"Australian Wheels in Motion"
19 December 2018
Excerpt from Cranes Today Magazine - 18 Dec 2018
"The Crane Industry Council of Australia (CICA) held its annual conference at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on 17–19 October.
This year 500 CICA delegates attended the event, setting a new record. The high level of interest in the event is unsurprising, considering that the crane industry has been performing well and it is now preparing itself for even bigger growth.
In the beginning of the decade, the mining construction boom kept the crane industry active. “The Western Australia mine construction boom slowed in 2013, but the downturn was not as severe as it might have been due to an increased focus on infrastructure projects in the East of the country, especially in New South Wales and now Victoria,” says Neil Hollingshead, sales director for mobile cranes at Manitowoc Crane Group Australia.
After a few years of decline, in 2017 the construction growth exceeded expectations and achieved a 5% growth. “This year it is forecasted to be around 9%,” says CICA president Danny Black. He attributed the expansion in construction activity to major infrastructure projects.
In order to meet the increased demand for their machines, crane rental companies started investing in their fleet. CICA recorded the number of crane units that went into the market from January to August and found a 76% year-on-year growth in all terrain units and 60% in pick and carry crane units..."
... At the CICA event, the manufacturer of TIDD pick and carry cranes TRT announced the launch of the 25t-capacity TIDD PC25-2. The new crane will have a 6.12m–18.65m four-section full power boom with three boom nose sheaves and 15t capacity removable Rhino hook. It will include hydraulic double acting cylinders, with an integral holding valve allowing heavy rigging to drop straight into the front chain box.
To enhance safety the manufacturer has developed the patent-pending Slew Safe. When the load moment indicator on the digital display turns red, this is an overload notification that will activate Slew Safe. Once activated, it will apply a number of measure: it will reduce speed of steering to 15%; make the steering harder with feedback through the steering wheel to operator; the engine will ‘load up’, making an audible sound change for operator; there will be an audible contact alarm inside and outside the cabin; and it will retain the ability to move back to safe operation zone.
Slew Safe will be available in the TIDD PC25-2, but can be retro fitted to the previous generation model TIDD PC25.
The TIDD PC25-2 will be in the market in early 2019, with the first deliveries expected in March or April.
Robert Carden, director at TRT, is very optimistic for crane sales in the near future. “We see the market here has had a dramatic change. From being a market that was shrinking over the last four years and a lot of cranes being sold outside Australia as second hand cranes, to now being one with a shortage of cranes in the next little while. And with all the infrastructure work that is required in the country and mining maintenance coming back on the stream we see it being very buyoant in the next few years.”