38
ACT
FEBRUARY 2014
PRODUCT FOCUS
ALL TERRAIN CRANES
continue to grow the size of the all terrains
we have in the future.”
Liebherr’s Diesch concurs that 90
percent of Liebherr’s sales are with crane
rental companies. “The majority of the
demand is driven by fleet requirements
– either extensions or just replacement
for older cranes for the daily rental
business. Of course, any release of a major
construction project initiates a higher
demand for rental cranes, too. In addition
we do have some large construction
companies who rather want to have their
own equipment than depending on a third
party.”
Diesch said that 2014 looks to be a good
year for ATs in North America following
strong demand in 2013. “The more
optimistic customer outlook for the near
future and the quantity of major projects
either recently released or expected to be
released shortly will drive a high demand
for AT cranes way into 2014.”
“The oil and gas business is crazy right
now, and that’s where a lot of ATs are
going,” said Link-Belt’s Curnutte. “They’re
not on a lot of commercial building sites.
The industrial market is the main area
where they are working.”
Steady market
As for the future, “the market is steady
with just minor dips and minor gains,”
he said. “There hasn’t been a lot of
movement. For the past three to four
years we’ve been moving right along. That
probably means we’re taking some market
away from other people. Still, there’s
probably room for another guy in the AT
market.”
Terex’s Barth said it would be nice to
have a crystal ball to know what the future
Liebherr will show its new LTM 1750-9.1 – a
nine-axle, 900-ton capacity AT crane – at
ConExpo. The crane was first unveiled at
Bauma in April 2013 in Munich. The first unit
arrived in the United States in December
2013 and was put to work in January 2014.
will hold, but ATs seem to be following the
economy in general.
“As you hear in much of the media
there is a stable but not robust recovery,”
he said. “This is much the same with
ATs. There is work for many of the cranes
albeit it is not always the big multi-
month projects that everyone desires. It is
anybody’s guess on how the market will
trend, but stable does seem most reflective
of North American market conditions.”
He noted that some ATs are finding
permanent usage at busy industrial sites.
“It is interesting to note that in some
markets such as heavy mining, all terrain
cranes are taking on the role of mine
machine maintenance as components
become larger and the demand for
precision lifts becomes more critical.”
Fleet replacement
Holger Haber, AT product manager for
Manitowoc Cranes, said his company
has seen increased all terrain market
activity since 2010. Most of this has
been replacement of cranes in rental
house fleets, as well as project sales to
construction companies and contractors
in the oil and gas industries.
“Service is a very important factor
with this more technically sophisticated
product. North America is a big market
but also a large country to cover,” he said,
adding that the market is approximately
the same size as Germany but with a
geographic area that is 50 times larger.
■
Following strong demand in 2013, 2014
looks to be a good year for the AT market.
