55
YOUSEF MOUSA, owner of Yousef Mousa Crane Hire,
recounts to ALEX DAHM some of his experiences of
running a crane business in Jordan, the Middle East
Older cranes were being operated
without load indicators or with
defective ones as technicians to fix them
were unavailable.
We operate a fleet of 14 cranes at Yousef
Mousa Crane Hire, ranging from 25 to
80 tonne capacity. All are mobile cranes,
other than one Liebherr tower crane and
three Hiab loader cranes. The 80 tonner I
added last year to our fleet is an all terrain
Tadano Faun ATF 80-4. A primary reason
for choosing it was that it has Mercedes
engines both for the crane and carrier.
In Jordan a Mercedes engine is popular
because, where ever you go you can find
all the parts you might need. In addition,
there are plenty of used engines imported
from Germany at reasonable prices. It is
sometimes better to install a second hand
one, with original parts, than repairing an
engine with non-standard parts.
Last year I imported the first Zoomlion
crane into Jordan, a 25 tonne truck crane.
In addition to an attractive price, the
crane has a 39 metre boom, LMI and air
conditioning. With such a long boom we
J
ordan is a small country with a
population of only 6 million. The
number of cranes in the country is
around 200 units. The biggest hydraulic
crane is a 220 tonne capacity Liebherr
LTM 1220-5.2 wheeled mobile. In the
last two or three years, there has been a
dramatic change in the number of new
models and also in the thinking of crane
owners. The main reason was the arrival
of new foreign investors that required high
standards and modern cranes.
Importing a used crane from Europe, for
example, an 80 tonne Liebherr LTM 1080
that costs €300,000 has to pay something
like €75,000 in customs duty. We can say
that these are colossal amounts for a poor
country like Jordan but crane owners had
no option.
Letter from Jordan
could do the work that was done before
by 50 or 60 tonne cranes costing twice
the price. But we did have a few surprises.
Inspecting the crane on arrival at our
yard showed some loose drive shafts and
engine mountings and later we faced some
unexpected hydraulic troubles.
Starting up
I started my business with Grove cranes
and in 1979 I spent one month training
in Shady Grove. I love Grove cranes, they
are rigid and reliable but they have short
booms, so I also brought a Kato that offered
longer booms.
My son Amer, a mechanical engineer,
is working with me now and we plan to
build a modern training centre for crane
operators and riggers. There is big demand
for skilled operators and riggers. Already,
we are running training courses for
different projects and, in the last year, we
ran 12 such courses. The training centre
we plan is to be accredited by well known
associations, for example, LEEA and IPAF,
where we are a member. We are also a
member of the USA-based SC&RA and
last year I attended the association’s annual
conference in Austin, Texas.
In addition to the crane rental business,
we also offer testing and inspection for
cranes and operators. We also promote
Sennebogen cranes and products in Jordan,
however, most people like to invest in
second hand cranes because they are easier
to fund. Brand new equipment is better
in many respects but, sometimes, we can
find second hand cranes in Europe that are
almost like new and for sale at half the price
of a new crane.
■
Look out for a longer version of this story
at:
A view of the
Liebherr LR 1200
Yousef Mousa Crane Hire takes
delivery of a Zoomlion truck crane
Crane operators and riggers take
part in a training course
A Liebherr
LR 1200
lattice boom
crawler
CRANES IN JORDAN
INTERNATIONAL AND SPECIALIZED TRANSPORT
■
OCTOBER 20
13
