Hydraulic booms, battery power and basket rides: Böcker’s 360° Höhentage in Werne
Böcker opened its Werne works to customers and dealers in mid-June for the 2026 edition of its 360° Höhentage, with two new NeXt Generation cranes and the award-winning battery-electric AK 48e taking the leading roles.
Two cranes with fully hydraulic booms
The strongest pull at the two-day open house was the pair of NeXt Generation machines. The AHK 36e X trailer crane and the AK 37 X truck crane both carry a twin-stage, fully hydraulic telescoping boom, a departure from the mechanically extended jibs that have long been standard on this class of aluminium crane. Because the boom can be run out under radio control from the ground, operators can use the full extension length in situations where a mechanical jib would have to be set at a fixed length before the crane goes up, and they gain working height when the crane is used with a man basket.
Visitors were able to compare the two against the wider Böcker range, which also covers inclined hoists and rack-and-pinion hoists. The third machine drawing attention was the AK 48e, the battery-electric truck crane that had just been voted Product of the Year 2026 in a trade magazine readers’ poll.
Basket rides above the works
Rather than leaving the machines standing on a hardstanding, Böcker put most of them to work. Truck and trailer cranes carried visitors in the man basket high above the factory site, and the Super-Lift MX 2024 rack-and-pinion hoist offered a further vantage point from its platform. Demonstrations of this kind are the reason many dealers travel to the event: they let a prospective buyer judge set-up time, slewing behaviour and basket comfort without booking a demonstration on their own site.
Logistics centre, service and training
The event doubled as the official opening of the new automated logistics centre at the Werne headquarters. Guided tours through the building gave visitors a look at the automated racking and at the depth of in-house manufacturing behind the crane range.
The Böcker service team used the two days to set out its maintenance, repair, inspection and training offering. Inspection regimes and operator competence decide how much a crane actually earns over its life, and the consultation stands were busy accordingly. Visitors could also sit a free annual safety briefing on the correct handling of crane equipment.
Between the machine demonstrations, the event ran as a trade gathering: catering, cold drinks in high summer temperatures, water-filled tipping skips pressed into service as a cooling-off point, and a Friday evening party to close proceedings. National and international customers, dealers and business partners attended.
Source: Böcker — Photos: Böcker