New Liebherr 400 tonne crawler crane

Liebherr’s 400 tonne capacity LR 1400 SX lattice boom crawler crane announced on 9 November 2021

A 400 tonne capacity crawler crane has been announced by Liebherr-Werk Nenzing in Austria.

The LR 1400 SX extends the division’s offer above the 300 tonne threshold previously the domain of the Liebherr-Werk Ehingen mobile and crawler crane division in Germany. “This is a big step for our location,” said Gerhard Frainer, managing director for sales at Nenzing.

Maximum boom length is 178 metres giving 130 metres as the longest radius. Power is from a 13.5 litre, 450 kW Liebherr D 966 A7-05 six cyliner diesel. Hoisting winches are rated for 158.4 kN of line pull on the 9th layer and there is a freefall option.

Easy transport and assembly were key requirements for the new crane. Transport weight of the basic machine is given as 46 tonnes. Dimensions of the basic machine are 3 metres wide, 3.45 metres high and 12.62 metres long. Platform and railings only need to be folded down for transport where they remain attached to the upper.

Its self-assembly system is designed to allow the crane to be put together quickly on site using a remote control. “You can operate the whole crane with the remote control,” said Paul Belcher, Mountain Crane Service owner and managing director in the USA and buyer of the first unit.

First to take delivery in Germany is Depenbrock, a family-owned construction contractor with a harbour construction and water engineering division.

Andreas Handel, Depenbrock head of mechanical engineering hydro construction, said, “For barge operation, the available barge load charts for any configuration and any possible counterweight combination are crucial. The modular counterweight system is very good. If a smaller counterweight is sufficient, the unit can also be used on a correspondingly smaller barge. This makes the use of the LR 1400 SX very flexible.”

Ground pressure is 30.1 tonnes per square metre and there is a system for reducing the ground pressure by up to 56 % when operating, the manufacturer said. It works by having hydraulically activated steel plates on the ground between the ends of the crawler frames.

Liebherr’s 400 tonne capacity LR 1400 SX lattice boom crawler has four track drives for better manoeuvrability on site