Australia's biggest Grove mobile

Sydney, Australia-based Melrose Cranes & Rigging has taken delivery of the country's first Grove GMK7450. the 450 tonne capacity machine is thought to be the largest AT crane in the state of New South Wales.

According to Gregg Melrose, company co-owner, the ease of travel and lifting ability of the GMK7450 were key factors behind the investment.

“We studied the market hard and were really attracted by the versatility and capacity of the Grove 7450,” he said. “It is road legal in our state of New South Wales when travelling with the boom and that was a massive factor. Other large all-terrain cranes-even some with lower capacities than the Grove-must remove the boom to legally travel. We can road the Grove's 7450 with the boom dolly and that is going to make it a very cost efficient heavy lift solution.”

Melrose will use the crane for a variety of construction tasks including tower crane erection, handling pre-cast concrete sections, placing air conditioning units and tilt-up work with concrete panels. It will also put the crane to work in power plants and mining facilities.

The Grove GMK7450 is a 7-axle all-terrain crane with a maximum capacity of 450 tonnes. It has a 60 m main boom and a gross vehicle weight of 80.4 tonnes.