A saturated market and a downturn in infrastructure projects has slowed the mini crawler crane market in recent years, but now, a surge in construction projects, especially in Sydney, is set to re-ignite the waning Australian market.
At CONEXPO-CON/AGG in March, mini crawler crane manufacturer Maeda made a splash, introducing its new CC1485, the only small telescopic boom crawler crane marketed in the US.
Things appear to be picking up in North America, if the turnout, general sentiment of attendees, and sales made at CONEXPO are anything to go by but how is the mini crawler crane market doing in Australia?
At home, the mining boom, which dictated so many operations and played an integral role in driving the crane sector’s (and others’) profits up, is but a distant memory. Say “mining” and most people sigh. But there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel, for mini crawler cranes at least.
In Australia, Pace Cranes has for many years, distributed Maeda mini crawler cranes. It also works with Preston Hire to supply these machines to the market. The Maeda-Pace Cranes association has been going strong for more than two decades and today, Maeda has captured some 80% of the mini crawler crane market share in Australia.
Pace Cranes national sales manager Michael Cawston told Cranes and Lifting that things are looking up for the mini crawler crane sector, which he said was waning, thanks to the recent surge in infrastructure projects.
“There has been a lot happening in terms of construction around the country. Of course there is a bit of a downturn in parts of the country like in Western Australia, but everywhere else, a lot still seems to be happening, and it looks like it’s going to continue,” Cawston said.
“There are lots of projects relating to roads and high-rise infrastructure, and NSW and Victoria are probably the two strongest markets at the moment.
“In terms of Sydney, most of the high-rise constructions have got these types of cranes, to some extent, being used, and there are a lot of projects happening around Sydney Harbour, Darling Harbour, and Barangaroo – there are always a handful of mini crawler cranes working on those sites.”
Typically, mini crawler cranes come on tracked or wheeled chassis, are capable of 360-degree rotation, and have legs that lock into place to allow the units to safely position themselves on steps, multi-levelled platforms, and other uneven or rugged terrains. Their manoeuvrability also offers users ease of use and of course, eliminate the need for scaffolding.
Brandon Dick from Sydney Glass Lifters, which provides mini crawler cranes around New South Wales, said these machines are increasing in popularity.
“I’m finding that there is quite a bit of work for them lately – we get a lot of clients from the steel and glass side of things, to builders for residential houses, as well as quite a few from the commercial realm,” Dick said.
“A lot more people now know that they exist, whereas before, they would get a bigger crane or go for a different option. Now they know that there is a smaller option so they tend to go with them a lot. “They’re great for a whole range of different things because you can put them in so many different places – basically you can lift them up, chuck them on a roof, leave them there and they can do work off the roof instead of setting off a big crane every day.”
On the backdrop of increasing demand, Pace Cranes is about to launch a higher capacity Maeda crawler unit, which will arrive in August. According to Cawston, the new model – the MC815C- is quite unique in comparison to other mini crawler cranes in the market and the company hopes it will shake things up.
The MC815C is Maeda’s largest capacity and strongest mini crawler crane to date with an eight-tonne lifting capacity. It is equipped with a five-section 19.4m pentagonal boom, and comes with an optional two-section 1500kg capacity telescopic jib, which increases the maximum lifting height to 25.5m.
New features on Maeda’s latest mini crawler cranes also include power-lifting mode, joystick control, new Technos 2 radio telemetry system with joystick control, auto levelling via remote, auto crane stow via remote, Maeda Safety Operation System (MSOS), and EU stage 3B compliant engine to make it environmentally friendly.
There are also other standard features such as an outrigger interlock device, two-speed powerful winch, hydrostatic transmission, data logger, 6/4/2 fall hook block, tilt sensor/ alarm, and a full hydraulic slew brake.
“Generally with these mini cranes, you control the cranes with levers, whereas the new Maeda is controlled with joysticks, sort of like the much larger cranes,” Cawston said.
“Over the years, these mini crawler cranes have slowly been getting bigger and more accepted in the market, and we are seeing that these types of cranes are becoming more popular on sites than the larger cranes.
“We’ve been working in this space for a very long time and nothing really new and innovative have come along in a while, but with these eight-tonne cranes that we’ve got on the way, you’ll start to see these mini cranes being used on much larger applications.”
But is the crane’s increasing popularity necessarily a positive? Coopers Heavy Industries director Dylan Cooper told Cranes and Lifting there is a downside – it’s this popularity that has caused the slowing down of the market in the last few years. Despite the recent uptake of projects, Cooper remains cautious.
Where the expectation is that for special events or seasonal applications, many businesses and organisations will opt to hire mini crawler cranes as opposed to buying them as this is a more cost-effective way to take advantage of the machinery without the expenses associated with maintenance, storage, and parts replacement costs, this has changed over the years.
“As a provider of mini crawler cranes I think the market is so saturated at the moment, with a lot of end users buying the machine for themselves instead of hiring,” Cooper said.
“I think there are a few companies out there that are getting pretty excited and are buying up machines like crazy, but realistically, the surge in work has got to slow down again at some point – it’s going to happen, it’s inevitable, and it’s just a matter of when.
“I think it will be interesting for a few companies that have gone out in say the last 24 months buying up a lot of gear, because at some point they’ll get to a scenario where there’s not going to be heaps of work. By then, they won’t have the equity in the machines anymore, and they won’t have the possibility of moving the machines on to someone else,” Cooper warned.
This article was first published in the May issue of Cranes and Lifting.
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