The reinforced booms are not only particularly helpful for wind power crane operations, but that is indeed their main purpose. The SX3 version delivers a major increase in lifting capacity of twenty percent and significantly higher wind tolerance compared to the conventional SX version. A new Liebherr LG 1750 crane, which was fitted with the SX3 version, benefited from these features whilst working at a wind farm in February. The lattice boom mobile crane operated by Dutch crane contractor M. Verschoor B.V. erected two Vestas turbines in the north-east of Germany with hub heights of 166 metres. Johan Bezemer, a seasoned crane operator at Verschoor, was also delighted with his new crane system.

“It’s certainly not a punishment working with this crane,” says the Dutchman delightedly after completing the first of two wind turbines at the site near the German-Polish border. Bezemer had travelled to Germany for this first job for the LG 1750 with three colleagues and a Liebherr mobile crane, which was used to set up and ballast the larger crane. The Dutch crane contractor owned by Maarten Verschoor had significantly expanded its crane fleet upwards with the purchase of its new Liebherr machine. The mobile lattice boom crane was supplied with the SX3 boom system which was required for its very first job at a wind farm to erect a new wind turbine type featuring extremely heavy tower components.

The Dutch crane team travelled to the Vestas construction site in full knowledge of this benefit, which should not be underestimated. An initial look at the data on the wind gauge mounted at the top of the boom at an altitude of around 180 metres often provides the answer to the question of whether the crane is allowed to operate. “I reckon we saved a total of around three days in waiting time at this site as a result of this more powerful boom version,” says crane operator Bezemer, totting up the hours in which the greater wind tolerance of the boom system allowed the crane to operate.

But Bezemer is also extremely happy with the practical handling of his new machine. “We set up the crane with suspended ballast and the VarioTray detachable ballast pallet. That saved us an enormous amount of time and effort”, he says. After erecting the crane with 415 tonnes of suspended ballast, we simply had to remove the centre section using four pins, install the guide frame on the ballast pallet and we were then able to continue working without first having to stack or remove all the ballast slabs. It works brilliantly.”

This practical feature, which has now become almost essential, also saved a great deal of time when the powerful long boom had to be adjusted. After all the tower segments had been installed, the lattice jib actually had to be extended to a length of 15 metres by inserting an intermediate section. Only then was the crane able to provide the required hoist height for the other components – including the gondola which weighed in at around 100 tonnes. The team from Verschoor required just two hours to modify the jib.