Manitowoc officially launches a new Potain MCT 565 at Bauma China 2018, which is the manufacturer’s largest topless crane to date and features class-leading capacity and exceptional flexibility, with easy transportation and fast assembly.
The company invited customers, dealers, end users and media to a specially-arranged event inside the Shanghai trade fair to present the crane. The following day, a group of special guests were welcomed to the Manitowoc factory in nearby Zhangjiagang, where the MCT 565 was shown fully assembled, complete with its full 80m jib.
Francois Rotat, product manager for Potain tower cranes, said the new model gives customers lower total cost of ownership and allows them to take on new projects.
“The first topless cranes from our Zhangjiagang factory in China launched in 2012 and are now a huge success,” Rotat said.
“As acceptance grows, it’s natural we extend the concept into new markets. The MCT 565 offers the benefits of topless cranes on significantly larger projects.
“Asia-Pacific, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, Russia and other Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries have ambitious construction programs and cranes like the Potain MCT 565 will help those regions meet their goals.”
With the rising popularity of topless cranes, and the increasing use of heavier construction materials, Manitowoc expects strong demand for higher capacity models.
The MCT 565 proved a strong attraction at Bauma China 2018, not only for its size, but also for the opportunities it presents. Its load moment of 550tm is a significant step up from the company’s existing topless range.
The crane offers jib length configurations from 30m to 80m in 5m increments. At its 80m jib end, the MCT 565 can handle an impressive 4t. Despite its increased size, the new model stays true to the design characteristics of Potain topless cranes, with easy transport and erection combining with excellent on-site performance.
The upper section of the MCT 565, with its full 80m jib, travels on just nine trucks, thanks to innovative, space-saving design features such as a folding cab on the slewing unit and a folding counter jib.
At the job site, set up can be finished inside two days and options such as the detachable cab assist with this. Users have the option to split the slewing unit, counter jib and jib into different sizes depending on available space, as well as capacity of the assist crane.
For the counter jib, there are three options of 17m, 21m and 24m, with users making their selection based on chosen jib length. This design feature not only aids transportation and erection, it also optimises the crane’s overall footprint on tight job sites.
The slewing unit has a plug-and-play design with much of the wiring completed at the factory. This makes installation faster and easier, delivering further cost and time savings, while a host of other features facilitate installation. These include dedicated sling points on the counter jib and transport brackets on the jib to facilitate easier loading into the crane’s compact transport configuration.
To deliver class-leading performance with this new crane, Potain has developed a new family of mast sections, the C800 and C850. These are offered on the new model, as well as a range of its other cranes, and several configurations are possible on the MCT 565. There are C809A standard jib sections measuring 5m, or user can opt for CR809A reinforced sections of 5m or the shorter CR809C reinforced sections of 3.33m.
Depending on jib length, maximum free-standing height for the crane ranges from 70.9m to 75.9m. Climbing the crane up to 200m is achieved with only three anchorage points. An additional option for the MCT 565 is the BC60R floor climbing system on 2m mast sections. This compact option will appeal to contractors looking for an internal floor climbing crane for use on tall buildings.
Aside from working height, there is further flexibility in capacity with three versions of the MCT 565 on offer. Maximum capacities are 20t, 25t and 32t. For the 20t and 25t versions, there are two winches available, including one unit from the industry-leading High-Performance Lifting (HPL) range. These ultra-fast hoists have high rope availability, making them perfect for high-rise developments.
Customers can select either a 100 LVF from the regular line of Potain frequency-controlled hoists, or a 150 HPL from the HPL range. The 150 HPL winch has a drum capacity of 1,200m on the 20t and 25t models. For the 32t version, the 150 HPL winch is offered. All winches are available with a safety brake option.
In combination, these features give the MCT 565 class-leading lifting performance, beating all competitors across the load chart in this capacity class.
As with all Potain cranes from the company’s Asian range, Manitowoc is expecting strong interest in the new model, not only in Asia, but also the Middle East and Latin America. Deliveries of the Potain MCT 565 will begin in early 2019.