• Liebherr delivers the first LTM 1230-5.1 to Africa 
• Long telescopic boom and innovations offering more economy and flexibility are important  decision criteria  
• Allied Crane Hire is an established specialist for crane hire in sub-Saharan countries  

Liebherr has delivered the first LTM 1230-5.1 mobile crane to the African continent. It went to the crane and heavy transport company Allied Crane Hire, based in Cape Town, South Africa. The long telescopic boom of the 230-tonne crane and technical innovations such as VarioBallast^®,  VarioBase^® and the Liebherr Single-Engine Concept were important decision-making criteria.  

Allied Crane Hire has established itself as a  specialist in crane hire in sub-Saharan Africa. The 24-year-old company operates more than 80 mobile and crawler cranes, which are mainly used in petrochemicals, mining, wind and solar farms and the construction industry. The company bought its first Liebherr crane 20 years ago.  

The LTM 1230-5.1 is now the latest model in the fleet. André Engelbrecht, Managing Director at Allied  Crane Hire, explains: “Crane experts will agree that Liebherr has the best technology in mobile and crawler cranes and is a pioneer in the industry. An important criterion for us in choosing the  LTM 1230-5.1 was its 75-metre telescopic boom. This allows us to do many crane jobs without having to set up a lattice jib”. The Liebherr LTM 1230-5.1 is an ideal crane for work in steep positions and at great heights, for example in wind turbine maintenance or petrochemical operations. With lattice extensions, the LTM-1230-5.1 reaches a maximum lifting height of 111 metres.  

Another important purchase criterion for Allied Crane Hire was the Liebherr VarioBallast^®. The ballast radius of the LTM 1230-5.1 can be adjusted between 4.8 and 5.7 metres. “Operations in the petrochemical and mining industries are extremely challenging: little space, time pressure and constantly changing conditions. This calls for high flexibility from the cranes,” declares Engelbrecht.  

Mobile crane specially designed for VarioBase^® 

The engineers at Liebherr-Werk Ehingen GmbH put the multi-award-winning VarioBase^® support technology at the heart of the structural steel construction when creating the concept for the  LTM 1230-5.1. This makes it the first crane to have an asymmetrical support base: The width is 7.4  metres at the front and 8.1 metres at the rear.

 “Thanks to VarioBase^®, it’s now possible to enable really high lifting capacities, especially in the rear working area, over the 8.1 metres wide supports – calculated in real-time by the LICCON controller”,  explains Erik Benz, Head of the Mobile and Crawler Cranes Division at Liebherr-Africa. “This new digitalisation option has a major influence on the structural steel technology while enhancing customer benefit in the form of increased lifting capacities”.  

“We call the combination of trapezoidal and variable support base VarioBase^®Plus”, adds Francois  Pretorius, Sales Representative at Liebherr-Africa. “The single-stage sliding beams at the front are lighter. The weight saved could be used to increase the boom length.”  

Allied Crane Hire also appreciates the many other technical Liebherr innovations, such as the Single-Engine Concept and ECOmode, which reduce fuel consumption and noise emissions. “Many of our working conditions are really tough – so efficiency is a fundamental requirement for all the machines we operate. The new LTM 1230-5.1 is characterised by high performance, economy and flexibility – thanks to Liebherr’s systematic advancement of successful technologies,” states Engelbrecht.

Learn more about Liebherr LTM 1230-5.1.