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Scotland, UK-based heavy lift specialist, Weldex, has taken delivery of three Kobelco CKE600 crawler cranes to complete a four-unit order. The first unit was handed over at April's Intermat exhibition in Paris after which it went on long-term hire at the London Heathrow airport terminal project.

The latest three units, delivered to and commissioned at the Weldex yard in Alfreton, England, are destined for general hire and contract work throughout the UK.

Dougie McGilvray, Weldex managing director, said, “These are good, up-to-date cranes, and with the one common basic spec, will be good modern replacements for our older 45 tonne and 60 tonne cranes. They are all-hydraulic, which makes them easy to operate, and the operators definitely like them. We also particularly like the Kobelco modular construction and self-assembly system for easy transportation and erection.”

McGilvray continued, “We see them being used largely for nuclear and other power plant work. They are compact with a short tail-swing, and with programmable radius and height limiters, they are ideal for working in restricted areas.”

Maximum main boom and fixed jib combination is 51.8 plus 18.3 m for a lift height of 55 m and maximum reach of 40 m.

Nominally rated at 60 tonnes capacity, these CKE600s have a flexible counterweight system that allows a dual rating as either full 60 tonne machine or, with a reduced counterweight and load chart, to operate at 45 tonnes capacity. The latter is for applications where a lighter-duty, shorter tail-swing machine is needed.