Grove GTK 1100

Construction at the Wilhelmshaven plant

detail

The Grove GTK 1100 is a mobile crane from the American manufacturer Manitowoc Grove and in Wilhelmshaven produced. The GTK 1100 is particularly suitable for applications in which large lifting heights are required (for example on wind turbines) with little space requirement and therefore has a significantly different design than conventional mobile cranes. It is a mixture of an overhead telescopic tower crane and a telescopic mobile crane . It was developed in cooperation with the Wiesbauer company from Bietigheim-Bissingen and presented to the public at bauma 2007.

construction

The undercarriage of the GTK 1100 is a nine-axle semitrailer on which a six-part tubular telescopic tower with a maximum height of 76.4 meters is attached. The tower is transported horizontally and hydraulically brought into a vertical position for operation. Four supports with a support base of 18 × 18 meters are attached to the undercarriage, which are dismantled for transport and transported separately.

The superstructure, which is also transported separately on a low-loader, has been slightly modified and taken over from the GMK 7450 mobile crane and has a five-part 16 to 60 meter telescopic boom that can also be equipped with an assembly jib. This results in a maximum roll height of 140 meters.

In order to increase stability, the tower is guyed with four guy rods. These are attached to four small lattice brackets at the top of the tower and to the supports at the bottom.

No cabin is attached to the crane itself. The crane was initially controlled from the ground using a mobile control stand. Some GTKs are now equipped with a cabin that is built on the crawler track of a mini excavator. This makes it easy for the crane operator to take his cab in the position from which he has the best view.

Four semi-trailers are sufficient to transport the GTK, which is very little for cranes of this size.

1 × tower
1 × superstructure
2 × supports and lattice brackets

Under certain circumstances, another truck is required for accessories and small parts such as attachment material or support plates and if work is carried out with superstructure ballast, this must also be transported.

Assembly

During assembly, the supports are first mounted on the undercarriage with an additional auxiliary crane. Then the superstructure is attached to the still horizontal tower. The tower is then swiveled into the vertical position, whereby the tower base is shifted slightly in the middle of the carriage and locked on the undercarriage. During this process, the superstructure is held in its horizontal position by a hydraulic cylinder and appropriate controls and after the tower has been erected it is bolted to it remotely. In this condition the crane is already able to carry out the rest of the assembly work itself. To do this, the lattice supports (spreader) are lifted to the upper end of the tower and fastened, and the connecting rods are attached to the supports. The tower can then be extended to its maximum working height of 76.5 m in 20 minutes and the guy rods can be tensioned to the undercarriage. Finally, if necessary, up to 60 t of superstructure ballast can be lifted from the ground. A well-rehearsed team can set it up in six hours.

Technical specifications

maximum lifting height: approx. 140 m
Maximum load: 95 tonnes at a radius of 14 m and a lifting height of 116 m
Maximum outreach: 56 meters, with 11 tons load capacity and 95 m lifting height
Drive motor in the undercarriage: Mercedes-Benz OM 904 LA , 130 kW at 2200 rpm
Drive motor in the superstructure: Mercedes-Benz OM 906 LA , 190 kW at 1800 rpm
Ballast: 0 or 60 tons (four parts of 14 tons each + bracket)

advantages

The main advantage of the GTK 1100 lies in the combination of large load capacities with high lifting heights, such as those that occur when assembling wind turbines, and at the same time relatively low transport and assembly costs and the small assembly area, which is often only used on narrow industrial or power plant sites Available. A conventional telescopic crane - for example the Liebherr LTM 1500-8.1 - already needs an 84 to 91 meter long lattice jib that is made up of several individual parts and has a load capacity of around 11 tonnes for the same lifting height of 140 meters GTK 1100 at this lifting height of 43 tons).

disadvantage

At low lifting heights, which can also be achieved by conventional telescopic cranes without the use of an additional jib (generally around 60 meters), the crane cannot show its advantages. In addition, despite its size, the GTK does not have a particularly large overhang, as the tower is always vertical. Its economic uses are therefore more likely to be found in very tall structures.

operator

The first operator of the GTK 1100 is the Wiesbauer company from Bietigheim-Bissingen, which also participated in the development and currently operates a device of this type. A total of five devices are already in use (four of them from German operators), others have been ordered or are under construction (as of December 2008).