June 8 - Franz Bracht KG has taken delivery of a new LG 1750 lattice boom mobile crane from the Liebherr plant at Ehingen, Germany.

The 750 tonner is now the biggest in the Erwitte-based company's 10-strong fleet of lattice boom mobile cranes.

"As well as its enormous load capacity, the LG 1750 is also extremely flexible. It can go into action rapidly and economically, because the basic unit can travel by itself on public roads. Fewer transport vehicles are needed in comparison with a crawler crane, and set-up time is shorter too", said Franz Bracht's managing partner, Dirk Bracht. "It's the perfect machine for heavy loads and short-time operations - set up, one lift, take down, and off again. Even with a crane as big as this, it's often that simple."

Just one week after delivery Bracht's new LG 1750 was already proving its worth, at a heavy load move in Gelsenkirchen. Coils weighing up to 370 tonnes with cables for an offshore vessel had to be moved, with a reach of 20 m. To do this, the LG 1750 was set up with a 42 m main boom, 31.5 m derrick boom, 220 tonnes of superstructure ballast, and 280 tonnes of suspended ballast.

To take full advantage of the wide operational range of the Liebherr LG 1750, Bracht ordered the crane with its full range of equipment accessories. This also includes the new SL12D2FB boom system, which now enables the LG 1750 to erect the new large types of wind power systems at tower heights from 140 m to 150 m. Bracht will be using the new 750 tonne lattice boom mobile crane mainly for the erection of wind power installations.

The design of the new system is derived from the tried and trusted SL9D2FB boom, a main boom arrangement with fixed jib and derrick system. Thanks to the use of three stronger 12 m lattice pieces, with a width of 3.5 m instead of 3.0 m in the lower area of the main boom, and the lengthening of the fixed jib, with the new SL12 system both the load capacity and the height under hook have been increased. The LG 1750 can now achieve loads of 141 tonnes at heights under hook of 143 m, and 97 tonnes at 160 m.