German crane rental company Dornseiff didn’t have to wait long for its new Grove GMK5250L to provide a return on investment. On its first job for the Burbach-based company, the crane solved an HVAC challenge, lifting 10 refrigeration units at an unusually long radius.
The jobsite was in the Oberbergisch region in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and included lifting refrigeration units for a tall building. The units weighed 2.4 t, and Dornseiff needed to lift them onto a roof that measured 22.5 m in height—parameters that may not seem extraordinary for a tower crane, but considering the lifts had to be performed at a radius of 57 m, a mobile crane solution was called for.
Michel Jaeger, field technician at Dornseiff, explained how using a GMK5250L saved the company both time and money on the HVAC project.
“In the past, we always chose tower cranes over mobile when working within a confined operational space,” he explained. “However, tower cranes were unable to offer the required lifting capacity for this project. Our new Grove GMK5250L, with an added luffing jib extension, was able to complete the lifts and eliminate the logistical expenses of using more than one crane.”
The GMK5250L’s 70 m main boom, plus a 29.3 m luffing jib extension, enabled Dornseiff to make the lifts from the 57 m radius with ease. Its bi-fold swingaway, which can reach a maximum length of 37 m and up to 50° offset, was also crucial to the project’s success. And because the 250 t capacity GMK5250L has the longest reach and strongest load chart of any five-axle mobile crane, it was able to fit onto the job site into a space that most larger, six-axle cranes would not have been able to maneuver.
In addition, by using a mobile crane where the company might have used a tower crane in the past, Dornseiff was able to save time and money on job site preparation, as it only needed one crane for the job instead of two (the second being a mobile crane to erect the tower crane).
Wolfgang Dornseiff, managing director at Dornseiff, also highlighted the patented Megatrak independent suspension and the VIAB turbo retarder clutch on the crane.
“Due to the fact that our new crane would mainly operate on hilly terrain in the Olpe region, we needed a model that offered the best maneuverability and class-leading driver comfort, which the GMK5250L delivers thanks to the VIAB turbo clutch and Megatrak suspension,” he said. “We also know that these will be reliable functions, as the module is meant to eliminate fluid overheating and clutch burning.”
Established in 1951, Dornseiff is a family-run business that owns 46 cranes with load capacities of up to 500 t, as well as an array of special equipment for heavy lifting. Jaeger said that the new Grove GMK5250L was already improving ROI for the company and improving its level of service in the region.
“The GMK5250L’s impressive lift capabilities allow us to further improve our services while focusing more on customer needs,” he said.
