F660AXP opens up new markets for WB

Heavy-duty Fassi takes WB Services into new markets WB Services UK Ltd of Dartford, Kent, is ready to expand into new markets after adding a heavy-duty Fassi 660AXP Evolution lorry loader crane with fly jib to its growing fleet.

"This opens up the scope of work that we can get involved in," says Darren Burke, WB Services' operations director. "Instead of just delivering material to sites, we can now give customers the option of delivering right onto the roof of a building without having to hire a mobile crane. We can do air conditioning work, steel erection, even putting hot tubs into people's back gardens over the top of their house."

WB Services also offers mobile crane hire services and previously would often deploy mobile cranes and lorry loaders in tandem. That will usually no longer be necessary, Mr Burke says. "This crane brings the two sides of the company together in one unit," he says.

The company has grown steadily since starting out in 2002. The new crane, delivered in April, is WB Services' sixth lorry loader, and its third Fassi. "This is a step up from the loader work we have been doing," says Mr Burke. The up and over reach and capacities offered by the crane's fly jib are the key features that will ensure this rig will always be busy, Mr Burke believes. Fly jib duties - lifting 1120 kg at 26 metres - are particularly impressive, he says.

WB Services opted for the 66 tonne-metre crane in the 660AXP.26 Evo configuration with L414 fly jib and V20 winch. With its six-section boom and four-section fly jib, it has a maximum outreach of 26 metres and vertical reach of 29.5 metres above the lorry deck.

Without fly jib, maximum rated capacity is 3.1 tonnes out to a radius of 16.1 metres. The winch has a maximum capacity of 2 tonne on a single fall of line rising to 6 tonne on a triple fall.

The crane is mounted on a DAF CF85 lorry with a Euro V compliant engine supplied by Kent based Morgan Elliott. The rigid four-axle truck has a 25 ft body with a 3 ft pull-out. Deck payload capacity is 8.5 tonnes.

"This is a big crane with good deck capacity," Mr Burke says.

WB Services' previous biggest crane is in the 47 tonne-metre class - still heavy-duty but with only 14 metres of reach, lacks the versatility of the new flagship.

The first job of the Fassi 660AXP was to lift out a heater weighing 350 kg from a supermarket distribution centre, for which the crane had to reach 12 metres up and six metres across.

Mr Burke says that he chose Fassi because it offered top quality at a good price. He is also impressed by the safety features and the controls. "It has the most sophisticated remote control in the industry," he says. "It tells you everything. It tells you the stresses on every ram, and when the hoist rope is fitted it tells you the load on the hook."

With the remote control showing how close to capacity each ram is, in percentage terms, the operator knows which boom section to extend or retract to get maximum performance from the crane. Even more information is displayed on a read-out at the base of the crane.

WB Services has assigned operator Alan Cole to its new crane. "It's amazing what it can do," Mr Cole says.

Like all Fassi's new generation Evolution cranes, the 660 AXP has Automatic Dynamic Control (ADC) which controls the speed of all crane movements to prevent the load bouncing. It also has the Prolink system that enables either the secondary boom section or the fly jib, or both, to be angled 15 degrees above horizontal. This opens up a whole new geometry for crane operators, enabling them to move loads where headroom restrictions might otherwise make it impossible. Uniquely in the industry, only Fassi's system does not require any down-rating of the crane's capacity.

« back