The Steyr (basically a MAN TGA) was sold and a new large crane truck had fill this spot. It again is a MAN with a large Palfinger, this time a 5-axled unit with a PK165002 crane.

As we can already see here, this is not a standard MAN chassis anymore. It is a modified version by Toni Maurer. A lot was mofified, first of all the chassis. The base for this truck is a TGS 41.500 8x8 with spring leafs. From that truck only the front axles, parts of the driveline and the cab are still in use. The rest was replaced by the team of Maurer by other components, but also a lot of it is made in the own workshop.

To be able to operat the PK165002 stabily in all directions, they chose the Maurer crane chassis. Instead of the classic method with a subframe on the normal chassis, here the entire chassis is build from scratch. This chassis runs all the way from the front bumper to the rear bumper and was designed to support the forces of the Palfinger crane in all situations. The crane foot is welded directly into this chassis. This is the only way to get this crane with jib on such a chassis and still stay within the 4 meter height limitation.

The crane was installed far to the rear. This place was carefully selected to get a good weight distribution, a good lifting capacity to the rear and still be able to fold the crane nicely between the 3rd and 4th axle.

As you can see here, the truck is not a regular 8x8 anymore. Maurer replaced the rigid rear axles by 2 steering and driven axles. The total weight of 38,5 ton is to much for 4 axles, so a non driven steered axle was placed in the middle. As all axles are steering you now have got a 10x8*10 chassis.

The space between the crane and the cab was filled with a small flatbed. Below that flatbed a cabinet was installed for additional wood for the outriggers. They compensate height differences in sloping surfaces.

A set of additional cabinets was installed behind the crane, they hold all sorts of lifting materials. The MAN has gotten aluminium rims on all axles, they save some weight.

At the rear of the crane chassis another outrigger was mounted. It can extend 75 cm to the rear and offers up to 30 tons of supporting load. With this outrigger, the crane can be used full over the rear of the truck. Additional stability in this case is given by a 4,3 ton piece of ballast that can be installed between the flatbed and the cab.

The leaf springs on the rear axles where replaced by air suspension. The little free space at the chassis was filled with a toolbox and the batteries.

The dieseltank stands directly behind the cab, the filler pipe is at the top of this side cover. The lifting table of the crane was printed on this side cover. The Palfinger PK165002 TEC7 in H-version lifts 25,1 ton at 4,5 meters. At 20,8 meter it can still lift 4,8 tons. For more outreach a PJ1240 jib is available. The combination of a H-version of this crane with a PJ240 E jib is not written in the catalog, but is available via the Tuning-Center.

The jib wasn't installed, but was put in the hal. The 6 extensions give a total outreach of 33,5 meter with 1120 kg capacity. With 1 manual part that becomes 35,5 meter with 870 kg. A MFA jib is also part of the delivery, with that the total outreach becomes 41 meters with 350 kg.

All free space was used for storage. The flatbed can be used to transport larger crane parts, like a glas lifter.

The total length of this vehicle is 9,5 meter and with steering on all axles it is perfect for the many mountain roads and narrow passes in the Wallis area.

The crane had to be stable in all directions, so also to the front. Therefore the crane chassis is installed all the way to the front. The front outrigger is also capable of supporting up to 30 tons of load.

The 5 steering axles are now in the mode for the shortest turning radius. In the steet programm for higher speeds, the rear axles will be blocked. First the 4th axles blocks and with increasing speed the 5th blocks as well. In a different mode it can be prevented that the rear of the truck swings out to far, this especially handy when you have to work very close near walls.

Diagonal driving, also called crab steer, is also possible with this electronically controlled steering system. It offers a lot of interesting posibilities on tight work locations.

With this truck, which took a very long preparation phase, nearly all wishes of Hubag for the perfect crane truck for this region have been fullfilled. The truck is being used a lot, as can be see at the Facebook page of Hubag.

A beautiful truck and a worthy successor of the Steyr!