Indoor Groves on first lift

Two GMK4100S Grove all terrain cranes modified for use indoors have completed a lift inside a 10 metre tall manufacturing facility in Germany.

For the job the 100 tonne capacity cranes lifted an 82 tonne piece of machinery at a radius of 6.5 m.

The GMK4100S has been adapted for indoor use. It has a 35.6 m boom and is fitted with a shortened telescopic cylinder taken from the GMK5130-2, enabling the crane to telescope loads of up to 50 tonnes, a company spokesperson said. When horizontal the boom can lift 32 tonnes.

To work in tight locations the crane was designed with a tiltable boom head and was fitted with a compact hook block. It measures 10.7 m long and has all-wheel steering. The cranes were designed for German crane rental company Dornseiff, based in Burbach.

Andreas Cremer, Manitowoc all terrain cranes product manager, oversaw the special project to create the new crane. “Designing a 100 tonne crane for indoor use presents a lot of challenges but it gave us the opportunity to design something unique,” Cremer said. “We know the standard GMK4100 is a very capable crane and so our experienced engineers got to work adapting it. We’ve made a lot of specialized design changes and created a compact machine that doesn’t compromise on strength.”