28.11.2020

Zoomlion’s 215ft boom lift

Zoomlion unveiled the prototype of its 215ft ZT68J self-propelled boom lift at bauma China this week.

Featuring a five section boom topped by a long two section articulating jib, it will deliver a 67.5 metre working height and maximum outreach of 31 metres. Maximum platform capacity is 455kg with 300kg unrestricted.
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The Zoomlion stand with the ZT68J on the far right

Overall stowed length is 15.5 metres, with an overall width of 2.5 metres and a stowed height of 3.06 metres. The overall weight was not disclosed. The swing out leg type chassis looks much like the patented set up on the 210ft Snorkel 2100SJ launched in March, although we have not seen it operate yet.
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The Zoomlion booms with the ZT68J at the end

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The Zoomlion ZT68J chassis looks very much like the Snorkel 2100SJ design

Zoomlion also unveiled a number of other new products, including an 80ft articulated hybrid Rough Terrain boom lift - the ZA24JH - with two section telescopic riser, topped by a long two section telescopic boom and articulating jib. It joins two lithium battery electric boom lifts launched with its 46ft ZA14JE-Li and the 66FT ZA20JE-Li.
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The Zoomlion boom lifts, the ZA24JH is the second from the right

Finally it introduced several new slab electric and Rough Terrain scissors. More on this when the company posts the full information. We hope to run a full evaluation in the next Cranes & Access magazine.

Vertikal Comment

The display of a new boom of this height by Zoomlion was a surprise, given that the Snorkel unit was only unveiled in March, and Zoomlion has yet to produce a full and widely accepted range of more regular, more modest boom lifts. Walking before you run springs to mind. The company has a little bit of a history of showing off record breaking, attention grabbing machines at bauma China which do not always make it into series production, and in some cases are never seen again.

This unit is unlikely to be a volume machine for the company, even domestically, where many contractors still prefer to purchase well proven machines from global suppliers when it comes to larger boom lifts.

Zoomlion is clearly investing a great deal of effort to break into the mainstream aerial lift market, and to be fair has already introduced a number of very good, well made models. A 68 metre boom lift however seems more of an attention grabbing product than a commercial proposition.

Time will tell.