Sany crawler crane claims world’s tonnage record with 4500t capacity

Staff Report,

9 Dec 2021

With maximum lifting moment of over 98,000 tm, new SCC45000A able to hoist equivalent of 3,000 standard sedan cars

Sany has claimed the world record for the biggest lifting capacity for cranes with its new SCC9800TM crawler crane, a 4,500-tonner delivered to a customer in the last quarter of 2021.

According to the Chinese manufacturer, the crane has a maximum lifting moment of over 98,000 tm and a maximum lifting weight of 4,500t, and is theoretically able to hoist more than 3,000 standard sedan cars, outperforming all similar products. This makes it the crane with the largest lifting capacity to date in human history among crawler or mobile cranes, Sany added.

The 4500t SCC9800TM follows Sany succession of world records for crawler crane lift capacities. The company had earlier set new records of 3,600t in 2011 and 4,000t in 2020 and has now pushed the limit to a new high of 4,500t.

Sany said in an announcement that the “enormous amount of physical space the crane occupies is jaw dropping”. It has four tracks, eight engines, a two-boom reach of 216m, a superlift mast, a counterweight and a hook, and covers an area of nearly 4,200sqm, which is equivalent to the size of 10 basketball courts. Qin Xuqi, director, Sany Crawler Crane Institute, said it takes at least 200 units of 30-ton flatbed trucks to transport the crane components.

Sany adds that beyond its size and capacity, the SCC9800TM has the unique, transformer-like capability of integrating and dividing into different parts. Based on modular design and finite element simulation technology, 95% of parts on the crane are interchangeable with those on Sany’s other large-tonnage models.

“This means that by replacing only a few parts, this giant iron beast can be disassembled into independent 2,000t crawler cranes, undertaking more complex tasks in a joint operation,” said the manufacturer.

Despite its colossal-sized body, the controllability and mobility of the SCC98000TM is not compromised compared to smaller products, and Xuqi added: “With an independently actuated superlift counterweight system, a digital rotation drive and an integrated control system, the machine features superior smoothness and millimetre-scale precision in operation.”