Ainscough to add 20 new 150 tonne Liebherrs

Neil Partridge, Ainscough Crane Hire managing director, said, "While demand for lower capacity mobile cranes is particularly depressed, the requirement for larger mobile and heavy crawler cranes is buoyant and we are shifting our fleet emphasis accordingly."

The new cranes are part fleet replacement and part fleet expansion. "We were running a fleet of 160 tonne cranes, which were old technology and they are all going [five units]. We run a number of 200 tonners and some of those are going too," Partridge explained.

A major advantage of the six axle 150 tonner is that a large proportion of the total counterweight can be carried on board the crane within axle load weight limits. This means they do not need a separate ballast wagon which saves money.

"We have been particularly impressed with the functionality of the new Liebherr LTM 1150-6.1 and can immediately see its potential in meeting the needs of our customer base," Partridge said. A 150 tonner is a one-man crane whereas the 160 and the 200 tonners have to have a ballast wagon with them and the 200s are two-man cranes.

"The 150 fills a very nice slot for us where it should have a similar revenue earning capability on one hand but a lower operating cost on the other. Any cranes with decent profit margins at the moment are very useful fleet additions," Partridge said.

They will be one of the largest cranes Ainscough runs from its general crane depots as opposed to the heavy crane depots and they will be the flagship cranes for those depots, Partridge said.

"We have three at the moment and it is early days but they are very well received," Partridge commented. The remaining 17 units in the order are due to follow during the course of 2009 and 2010. Six will be delivered in 2009 and the remaining 11 are due to follow in 2010. The value of the order was undisclosed.