Kobelco

Kobelco showed its 250 tonne capacity CKE2500-2 lattice crawler crane (pictured right) and presented a prototype of its new Crane Remote Observation System. The Japanese manufacturer says the CKE2500-2 is the world's best-selling 250 tonne crawler crane. It has a new Stage IIIA/US EPA Tier III engine and the unit shown was sold to contractor China Eleventh Chemical Construction Company (ELECO).

The Crane Remote Observation System is a crane management system that uses GPS satellite navigation and provides information on machine data, for example, operational status, location data and maintenance records. These records can be accessed anytime and anywhere in the world via the internet.

Kobelco claims sales of more than 60 crawler cranes in China over the last two years. These are from the 90 tonne BM900HD- 2 Heavy-Duty foundation model, through CKE2500, CKE2500-2 and 7250-2 models, to the 350 tonne CKE4000C. The CKE4000C (C for China) was specially developed for the construction of, among others, power stations, bridges, ships and wind farms. Demand for crawlers with more than 400 tonnes capacity is increasing rapidly, according to Kobelco, which promises several new models of crawler crane in the near future.