An eagle eyed reader sent us a video taken by a crane enthusiast in Taiwan in which the person discovers an abandoned 500 tonne Gottwald AMK 500-93 telescopic truck crane, left to rot on a patch of wasteland in Taiwan.
The crane today
The crane was similar in its construction to Gottwald’s 1,000 tonne AMK-1000-103, for several years the largest telescopic in the world. With a large cross section removable boom and a dedicated boom carrier. We think that this one originally belonged to UK crane rental company Hewden, which was first registered in the UK in 1982, with the last log book issued at the end of 1987.
The crane when new, with its boom carrier close behind
It was then sold to Long Hook in Taiwan. We understand that the boom failed during a lift around six years ago, and the crane has been left to be reclaimed by nature as the rainforest type undergrowth takes over. The person taking the video shows how he located it and then drove out to find it. He also starts with a look at a cardboard model he has made.
If you can provide more information on this historic crane, or we have made any errors, please do let us know. Here are some photos sent in by a reader after the article was first published:
emailed comment
The unit was first registered in the UK in 1982 - we assume that it was fresh from the factory - So 41 years ago
Frazer Drive
Any idea which year Hewdens bought it?
MichaelHardt
Very interesting.