Crane manufacturer Konecranes launched a new CXT UNO overhead crane in January for small and medium-sized construction, materials handling and logistics companies in Southern Africa.

The CXT Uno crane designed is based on Konecranes’ existing CXT components, and delivers many of the industry-leading strengths of the CXT line at a lower price, thanks to certain downscaled technical features, says the company.

Konecranes CEO Knut Stewen explains that the CXT line of crane components is unique, owing to their light weight, that they are safe to manoeuvre while being used and their overall promotion of low power consumption.

He says the simplistic design – focusing on the essential features and core components, and everyday lifting – together with easy access to spare parts across South Africa, makes the CXT UNO easy to maintain.

“The design draws from input collected from other CXT cranes operating in the field and prioritises solving issues such as quality and reliability problems that could occur.”

The crane is fitted with a radio controller and can lift 10 t up to 9 m above the ground and travel with this weight at two speeds, depending on operating needs.

It operates on a two-speed trolley travelling and hoisting movement and an inverter-based bridge. He says a building using the crane must be fitted with a crane gantry and rails for the crane to travel on, designed according to approved standards set out by the Occupational Health and Safety Act No 85 of 1993. The standards are there to ensure that cranes do not fail while under load.

The CXT UNO is sold and delivered as a predesigned package, and Konecranes is
“. . . very confident that it will be a very popular crane in Southern Africa”, Stewen points out.

“The CXT UNO is important for us in today’s market because it expands our product offering into a segment where we haven’t been present before,” he adds.

Further, the CXT UNO is a stock concept, which means that the components to build, install and repair the crane are created and kept in storage centres across South Africa, which has limited the time required to install a new crane. The framework to install it in a structure can be built within a few weeks.

Stewen concludes that, although the CXT UNO is a simpler design, the maintenance of the crane should only be done by professionals to ensure a longer operating life.