Grohmann turbine challenge

Lifting specialist Grohmann GmbH used a 250 tonne capacity crawler crane and a 95 tonne all terrain to repair a wind turbine at a park in Fiefbergen, northern Germany, close to the city of Kiel.

KranAgentur Werner, a sales agent in Germany for Manitowoc and Grove cranes, supplied the cranes to Grohmann GmbH, which oversaw the repair job. Frank Lichtenberg, general manager at KranAgentur Werner, said that the Model 15000 is the largest Manitowoc delivered to the German market in recent years.

"This crane is the biggest Manitowoc crawler crane to enter our market for quite some time. It is already doing great things, and I believe that demand for this size of crane will continue to increase in Germany," commented Lichtenberg.

The crane was rigged with 87.5 m of main boom and 159 tonnes of counterweight. The first task was to remove the hub and blades, which weighed 33 tonnes. They were lifted at an 18 m radius from a hook height of 84 m.

A Grove GMK5095 assisted the Model 15000 with lifting and rigging. The five-axle all terrain has a maximum tip height of 83 m. The pair turned the blades from a vertical to horizontal position. With the hub and blades removed, the turbine's 23 tonne gearbox was lifted down.