The world's largest, strongest and most powerful reach stacker is currently under construction by Danish company N.C. Nielsen. This heavy-duty machine - which boasts a lifting capacity of 152t from its hook - comes as a response to the many requests from shipping companies, supply bases, harbour terminals and wind turbine producers for a highly mobile machine that is capable of heavy lifting in a safe and efficient manner.
This is not the company's first foray into this area; it already has reach stackers with a lifting capacity of 100t for the wind turbine sector - an industry first at that time.
N.C. Nielsen is once again raising the engineering bar with an even more powerful machine that will offer companies more options, more capabilities and more power.
The new machine is based on a Konecranes 4545 reach stacker. It will have a net weight of 110t, a width of 4.9m, a length (with the boom down) of 15.0m, and will lift 152t from its hook.
The geometry of the product will be reconfigured, with a reinforced boom for 15.4m-high lifts, increased counterweight, larger lifting cylinders, 2m-high decks and a withdrawn undercarriage that allows easy access to the machine.
Most components of the new reach stacker have been enlarged. The process of its creation has taken numerous calculations, trial assemblies and tests in order to succeed. After a very promising development process, the engineers have now found the correct 'formula' for the machine, says technical manager for the company Per Nielsen.
Preparations at N.C. Nielsen are well under way, and the first reach stacker is expected to be ready for delivery by the end of this year. The bespoke reach stackers are being built at the factory in Balling, and N.C. Nielsen expects to put a minor series of the machines into production in 2018 to meet the increasing demand for heavy lifts.
