18.03.2026

Xtreme spider crane

At Conexpo, a number of people, including us, were surprised to see an new spider crane, produced by North American telehandler manufacturer Xtreme Manufacturing, one of the very few produced outside of Japan, Italy and more recently China.

The new 3.2 tonne Xtreme XMC3530 looks fairly similar to the Jekko 532.2 and is even a similar colour, but to be fair, Xtreme telehandlers have used that colour since the current company was established in 2003.

The new crane has a five section 10.3 metre main boom, with a 4.42 metre hydraulic luffing jib, which stows within the superstructure/turret when not in use - pure Jekko. Maximum tip height is 16.33 metres, at which point it can handle 490kg, which it can also take out to a six metre radius at a height of 12 metres. Maximum capacity on the jib is just under a tonne, while the fully extended main boom can handle 1,450kg.

The XMC3530 has an overall width when stowed of just 762mm, so it will easily pass through a standard single doorway, although being a fraction over two metres, it might struggle with some doorways.

At the moment, we only have a basic and preliminary ANSI specification for the Xtreme crane, but it includes most of the details you might use to evaluate the crane. See the chart below. And given that a few Jekko loyalists, particularly in Germany, have been moaning that the Xtreme crane is a blatant copy of the Jekko SPX 532, we have run its specifications alongside, so that you can compare.

Xtreme XMC3530 Vs Jekko SPX532.2

Xtreme is owned by Don Ahern, as is Snorkel, and until he sold Ahern Rentals to United Rentals at the end of 2022, he was, we understand, a regular customer for Jekko spider cranes. At Conexpo 2023, he proudly purchased the Jekko MP20 from local distributor Fascan, for charity and made the front cover of Cranes & Access with the special machine.

Vertikal Comment

The Xtreme XMC3530 is a handy looking crane, but it certainly does look very similar to the Jekko SPX 532, but is not identical. The price Xtreme was reportedly quoting at the show was $200,000, which we believe is a slightly higher price than for the Jekko. But that might depend on what accessories or options are included.

We asked senior managers at Jekko what they thought of the new crane, and claims of copying, and the feedback was along the lines that there is enough room for another player and that they are flattered that Don Ahern copied their machine. One comment was: “If they had copied a Hoeflon, Maeda or Unic, we would have been really upset.”

A good attitude to have. And at the end of the day, the Xtreme crane is close to the original SPX 532, while Jekko has moved on to the second generation model, the 532.2, which improves on the original and picked up on any original design flaws/errors and weaknesses of the original model.