An MK 88-4.1 joins Mikschl Autokrane’s Bavarian mobile construction crane fleet
Bavarian crane hire firm Mikschl Autokrane has put a Liebherr MK 88-4.1 into service, its fourth mobile construction crane from the Biberach plant. The company points to steadily broadening applications for the MK class as the reason for the purchase.
Fourth MK on the yard
Mikschl Autokrane GmbH, based at Aichach between Augsburg and Munich, has taken delivery of a Liebherr MK 88-4.1 mobile construction crane. It joins three Liebherr MKs already working out of the depot — an MK 88, an MK 100 and an MK 140 — making the mobile construction crane the backbone of the company’s short-duration lifting work.
The MK concept sits between a truck crane and a fast-erecting tower crane: the machine drives to site on its own carrier, unfolds a horizontal or luffed jib in minutes and needs no support vehicles or assembly crew. That is what allows an operator to treat it as a taxi crane and serve several sites in a single working day, which is precisely how Mikschl intends to use the new unit.
Rising demand for that way of working, and a widening range of jobs the cranes are asked to cover, were the reasons the company gives for the purchase.
Reach rather than raw capacity
Liebherr quotes a maximum radius of 45 metres and a maximum hook height of 59.1 metres for the MK 88-4.1 — figures that matter far more than peak lifting capacity on the jobs the firm takes on. The company lists roof work, solar installations, and antenna and façade construction as its main areas of application, all of them cases where the crane has to reach over an obstruction from a tight standing position rather than pick a single heavy load. With four machines now spanning the MK 88 to MK 140 brackets, the company can match jib length to the job instead of sending its largest available crane to every call-out.
“With the new MK 88-4.1, we can offer our customers even more flexible and faster solutions. The increasing demand for MK cranes reflects the growing dynamics and requirements in various construction projects.”
— Roland Mikschl, owner, Mikschl Autokrane GmbH
A Liebherr-heavy mixed fleet
Alongside the mobile construction cranes from Biberach, Mikschl runs Liebherr LTC and LTM mobile cranes built at Ehingen. The business was founded in 1988 and works mainly for industrial, construction and transport customers; its fleet also includes lorries, tractor units, semi-trailers and trailers with a range of additional and loading equipment, so crane work is frequently combined with the transport of the loads being lifted.
Source: Liebherr — Photos: Liebherr