Fuwa launches crawler series

Crawler crane manufacturer Fuwa is launching a full new series of crawler cranes, IC has learned exclusively.

For 2.5 years the Chinese manufacturer has secretly been working to develop a range of state of the art lattice boom crawlers for customers all over the world, in addition to the domestic market.

Smallest in the seven model range is the 55 tonne capacity FWX55, while the largest will be the 285 tonne capacity FWX285. FWX models all have a model name ending with 5 to designate it as the fifth generation of crawlers. Also indicated, in metric tonnes, is the lifting capacity. Most of the new models will be shown at the Bauma China exhibition in Shanghai, late November 2012.

In charge of the project is Dutch crawler crane man Hemmo Luijerink who said the aim is to have a European design, combined with Japanese manufacturing quality, while achieving a competitive cost level associated with China.

All models in the new FWX series follow a modular design. Engineering of the steel structure, hydraulics and electrics is done separately. It allows the same basic steel structure to be fitted with either high grade imported components, for example, engines, hydraulic pumps and motors, or with lower cost locally-sourced components for a lower specification machine.

Part of the development is also a new factory - 400,000 square metres of industrial area was acquired in a new technical development zone close to Shenyang airport, high-speed railway and main highways. It will be operational in early 2013 and large crawlers will be built there in addition to the new FWX series. Already in use is the test yard designed for crawler cranes up to 3,600 tonnes.

Fuwa's roots can be traced back to 1904. For many years it was an excavator manufacturer. Its first hydraulic crawler cranes were launched in the early 1980s. Fuwa is the largest privately owned manufacturer in Asia solely focused on crawler cranes, Luijerink said. It offers a range up to 1,250 tonnes capacity and a 3,000 tonne capacity model is already drawn up.