MANITOWOC has announced it has sold more than 50 units of the all-terrain Grove GMK6400 since the launch of the crane about a year ago.

A feature of the GMK6400 is that when working at its maximum reach of 134 m, the crane can perform lifts not possible with any other six-axle, or even seven-axle crane. The latest user of the crane is Hack GmbH, one of Germany’s leading heavy lift and transport specialists which tested out its new GMK6400 for the first time.

The job was in Koblenz, Germany, where the crane lifted construction materials onto the roof of a 60 m tall building. To do this, the GMK6400 was configured with 55 m of boom and a 79 m luffing jib. Complicating matters on the narrow, tree-lined job site was the fact the jib had to be rigged in mid-air to avoid damaging the recently resurfaced road.

Despite these challenges, Hack finished the job in just two days and has since completed many more projects with its Grove GMK6400. Following the arrival of Hack’s 400 t capacity GMK6400 in the summer, the crane has been in near-constant use. Jobs include wind turbine maintenance and erection, tower crane assembly, and large radius lifts on inner-city sites.

At the job site in Koblenz, the Grove GMK6400 was accompanied by just four trucks. Upon arrival, the crane was fitted with its full 135 t counterweight before the self-rigging MegaWingLift attachment was installed, which increases the crane’s capacity by 70 per cent. Then the GMK6400 assembled its own jib at ground level. Supported by flat-bed trucks, the jib sections were connected and the full 79 m extension was raised. Finally, the crane’s 60 m boom was extended to 55 m, giving it a huge 134 m reach.

In this configuration, the GMK6400 completed the lifts in no time and, the next day, it moved on to a nearby wind farm where it lifted 13.6 t turbine components at heights of more than 80 m, Manitowoc said.