The high performance of the X3 system is based on three lattice sections, each twelve metres long and six metres wide, in the lower section of the main boom. The increased width significantly enhances the boom’s lateral stiffness, offering decisive advantages particularly with long boom lengths and high lifting heights.
The wide boom sections consist of two halves that can be bolted together at the centre and detached again in a very short time. For transport, the individual halves are slightly offset lengthways and joined together so that they interlock like teeth. This enables a practical transport width of 3.5 metres to be achieved.
“Our long-standing customer ENERCON has expanded its product range to include various tower variants and therefore requires more crawler cranes in the 1,000-tonne class. With the X3 boom of the LR 1800-1.0, we can erect both current and future turbine types for which the LR 11000 was previously required,” says Managing Director Wolfgang Gertzen.
Successful maiden deployment at the Heiden wind farm
The retrofitted LR 1800-1.0 completed its first practical deployment at the Heiden wind farm. There, Gertzen erected ENERCON E-160 EP5 wind turbines with a tower height of 166 metres. This type of turbine had previously been installed using the Liebherr LR 11000 crawler crane.
To install the generator, the LR 1800-1.0 was configured with a 166-metre-long main boom and a 12-metre-long fixed jib F. To install the rotor blades the fixed jib was extended to 24 metres. The heaviest single component was the generator, with a net weight of 131 tonnes. The nacelle weighed in at 82 tonnes.
Significantly expanded service portfolio
With this retrofit, Gertzen is strengthening its position even further in the growing market segment for large wind turbines. Thanks to the X3 system, the LR 1800-1.0 can now undertake tasks that were previously the preserve of larger cranes.
“We are very satisfied with the LR 1800-1.0. With the new update, the crane has become really powerful and our service portfolio has been greatly expanded. We can now erect wind turbines for our customers that would not have been possible without the X3 kit,” explains Wolfgang Gertzen.
Tried-and-tested foundation, new possibilities
With the X3 boom system, Liebherr is specifically expanding the LR 1800-1.0’s range of applications to meet the requirements of modern wind power projects. The combination of high performance, an efficient transport concept and flexible configuration options offers crane operators additional possibilities when erecting ever-taller wind turbines.
