21.03.2006

Tadano starts carrier production

Tadano has begun production of a new truck crane carrier at its factory in Shido, Japan. The first units, for the 55 tonne GT-55E, are being delivered this month.

Approximately 100 GT-550E’s on this carrier are scheduled for 2006, but the new carrier will also be supplied to Tadano's Chinese manufacturing joint venture, BQ-Tadano (Beijing) Crane Co. Ltd., for its local production.

As with all Japanese crane producers, Tadano truck cranes have traditionally been mounted on carriers built by commercial vehicle manufacturers such as Nissan and Mitsubishi.

Tadano decided to produce its own carrier after Yusoki Kogyo, the subcontractor to Nissan, Tadano’s traditional carrier supplier, was taken over in 2004 by Fuji Heavy Industries and stopped producing crane carriers.

Nissan Diesel Motor Company supplies the powertrain for the new 8x4 carrier, which is matched to a turbocharged six-cylinder Nissan PF6TB diesel engine.

The transmission has seven forward and one reverse speeds, with synchromesh on second to seventh gear and constant-mesh on first and reverse gear.

Front axles are reverse-Elliot type with leaf spring suspension. Rear axles are full floating type with equalizer beams and torque rods.

Tadano will also begin production of a carrier for the TL-300E this summer. An estimated 30 units a year of this carrier will be produced.

Vertikal Comment

Tadano and Kato truck cranes were a very popular product for many European crane rental comapanies, and most will acklowledge that 50/55 tonne Kato and Tadano truck cranes where they are still in a fleet are by far the most profitable units.

Lack of up to date European certification was the reason given for withdrawing them from the market a few years back. The other reason was the astounding drop in domestic volume for these cranes, borne out by the forecast volumes from Tadano, which caused the commercial producers to abandon them. City type cranes and high spead RT’s have completely taken over the market in Japan.

China on the other hand is a massive market for small to medium truck cranes, many tiomes the size of the rest of the world combined. If the truck crane is to ever make a comeback in Europe it is likely to come from one of the Chinese producers.

It is surprising that Tadano, which took control of its JV last year, is not building these carriers and the final crane in China.

Watch this space