Kristof van Gysel, Manager Heavy Equipment Overseas at Jan De Nul, is convinced of the quality of the Tadano rough terrain cranes: “The Tadano GR models are extremely reliable, extremely durable and therefore the optimal equipment for us,” he emphasises. That is why Jan De Nul has ordered two GR-1000EX-4, the first of which has already been delivered. “We will hand over the second to our customer at the end of this year,” promises Richard Beenen, Tadano Sales Manager in the Netherlands. He also emphasises that he is very pleased to be able to inspire such a large and important customer as Jan De Nul with the quality of the Tadano cranes.
The first of the two Tadano GR-1000EX-4 is already working at the Jan De Nul hub in the North Sea port of Zelzate, Belgium. “We use it there as a kind of yard crane for loading and unloading trucks and ships. It is ideally suited to this job because it can be quickly deployed anywhere on our large factory site thanks to its high mobility. This is very important for us because we are constantly working under great time pressure and cannot afford any waiting times or even downtime,” explains Kristof van Gysel, who also praises the good Tadano service and the trusting business relationship.
With its 51-meter-long boom and a capacity of 100 tonnes, the crane is suitable for a wide range of work on the factory premises. It always stays on the safe side thanks to its modern AML-E control system. Tadano is particularly proud of this intelligent system: If the crane is working with asymmetrically extended outriggers, for example, the AML-E recognizes the extension width of each individual outrigger and uses this to calculate the maximum possible capacity in the respective area. If the boom is turning from an area with longer outriggers towards shorter outriggers, the AML-E registers this movement, shows the driver the maximum load capacity according to the extension width of the individual outriggers and gently slows down the movement before the maximum load capacity is reached. “This function, called Slow Stop, avoids dangerous situations, even in the event of an operating error,” says Richard Beenen, explaining the safety gains offered by this Tadano technology, which also convinced Jan De Nul.