Hoeflon C30e swaps timber beams for steel in barn renovation

The brief was straightforward to describe and awkward to execute: take the large wooden beams out of an existing barn structure and set steel beams in their place. The work had to happen inside the building, between the original timber frame, where there was little room to move and no way to bring in a conventional crane.

The crews deployed a Hoeflon C30e, the Dutch manufacturer’s electric tracked mini crane, equipped with the Jib 5 fly jib and the Multitool HD. The machine’s compact footprint allowed it to be positioned close to the work area, while the jib supplied the extra reach needed to feed the new beams up into the roof structure and place them under full control.

Multiclaw grips the steel

For handling the beams themselves, the Multitool HD was fitted with the Multiclaw HD, a gripper developed specifically for picking up, moving and positioning beams, pipes and other structural components. Endless rotation meant each beam could be turned into exactly the right orientation before being offered up to its seat, a decisive advantage with walls and rafters closing in on all sides.

The Multitool HD handles loads of up to 3,000 kg, which gave the team ample margin for the steel sections and left the same machine available for the other lifting and assembly tasks on site.

One machine, several trades

According to Hoeflon, the project illustrates a pattern familiar from renovation and restoration work: precision matters at least as much as raw capacity. Being able to dismantle the old timber, bring in the replacement steel and position it accurately with a single compact machine kept the workflow on site efficient, and showed how the crane, jib and attachments are designed to complement one another.