New Workshop Crane

In August 2024 we took delivery of a new Valla Manitex 130RX crane, the crane is a very unique piece of equipment and was identified some 18 months earlier as the solution to our internal lifting requirements. As our equipment over time has increased in size and capacity lifting and loading by a forklift was less than ideal, the search for a suitable machine excluded diesel engine cranes as the majority of the work is within our factory, the factory whilst new was not suitable for the installation of an overhead crane and we didn’t want to just purchase a larger forklift so the Valla crane was the ideal solution for our application.

The crane is battery electric so very quiet and no emissions, 13t capacity, full radio remote control, 10 metres of boom, very compact and maneuverable. The main role for the crane is for the loading of our larger equipment in the factory onto transport and this includes things like 5t steel counterweights, 12m offset lifting beams, our larger spreader beams and will also be used for lifting large of heavy rigging gear in the workshop for inspections and cleaning.

Our water load bags are a good example of how the new crane will be a game changer, after every job the water bags need to be visually inspected, cleaned and the rigging re-set, previously this was a difficult job with a fair amount of manual handing so now the crane will do all the hard work.

We have had three of our workshop staff trained and assessed on the crane, they hold non slew crane licence along with their dogman tickets, so the full investment also includes training.

We thank our board members and the Lifting Solutions Group at Axel Johnson International for allowing us to invest in the crane and the associated training demonstrating the company’s commitment for health and safety.