Products & Equipment Cranes
New Demag AC 450-7 All Terrain Crane

Houston, Tex. – Tadano Demag launched the new AC 450-7 all terrain crane.

The basic idea when developing the new AC 450-7 was both simple and demanding: Tadano Demag wanted to “give wheels” to a more powerful alternative to its existing six-axle cranes, with the objective to keep it as compact as its counterparts despite the additional axle.

The AC 450-7 meets this criterion, having a carrier length of just 52.5 feet, a 27.7 foot outrigger base, and a total length of 57.8 feet.

“In other words, it doesn’t need more space than a six-axle crane at a work site, and yet it offers significantly better lifting capacities,” says Demag product marketing manager Michael Klein.

The new crane features a 262.5 foot main boom with a maximum lifting capacity of up to 212.8 USt. If the main boom’s length is not sufficient, it can be extended using a luffing jib with a maximum length of 265.7 feet. The crane’s maximum system length is 433 feet. The luffing jib can be “divided up” in 9.8 foot segments from 78.7 to 265.7 feet. In order to make it easier to transport the luffing jib, two system dimensions are used, making it possible to slide the extension’s individual parts into each other.

New SSL Superlift Design

The SSL Sideways Superlift system not only makes the new AC 450-7 part of the large crane category at Tadano Demag, but also means that the latter will represent more than one debut: Tadano Demag is using its new engineering design for the Sideways Superlift system for the first time ever on the AC 450-7.

This new design is a critical enhancement to the well-known Demag SSL solution, with the Superlift arms now being mounted all the way in the front, on the head of the base section, meaning that they are ultimately longer and accordingly well-suited to larger lifting capacities. The AC 450-7 can lift 80.6 USt at a radius of 30 feet when equipped with a 196.2 foot main boom with an SSL configuration, 39.7 USt at a 48 foot radius when the boom is telescoped out completely to a length of 262.5 feet, and an outstanding 14.5 USt at a radius of 160 feet with this configuration.

Improved Counterweight Design

The maximum counterweight for the AC 450-7 is 165 USt. It consists of a 22 USt base plate and redesigned counterweight plates that have been optimized in terms of swing radius, which is now only 18.4 feet. The counterweight plates are available as 11 USt plates, 5.5 USt plates, or a combination of the two, with the goal being to enable customers to optimize their transportation logistics.

In addition, there is an optional counterweight frame available for the AC 450-7 that can be used to increase the swing radius in order to further increase the lifting capacity – especially when using an SSL configuration. And last, but not least, Tadano Demag offers various adapters that make it possible for customers to keep using existing counterweight slabs from other larger AC or CC models with their new AC 450-7.

Photo by Tadano Demag

Demag Surround View

At 27.7 feet, the outrigger base is also at the level of a 6-axle crane. It should be emphasized that the AC 450-7 has five different outrigger widths. This means that the new Demag crane has greater site flexibility, particularly in confined construction site conditions.

The new optional Demag Surround View makes it easier for the crane operator to position the AC 450-7 at the job site. This patented system uses six cameras to display the possible outreach of the outriggers as well as the tail swing radius at the current position of the crane in a computer-aided display.

“Demag Surround View displays in the carrier cabin the different outrigger widths so the crane operator can position the crane on the construction site in order to extend all outriggers sufficiently and ensure the required slewing radius. This reduces time-consuming measuring and trial and error when looking for a location, so that the crane can be ready for operation more quickly,” explains Klein.

Flexible Traveling Capabilities as a Result of Variable Axle Loads

The AC 450-7 is available with two different carrier variants to meet axle load requirements all over the world. In the standard version, the AC 450-7 can be configured to travel under a 13.2 USt or 18.2 USt axle load limit, in both cases with the main boom in place. Moreover, if the main boom is removed, the maximum axle load is reduced to just over 9.9 USt with a gross vehicle weight below 52.9 USt.

Wear-less and Powerful Start-up and Safe Braking

The AC 450-7 proves its superiority while driving on the road, as well as working on the construction site. It is equipped with a Mercedes-Benz transmission with turbo retarder clutch for wear-less and powerful start-up paired with an integrated high-performance primary retarder. Drivers benefit from sensitive starting and shunting and do not have to worry about temperature problems. Looking deeper into the drivetrain design, Demag leaves nothing to be desired: All seven axles on the AC 450-7 are steered, while four of them are driven. This makes the AC 450-7 so maneuverable that it can navigate tight work sites at least as well as a six-axle unit. This was, after all, one of the key goals behind the crane’s development.

The AC 450-7 is driven by a Mercedes-Benz engine with an output of 480 kW (625 HP). The diesel engine conforms to EU Stage V and Tier 4 Final emissions requirements, but is also compatible with Tier 3.

Powerful like an 8-axle crane, compact like a 6-axle crane, all incorporating the latest Demag technology. The AC 450-7 is the Tadano Demag’s new benchmark on 7 axles.