Painted in the signature black and red livery colours, the first ever Liebherr LTM1650-8.1 has left Liebherr’s Ehingen plant, going to Dutch global crane and heavy haulage contractor, Mammoet. The new 8-axles will be the new successor to the legendary LTM1500-8.1 which has dominated much of the market for its class.
The 650-tonne mobile crane was first unveiled during Bauma 2019 with the slogan “The maximum on eight axles”. This is why Mammoet has ordered several LTM1650-81. Let see what Jan Kelijn, COO of Mammoet had said:
“We are delighted to take delivery of the first ever LTM 1650-8.1 from Liebherr. The performance, mobility and economy of this new crane model will enrich our fleet, giving Mammoet the flexibility to gradually replace our 500 and 700-tonners with this new Liebherr 8-axle crane. The crane handover is also a sign of the strong, long term relationship between our two companies, which are leaders in their respective industries”
Jan Kleijn, COO of Mammoet.
The mobile crane was designed with feedback from crane operations and the advice that Liebherr had received from Mammoet, enabling the manufacturer to extract the maximum from eight axles. Christoph Kleiner, Managing Director Sales at Liebherr in Ehingen explained the importance of close collaboration with their customer in the product development process.
Liebherr has retained the successful concept of the previous LTM 1500-8.1 – the new LTM 1650-8.1 can also be supplied with two telescopic boom lengths, 54 metres and 80 metres. In pursuing the company’s focus on producing the ultimate crane on eight axles, the increases in lifting capacity are impressive – between 15 and 50 percent depending on whether the crane has telescopic boom guying or not. The standard VarioBase® variable support base delivers additional increases in performance when working above the outriggers. This means the new crane will be able to complete hoisting work normally reserved for the 700-tonne class or even higher with ease. It actually has a nominal lifting capacity of 700 tonnes.
“Whilst our original desire was to gradually replace our LTM 1500-8.1 cranes, we are delighted that Liebherr has managed to extract so much performance from the LTM 1650-8.1 that we can also use it to replace 700 tonne class machines. The main highlights of the new crane include the simple, fast setup and dismantling of the rear support box. It also has standard ballast slabs, which are compatible with other Liebherr cranes, ranging from 350 to 1,200 tonne models. That increases the flexibility of our fleet and is extremely cost-efficient”
Peter van Oostrom, Director Global Projects and Assets at Mammoet.
