Liebherr has decided to introduce a new 700-tonne crawler, Liebherr LR1700-1.0 to replace the LR1600 of which around 200 units have been delivered during its 12 years in production. The new crawler will offer advantages of both the 600-tonne LR1600/2 in terms of mobility and the 750-tonne Liebherr LR1750/2 in terms of capacities. This new model will also eventually replace the existing LR1750.
The target market is wind power and Liebherr is looking to set new standards in the 600 to 700-tonne capacity class crawler crane segment. The first units of this crane should be ready to ship around mid-2021. The powerful LR1700-1.0 will also assume its position below the 800-tonne LR1800-1.0.
Same boom and ballast as LR1600/2
The new LR1700-1.0 shares a similar boom ad ballast components as the Liebherr LR1600/2 and it has completely redesigned the base machine to deliver between 10% to 15% more lifting capacity. In particular, the tracks are now more robust, with larger rollers to minimise wear when moving, while a four motor drive train is standard.
The crane features a main boom length from 30m to 165m using additional H sections. While its maximum under hook height of 196m is achieved with 96m of the main boom and 102m of luffing jib. It is able to handle its full capacity at a radius of 8.5m and has a maximum radius of 160m.
This means that for operators of LR1600/2, procurement of a brand new crane is not necessary since a large number of the equipment components from the predecessor crane can also be used for the new LR1700-1.0. These include the S sections for the main boom, the luffing jib, the 600-tonne head, several winches, hook blocks, ballast slabs and the runner.
Outperforming Liebherr LR1750/2
In the various configuration of the new Liebherr LR1700-1.0, it is also able to outperform the 750-tonne LR1750/2. For example, when fitted with 84m of the main boom and 84m of luffing jib, the new LR1700 can take 50 tonnes to a radius of 84m whereas the LR1750/2 can only handle 37 tonnes. For a configuration often required for wind farm projects, LR1700-1.0 when configured with a 102m main boom and 12m luffing jib can lift 144 tonnes out of a minimum radius of 18m, whereas the LR1750/2 manages only 123 tonnes at a minimum radius of 20m. You can check out the table that I have generated below.
| Configuration | Liebherr LR1700-1.0 | Liebherr LR1750/2 |
| 84m main boom + 84m luffing jib | 50t at 84m radius | 37t at 84m radius |
| 102m main boom + 12m luffing jib | 144t at 18m radius | 123t at 20m radius |
New Derrick System
The derrick boom can be extended from 36m to 42m and features Liebherr’s V-Frame, VarioTray and the new M-Wagon modular ballast trailer for the LR1700-1.0. This can also be used with the next two larger models in the range, the LR1800-1.0 and LR11000 – while its maximum derrick ballast as 375 tonnes.
The VarioTray is a small ballast pallet, which can be unbolted quickly and easily when necessary. This avoids the need for the tiresome stacking and unstacking of ballast slabs.
The V-frame ballast system is a hydraulically adjustable folding frame that enables the ballast radius of the LR1700-1.0 to be infinitely adjusted between 13m and 21m. A rigid ballast guide system is therefore no longer required for large radii.
Economically Transportation Cost
While LR1700-1.0 track width is slightly larger than its predecessor at 8.8m whilst the length of the crawler carriers has grown to 11.35m. The LR1700-1.0 is available with Quick Connection as an option. This means that the transport weight of the slewing platform (without the SA frame and winches) can be reduced to around 42 tonnes, well below the limit of 45 tonnes to ensure low-cost heavy haulage. The same applies to the crawler carriers which, with their 2m crawler pads and 4-fold drive, weigh in at just 43 tonnes. This guarantees that the new 700-tonne crawler can be transported at a low cost.
The width of the various components is another important criterion for economic mobility. All the transport units for the base machine, including the pivot section, are no more than 3m in width. Only the H lattice sections on the main boom are wider than this at 3.5m. However, these can be used to transport smaller sections to reduce the number of transport vehicles required. For customers that have restrictions of transporting widths of over 3m, Liebherr can also supply the boom for the LR1700-1.0 exclusively with 3m wide lattice sections.
