Manfred Härzschel, the founder of the Cloppenburg-based crane rental company of the same name, recently saw one of his childhood dreams come true: “I’ve wanted a powerful 220-tonne machine with five axles for over 30 years now – and now I’ve finally got one in the form of a Tadano AC 5.220-1,” he reports. Tadano Sales Manager Thorsten Dietzel was the proverbial genie in this scenario, as he handed over the crane to Manfred Härzschel, Härzschel Managing Director Sylvia Fredeweß, and crane operators Andreas Füßmann and Maximilian Fredeweß in Lauf.
Needless to say, the company did not just order the crane with the optional load view camera to make a childhood dream come true, but instead looked at a series of concrete factors that made it a cost-effective choice: To date, Härzschel has been primarily using its ATF 130G-5 for larger-scale projects – a top-of-the-line machine, Manfred Härzschel is quick to point out. However, the 130-tonne unit has sometimes been unable to lift heavy loads unless used in a tandem lift. “These are the jobs that the powerful AC 5.220-1 can take care of all by itself without issue, and that means that we’ll now be able to offer our customers a particularly cost-effective solution with this crane. To put it simply, we’re ready to take on bigger things with the AC 5.220-1,” Manfred Härzschel explains before going on to highlight how excited he is about the model’s cost-effective two-engine design. In addition, the AC 5.220-1 features a long reach thanks to a 68-meter-long main boom, which makes it ideal for erecting large cranes on rough terrain, with an example consisting of wind farm projects: “There are some very big opportunities for our company there. In fact, the AC 5.220-1 means that we’re now perfectly prepared to take care of the needs of our regular customers in the energy industry in this segment,” Sylvia Fredeweß explains. It is also worth mentioning that Härzschel is not about to remove its ATF130G-5 from service: Despite its being 15 years old at this point, the tried-and-true machine is slated to undergo a full overhaul so that it can continue to dependably do its job for many more years to come.
A successful debut
Just a few days after the handover, the AC 5.220-1 took care of its first job in Cloppenburg by unloading and positioning a 50-tonne substation. Immediately after that, it had to load a 58-tonne tube bender and set a concrete manhole in place. “The AC 5.220-1 made quick work of all these projects, just like we’d expected based on the numerous positive reports from the market,” Manfred Härzschel says, more than happy with his dream crane.
