Quicklift boosts capacity

Quicklift Crane Hire’s latest addition is this LTM 1250-5.1 from Liebherr.

QUICKLIFT BOOSTS ITS CAPACITY WITH LIEBHERR LTM 1250-5.1

Quicklift Crane Hire, based in Shepperton, recently took delivery of a new Liebherr LTM 1250-5.1, the largest crane in its fleet to provide an even higher level of service to its customer base.

QUICKLIFT CRANE HIRE IS A FAMILY-RUN

business started in 1998 by husband-andwife team Jarrod and Karli Sutherland. Its fleet has grown to over 20 cranes and it recently celebrated the arrival of a brand new LTM 1250-5.1.

Quicklift has had multiple Liebherrs during its time operating and Jarrod says he enjoys the functionality and ease of operation the cranes have.

“It is just a good quality crane, and they are fairly universal,” he explained.

“The first Liebherr we had was an 80 tonne and, even now, you can go between different cranes. They are pretty similar in their operation – that’s one thing Liebherr do well. An operator can get out of one crane and into another and, even though it’s a different size crane, it is still fundamentally the same operating system.”

The LTM 1250-5.1 is the most powerful mobile crane on five axles on the market. It is the third crane model on which Liebherr uses its innovative single-engine concept.

The Liebherr innovations VarioBase and ECOmode mean that crane operators can use the LTM 1250-5.1 with even more safety and efficiency.

In the development of the new crane, Liebherr followed the concept of achieving maximum load capacity from the available weight of a five-axle mobile crane.

This larger capacity is what drew Jarrod and the Quicklift team to the crane.

“It is a little bit of a step up, we had a 220 Grove and we moved up to a 250 Liebherr,” he said.

“We recognised there was more demand for something a bit bigger – the 220 compared to the 250 doesn’t sound like much of a difference, but in some parts of the chart it has up to 30 per cent greater capacity.”

The LTM 1250-5.1 is the most powerful crane in its class in the world. Its load capacity has been increased compared to its predecessor by around 15–20 per cent, whilst the telescopic boom has remained at the same length of 60m. With lattice extensions the maximum hook height has been increased by a massive 9m to 110m.

“Obviously, the LTM 1250-5.1 allows us to do a few more jobs that we couldn’t do with the 220. Greater lifting capacity helps and obviously being a later model crane – our other one was a bit older – and we wanted to avoid reliability issue’s as well,” said Jarrod.

VarioBallast is a new feature for Liebherr. The LTM 1250-5.1 can be operated with two different ballast radii of 5.58m or 4.78m.

Liebherr has designed a solution to adjust the ballast radius particularly quickly and easily. The ballast radius

is reduced by 800mm using standard mechanically swivelling ballasting cylinders.

This solution is a major benefit of the new 250-tonne model for use in constricted conditions.

“You can put the VarioBallast in a couple of different positions and this allows you to set up in a bit of a tighter space and has been pretty handy,” said Jarrod.

“Also, with the VarioBase if you are working without a full counterweight, it gives you a greater capacity over your outriggers.”

Liebherr has a particularly wide and variable range of lattice jibs for the LTM 1250-5.1. The 12.2m to 22m folding jib can be extended up to 36m with 7m sections.

The adapter section for the folding jib is used as a 5.4m erection jib. The pivot point for the folding jib can be raised using up to two straight 7m lattice sections acting as telescopic boom extensions. These sections and the folding jib extensions can also be used on the Liebherr LTM 1200-5.1 and LTM 1220-5.2 mobile cranes.

This is a major benefit for crane operators that use these crane models in their fleets.

One feature that has been unusual in the five-axle class to date is the possibility to mount a long-fixed jib that, for example, can achieve enormous radii over buildings.

It is now possible to achieve a fixed jib of up to 50m in length with just one additional TF adapter (connection between the telescopic boom and the fixed jib), a reducer section and a head.

The existing telescopic boom extensions and folding jib extensions are used for this purpose. This jib is hydraulically adjustable between 0° and 45° and can therefore be used like a luffing jib.

A six-cylinder Liebherr diesel engine in the undercarriage which develops 400kW/ 544 bhp and torque of 2,516Nm provides the LTM 1250-5.1 with plenty of power.

The power is transferred to the crane’s axles by the 12-speed ZF-ASTronic gearbox. A two-stage distributor gear permits minimal creeper speeds in manoeuvring mode. The intarder, a zerowear hydrodynamic brake integrated in the gearbox, acts as a retarder.

Like almost all LTM mobile crane models, the LTM 1250-5.1 is fitted with pneumatic disc brakes.

The rear axles on the 250-tonner have active electro-hydraulic steering, depending on the vehicle’s speed. This increases the manoeuvrability of the vehicle and drastically reduces tyre wear. Five steering programs can be conveniently selected at the touch of a button.

“The Liebherrs have a really good resale value as well which is a bonus for us,” said Jarrod.

The Quicklift team, in particular the mechanics, have been impressed by the aftersales service provided by Liebherr, especially for a regional business such as Quicklift.

“The relationship we have had with the Liebherr people, particularly the technical support, has been fantastic, which gives you confidence when buying their machines,” said Jarrod.

“The mechanics enjoy working on them; they think they’re good. They like them from a servicing point of view, and it is easy to get parts.”

Quicklift is continuing to go from strength to strength. The LTM 1250-5.1 is currently working on a number of projects, completing a wide variety of work, including some concrete panel erection.

Quicklift says Liebherr’s technical support has been fantastic. Karli and Jarrod Sutherland, owners of Quicklift Crane Hire