40 GCSWA’s Tony Bucciarelli shares why he bought the new machine
NEW AT40 FRANNA TO GENERAL CRANE SERVICES
General Crane Service Western Australia (GCSWA) recently took delivery of the new Franna AT40. Tony Bucciarelli talks about the reason why the company bought the machine.
GCSWA IS A THIRD GENERATION CRANE hire business with a heritage that dates back to the 1970s.
GCSWA operates throughout the Perth metropolitan area as well as regional Western Australia providing crane, rigging, transport and logistics expertise for the mining, construction and infrastructure sectors across the state.
The business started in 1989 when Tony Bucciarelli and his wife purchased their first crane, a 12t Franna,
“Our relationship with Terex began with that first 12t Franna and it’s been great ever since,” said Bucciarelli.
“We have always found Terex to be flexible and very easy to do business with. It’s a customer-focussed organisation which aligns their team and company resources to meet our specific needs. The relationship helps ensure we meet the requirements of our customers on time, every time.”
Over the years, GCSWA has relied on the high level of product and technical support it has received from Terex.
“Terex has provided immense supported throughout the growth of our family business and we are proud to align with them. It’s a major reason we have remained 100 per cent loyal to Terex,” said Bucciarelli.
“With Terex service and product support on hand, 24 hours per day seven days a week, we have total confidence we are supported on any project. The company has always been available for after-hours repairs and maintenance to support our workload. With our machines in high demand, this service doesn’t interrupt the operation of our machines and and helps keep us fully operational.”
Since starting the business, Bucciarelli has operated Terex Frannas of all sizes.
“In terms of size, we’ve always had a good mix of Frannas. Then in 2011, we decided to pursue other opportunities by diversifying the business to support our customers in a greater capacity. At that time, we were operating over 20 Franna Cranes, but we decided to make
the shift into larger, all terrain mobile cranes by purchasing the DEMAG AC80-2. It’s still a brilliant machine and operates in our fleet today,” he said.
“Since then, the fleet has been complimented by a number of Terex products ranging in size from the DEMAG AC40-2L to the DEMAG AC250.”
According to Bucciarelli, the Franna is a good all rounder.
“At some point, every project has an application that requires a Franna, he said.
“In our business, we use Frannas for our day to day ‘taxi’ hire work across all market segments including mining operations, construction, oil and gas, and infrastructure. They are also a great
support crane to our larger mobile cranes and form a major part of our business when supporting projects.”
“They are also great in our Dry Hire fleet as we are seeing more and more customers opting for a Dry Hire option to fulfil their project requirements,” he said.
GCSWA recently took delivery of the newest addition to the Franna range, the AT40.
“We are excited to be the first company in Western Australia to take delivery of the AT40 Franna,” said Bucciarelli.
“We have had it working on a project down south for the past month and it has been performing very well. It’s on a site where cranes cannot exceed 75 per cent of Safe Working Load (SWL). We’re finding that this requirement is becoming a familiar industry-wide, so the on road capabilities of this machine and increased safe working capacities have been beneficial for the project,” he said.
The AT40 is by far the largest Franna ever built by Terex and it must rate as one of the boldest engineering projects in its history. The AT40 is the first three-axle crane with a pick-and-carry capacity of 40t on boom lug and 30t on hook block. Powered by the same Mercedes OM 906 205kW diesel and Allison automatic transmission used on the popular 25t Mac 25, the new crane has a four-section 19.8m fullpower boom offering 19m maximum hook height. On site, the rear (third) axle is raised on its hydro-pneumatic suspension to provide 4x4 wheel drive and the same wheelbase as the Mac 25. On the highway, the 29.5t GVW crane travels at up to 75km/h with axle loads of up to 11.5t fully counterweighted. tAccording to Bucciarelli, the AT40 has stirred a lot of interest with customers.
“A range of existing customers are interested in the innovation the crane brings to the industry and they are excited to see how it can benefit their business and operations,” he said.
“All our operators have undergone factory training on the AT40. Two of the operators have been working with the machine for some time and speak very highly about its operability and find the crane cab ergonomically comfortable.”
“Advancements in crane technology like the Franna AT40 help to develop our business and support new and existing customers in a greater capacity,” said Bucciarelli. “We want to be the market leader in our field and to do that we must invest in innovation and be in a position where we are providing the latest technology and crane solutions available. Terex helps us do this.”
Bucciarelli can see positive signs that the Western Australian construction sector is beginning to turn around.
“It’s been a slower start than anticipated to 2019, but we see strong signs of projects starting for our company in the third quarter, which we are excited about. We feel we are well positioned to support both existing and new customers throughout this next construction and infrastructure boom, both with our Wet Hire and Dry Hire fleet. Industry and state wide, we should see the fleet absorbed by the many different projects which are starting, and hopefully, we will see further growth in our own business throughout this period,” he said.
