Mobile crane and recovery contractor Schwientek & Sohn based in Leverkusen has taken delivery of a new Liebherr LTM 1120-4.1 mobile crane. It is the first of Liebherr’s new 120-tonne crane in Germany. Liebherr unveiled the prototype at the Conexpo in Las Vegas in March 2020 with the slogan “There’s nothing more on 4!”. It is the most powerful 4-axle all-terrain crane that has ever been built and delivers a level of performance that was previously the domain of 5-axle cranes.
• The most powerful four 4-axle mobile crane on the market
• The long telescopic boom delivers benefits for industrial jobs as well as for erecting tower cranes and antenna installations
• Standardised crane control system and efficient service are features in favour of Liebherr
At 66 metres, the LTM 1120-4.1 has the longest telescopic boom ever to have been fitted on a 4-axle mobile crane. Jörg Schwientek, owner of the 95 year old family-run company explains: “The LTM 1120-4.1 can tackle jobs which normally would require a 5-axle crane, with all the logistics work that involves. A 4-axle crane requires less work to obtain permits, which means it is much more flexible as far as we are concerned. Furthermore, the boom is the longest in this crane class and has extremely high lifting capacities when fully raised.”
The design of a 4-axle crane also enables it to tackle jobs where there is insufficient space for larger cranes. On constricted sites, in particular, Liebherr’s VarioBallast and VarioBase innovations on the new LTM 1120-4.1 deliver enhanced performance, flexibility and safety.
“Its 66 metre boom makes the new crane ideal for jobs for industrial customers. In many of our jobs in petrochemical plants with corresponding lifting heights, we often had to work with lattice jibs in the past, which we will no longer need so often with the LTM 1120-4.1. We also need the crane for positioning prefabricated concrete components and for loading machinery, erecting radio masts and tower cranes and sometimes, also for a prefabricated garage”, says Junior Manager Tim Schwientek. “This new mobile crane will replace one of our two LTM 1090-4.2 models and is a perfect addition to our fleet to extend our lifting capacities upwards.”
The company will also use the crane for truck recovery work as, in addition to the crane rental division, it also provides a towing and special recovery service for vehicles of all types.
The third job tackled by the new compact crane involved it being set up with full ballast and operating up to the limit of the load chart, a ten-tonne container with a powerful refrigeration system was hoisted onto the car parking level of a large supermarket building. With its telescopic boom extended to a length of around 33 meters, the LTM 1120-4.1 positioned the large air-conditioning container precisely at a radius of 21 meters. 31 tonnes of ballast and a full support base ensured that the mobile crane was stable enough to complete the job.
The family-run company has a workforce of around ten and operates five mobile cranes with lifting capacities between 30 and 120 tonnes, almost all of which were supplied by Liebherr. Jörg Schwientek explains: “The standardized crane control system and flexible service management are two of the main factors behind our decision to buy from Liebherr”.
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