UK’s First LTC 1045-3.1 Goes to Bernard Hunter Crane Hire

Bernard Hunter of Edinburgh, continuing a 30-years' allegiance to Liebherr mobile cranes, has taken delivery of the UK's first 45 tonnes capacity LTC 1045-3.1.

A family-owned and independent company, Bernard Hunter was formed in 1946. Providing a comprehensive mobile crane hire service to Scotland's central belt and northern England, Bernard Hunter also has interests in ferrous and non-ferrous metal recycling, end-of-life vehicles (ELV) processing and machinery movement with a low-loader and lorry-mounted crane fleet and secure storage facilities at their Gilmerton Road premises in Edinburgh. The company is also an expert in glass lifting, with a full range of specialist vacuum lifting equipment. As an adjunct to the crane hire operations, Bernard Hunter also has a wide range of non-mechanical plant available for hire, including man baskets, concrete and tipping skips, lifting beams and forks.

Major advantages of the LTC 1045-3.1 are the extremely compact dimensions of the crane plus the innovative lift cab, with which the crane driver can be raised to an eye level of close to 8 metres. A direct view of the installation and total visibility of the site area from an elevated position makes a lifting operation much easier for the driver, as well as providing additional safety during a lift.

Liebherr has created something entirely new for mobile cranes with the variable single-cab concept on the LTC 1045-3.1, This means that the crane not only provides the excellent travel performance of the traditional all-terrain crane but also, due to its compact design, is the ideal solution for lifting operations in extremely confined spaces, such as crane work in factories and industrial halls.

For road travel, the crane cab is pushed to the front of the vehicle on a telescopic arm and secured in position mechanically. This provides optimum viewing conditions for the driver and, with the entirely new concept of the movable cab, Liebherr has solved the problem of restricted view which can be a disadvantage with city cranes. Also the view is unobstructed over the right side of the vehicle, because the lower edge of the telescopic boom remains below the driver's line of sight.

The LTC 1045-3.1 is designed as a "taxi" crane, which means that its total weight of 36 tonnes and axle load of 12 tonnes includes the complete 6.5 tonnes counterweight, the double swing-away fly-jib and hook block. The crane is capable of starting work as soon as it arrives on site.

Commenting on their new fleet addition, Bernard Hunter's Contracts Director Mark Rafferty said "We are delighted with this extremely versatile crane which has opened up a whole new range of capabilities for our crane hire operations. Tight spaces and low headroom are no problem for this compact machine and we have already completed successful lifting contracts on dockside applications and machinery installations inside factories". He concludes "Once again, Liebherr has succeeded in making a small crane with big lift capabilities and the elevating cab is a superb feature".