Hoeflon C30e threads steel beams into barn on German renovation job

Hoeflon C30e with Jib 5 and Multitool HD swaps timber for steel inside a cramped barn

Replacing heavy wooden beams with steel in a standing structure left little room to work, so German dealer Robert Kappel GmbH and operator Baur Minikran sent in a Hoeflon C30e mini crane fitted with the Jib 5 and the rotating Multitool HD.

The renovation called for large timber beams in an existing barn to be taken out and replaced with steel sections, all within the confines of the standing building. A conventional crane had no way in, and the structure around the work area limited every movement. The compact tracked C30e could be driven close to the lifting positions, while the Jib 5 extended its reach deeper into the building.

Multiclaw handles the beams

For this job the Multitool HD was fitted with the Multiclaw HD, an attachment Hoeflon developed for gripping, carrying and positioning beams, pipes and similar structural components. Its endless rotation lets the operator turn a load into exactly the right orientation even where the surrounding structure leaves little clearance, a decisive advantage when a steel beam has to be slotted into the footprint of the timber it replaces.

The Multitool HD is rated for loads of up to 3,000 kg, which gave the team ample margin for the steel sections while keeping the whole operation on a single compact machine. According to Hoeflon, combining the crane, jib and tool in this way meant several operations could be carried out without changing equipment, keeping the workflow on site efficient.

Renovation work rewards precision

In renovation and restoration, placing accuracy counts for as much as raw capacity. The manufacturer points to the combination of C30e, Jib 5 and Multitool HD as a way to lift structural components under full control and set them down precisely in spots a larger crane could never reach, let alone enter.

For Hoeflon the job doubles as a showcase of its attachment philosophy: the mini crane provides the base capacity and compact footprint, and the tool carrier turns it into a beam handler. The Barneveld-built C30e has become a regular sight on exactly this kind of confined structural work across Europe, and dealer demonstrations like this one are how the Dutch manufacturer argues the case.