"A powerful crane which can be set up quickly and easily by few personnel. That's it." This was a thought that Markus Ley had had for many years. The dream of a quick-erection crane with a high lifting capacities in the category over 400 tonnes was one that other crane operators had also mentioned to us. And so we made their dreams come true. In October 2017, Markus Ley, owner of Ley-Krane GmbH und Co. KG, took delivery of the very first LTM 1450-8.1.

Easy handling, fast set-up and the latest technology – those were the specifications for the LTM 1450-8.1 design. The set-up times on site are short – arrive, position the support plates, extend the outriggers, position the ballast slabs, complete the hoist. That means that a second job on the same day is always a possibility. The reason that it works so well is because the 8-axle crane carries most of its equipment with it. Although it is not a holiday, it still feels like "all-inclusive". The LTM 1450-8.1 can carry its 85 metre telescopic boom on public roads with an axle load of 12 tonnes. That is unique! In addition, it also has all four outriggers, tyres of type 445/95 R 25, the winch, the large drive unit, a retarder and the eddy current brake in its suitcase.

But whether it is a minimalist journey or a luxury trip, a very wide range of transport weights and axle load versions were taken into account during the design of the LTM 1450-8.1 to ensure low cost, global mobility. Markus Ley also appreciates the flexibility of the new 450-tonne crane in terms of road licensing. "We bought the "removable telescopic boom" option. That means that in addition to the 96-tonne licence we also have one for a gross weight of less than 60 tonnes. That makes things much easier for us for travelling on public roads."

The ballast radius can be reduced with infinite adjustment from 7 metres to 5 metres using a simple hydraulic swivel mechanism. The VarioBallast® ballast adjustment is of great benefit on constricted sites. For example, a radius of 5 metres corresponds to the value of mobile cranes in the 200-tonne class.

The maximum ballast on the LTM 1450-8.1 is 134 tonnes. To enhance economy, the ballast plates are compatible with the plates from the LTM 1350-6.1, the LTM 1400-7.1 and Liebherr 9-axle mobile cranes. Winch 2 with its adjustment block for luffing jib operation can be installed quickly since it is secured direct to the ballast frame.

And that is quite a long way up. Around 384,000 kilometres on average, to be exact. The LTM 1450-8.1 can manage a telescopic boom length of 85 metres – which is unique in this crane class. It is also extremely powerful as crane driver Roland Richter from BKL Baukran Logistik found to his satisfaction.

After a set-up time of just two hours, he dismantled a 75 metre high construction crane using his new 450-tonne mobile crane – a new record. The whole thing was only possible due to the 85 metre telescopic boom. Rainer Speich, BKL Site Manager in Ingolstadt, confirms: "The long telescopic boom enables us to reduce the set-up time and also means we do not need an auxiliary crane or truck." But that was not the only reason behind the purchase of the LTM 1450-8.1. He goes on: "The crane is incredibly flexible due to VarioBase® and VarioBallast®. We can get it into narrow alleys where previously the best we could offer was a 200-tonne crane."

This article was published in the UpLoad magazine 01 | 2018.