Products & Equipment
Large spider and mini crane launches from Platform Basket

Platform Basket launched a range of new products at the GIS show, which took place in Piacenza, Italy, last week, as the company enters the spider crane and large spider lift markets.

The 54m working height spider lift, designed specifically for telecommunications and electricity pylon work, was revealed at Platform Basket’s headquarters in Reggio Emilia, Italy.

Specialized spider

The new Spider 54T has a maximum basket capacity at full working height pf 400kg, and offers a 1,000kg capacity winch that is easily interchangeable and effectively turns it into a mobile crane. The unit is production ready, save the testing of its control system, with the first unit already sold to rental company Minoege. There are three more units on order.

Platform Basket’s managing director Carloalberto Molesini told AI that the 54T took two years to develop. “We wanted to make something different to the average equipment in this category, with full capacity in the basket to full height.

Molesini adds, “The real focus has been on antennas and electricity jobs. Other types of this equipment are designed for more general use in applications such shopping malls and indoor work. They have to be lighter and have less capacity for that reason.”

Other features of the Spider 54T include a 360 continuous turret rotation and basket rotation of +/- 90 degrees. The basket has dimensions of 2.3m x 0.91m, while the model’s length with and without basket is 9.55m. Its closed width is 1.75m and the closed height is 2.45m. The total weight of the machine is 23,000kg.

Mini cranes and material carriers

At GIS the manufacturer was also announcing its first range of mini material carriers and cranes, with and without stablisers, through the group’s Elma brand.

The Elma MCR40 and MCR30 are crawler mounted cranes with adjustable stabilisers and offer 4 tonne/metres and 3 tonne/metres lifting capacity, respectively. Both models can also be used without the stabilizers as pick and carry cranes. As far as outreach is concerned, the MCR30 provides 4.75m, wile the MCR40 ups that to 6.1m outreach. The standard weight of the machines are 1.4 tonnes and 1.46 tonnes, respectively. Optional, are adjustable tracks and a 230 Vac electric motor to go with the 8.7kW petrol engine.

They have been joined by the PCR10 and PCR12 crawler mounted material carriers that are designed without stabilisers. The PCR10 is a standalone unit with a flatbed platform, while the PCR12 is a similar product with the addition of a crane that provides 1.2 tonne/metre lifting capacity. Both models have a carrying capacity of 1.1 tonnes on the platform. The crane has a maximum horizontal radius of 3.41 metres.