At the end of May 2005 Multiconvoy, part of the Franckaert Group from St. Gillis Waas (B), took this new Volvo FH16-550 8x4 tractor in use. It got the name “The Multimonster”.

The tractor is equiped with the first Effer 1750 that is delivered in Belgium. The crane has been delivered by Luyckx uit Brecht.

It is a Effer 1750 8S together with a jib 6S. This is the longest available combination that is still foldable behind the cab. It has a hydraulic outreach of almost 32 meters. The Effer 1750 is currently the largest available foldable knuckleboom crane.
The even longer “L” version can also be folded but not behind the cab (has to be turned to the rear). With that version a tractor wouldn’t be possible.

For this kind of cranes a 4-axled chassis is neccesary. The weight of this Volvo alone is about 11 tonnes. The crane, together with outriggers, jib, winch and support frame weigh about 20 tonnes. This means that the weight of the whole tractor is around 31 tonnes. In Belgium it is, combined with a trailer, permitted for 44 tonnes total weight.

Here it clearly visible that cranes of this size need a lot of space. The distance from the rear side of the cab to the end of the crane is about 3 meters, more than a cab’s length.

The truck is equiped with 4 outriggers, 2 large ones at the front at the crane at 2 at the back of the chassis. Between them is a strong support frame. A cut-out had to be made in the frame so that the fifth wheel would be at the correct height. They also mounted holes for twistlocks so that a loading box can be mounted.

Here we can see the new feature of Effer, it is called “Wind and drive” and means that the cable of the winch can stay on the crane when it is folded, even when the jib is mounted. This way the user can directly start lifting when he has unfolded his crane, reeving of the cable isn’t necessary anymore. On top of the outriggers whe find 2 oil coolers that cool the hydraulic oil of the crane.

The base crane has a lifting capacity of 120 ton/mtr and extends 8x to a length of 19,7 meters. Here it still lifts 5,4 tonnes. Also interesting are the lifting capacity’s at heigher heights near to the crane. For instance, at a height of 10 meter it can still lift 29,5 tonnes (at 2 mtr distance) and 13,4 tonnes on 20 meters height (+/- 6,5 mtr outreach).

The jib increases the outreach, by extending 6x, to 31,9 meters. Here it still lifts 1,55 tonnes. We see that the mast is bending strongly, an effect caused by the growing use of stronger steels. Because of these high tension steels the parts can get thinner and lighter but they also bend more.

In the background stands another crane truck of Franckaert, a Mercedes 1935 tractor with a Palfinger crane.

Here we see an advantage of a knuckleboomcrane, namely that with the jib you can work vertically on a specific height. This way the jib can be extended into (window, opening) or between something, where a normal telescopic boom would never be able to come.

Detailed view of the front part of the support frame. Clearly visible is the large gap where the crane has to lie when it is folded together.

Multiconvoy’s 3th crane truck, a Scania R144G-530 6x4 with a Hiab 400 coupled to a 4-axled Nooteboom semi lowloader.

Many thanks to the Franckaert Group for the co-operation and demonstration.