Elcon Crane Hire adds Liebherr LTM 1400-7.1 mobile crane to its fleet

Elcon already had the largest mobile cranes in Durban with Liebherr mobile cranes between 130 tonnes and 250 tonnes. Its decision to purchase the even more powerful LTM 1400-7.1 simply underlines its corporate strategy to remain the crane operator with the highest hoist capacity in the region.

The company looked at various crane manufacturers and models. Elcon then decided on Liebherr as a result of the product benefits and its long term good partnership with the manufacturer. And finally it selected the LTM 1400-7.1, which is a perfect fit for local market requirements in terms of load capacity, crane size and transport facilities. The Liebherr 400-tonne model can install its telescopic boom guying itself and then only requires an auxiliary crane if the fixed jib or luffing jib has to be installed. Elcon took delivery of the LTM 1400-7.1 fully equipped with an 84 metres luffing jib which can reach hook heights of up to 128 metres.

The company's new crane will mainly be used in KZN Province whose most commercially important cities are Durban, Richards Bay and Newcastle. It will primarily serve the port areas in Durban and Richards Bay, the two oil refineries in KZN Province and some of the large mines in the region.

Elcon Crane Hire employs 60 people and operates a total of 38 mobile cranes with load capacities of 7 tonnes to 400 tonnes. A large proportion of them are Liebherr cranes. Since 2012 the company has been a member of the Concord Cranes (Pty) Ltd. Group which gives it access to a further 120 mobile cranes with load capacity of up to 550 tonnes which are stationed in 13 branch offices throughout South Africa and Namibia. The Group also owns Anglo V3 Crane Hire, Castle Crane Hire and Concord Namibia.