While 2021 is expected to be just as challenging as 2020, Condra Cranes is confident of the prospects for the year ahead after emerging from the past year strong.

The company reported steady sales of overhead cranes, hoists, end-carriages and other components into Central Africa, South America, North America and Europe during 2020.

For Condra, 2020 also marked the first delivery of its fully automated crane, an increase in refurbishment contracts, a significant pipeline for new cranes and the development of technically complex cranes.

“As 2020 kicked off, the company delivered its first fully automated crane to Lonmin’s Marikana mine,” a Condra spokesperson says, noting that the 16 t, 16-m-span double-girder electric overhead travelling grabbing crane represents a technological step forward.

The automated crane features remotely programmable variable-speed drives fitted throughout, delivering maximum speeds of 10 m a minute on the lift and 20 m and 40 m a minute on the cross-travel and long-travel respectively, and its preprogrammable control of the four long-travel motors enables precise crane positioning accurate to within 5 mm.

Condra now offers automation across its product range as an alternative to traditional pendant and remote control.

Meanwhile, as customers sought immediate cost savings over buying new, as well as the need for continued production with an as-new machine already familiar to operators without the need for retraining, intermittent refurbishment work materialised during the past year.

“Besides its own machines, Condra refurbished competitors’ cranes and a small number of overhead units originally made by companies now closed,” Condra comments.

However, despite the rise in demand for refurbished cranes, orders for new cranes remained significantly high.

“Although prices are higher than refurbished equivalents, new cranes promise lower operating costs, reduced projected overall lifetime costs and more efficient operation resulting from increased speeds, lower weights and lower electricity consumption,” a Condra spokesperson explains, noting that modern hoists are as much as 50% lighter than they were 30 years ago, and the consequent reduction in crane weight reduces the rate of wear on the overall factory structure.

In April, Condra started the manufacture of a technically complex maintenance crane for a dragline excavator house, where working space is severely constrained by dragline motors, gearboxes and large hydraulic cylinders.

“Overcoming these restrictions, the crane’s 12.5 t hoist was designed as a beam-changing machine with an interlock to prevent the hoist from leaving it unless the crane is securely connected to the selected beam. An anti-derailment limit switch prevents hoist movement until the beams are locked together,” the company explains.

“Other orders of equal technical challenge were received for telescopic cranes capable of delivery and retrieval beyond the supporting gantry. Multiple double-girder telescopic machines were last year installed at a chemicals plant and refinery furnace.”

Condra also manufactured high-lift cranes and hoists throughout 2020. The record for the year was a lift height of 41 m; however, the installed base has for many years included lift heights as high as 150 m.