UNIC URW-706 Lifts New Church Bells Into Hostivice Tower

A 19-centimetre margin: the spider crane lift that became a village spectacle in Bohemia

A UNIC URW-706 spider crane operated by Czech dealer KMB Stavební Servis has installed two new bells in the tower of St James’ Church in Hostivice, threading them through an opening only 19cm taller than the largest bell.

A rehearsal before the crowds

The work took place over the weekend of 26 and 27 July, timed to coincide with a village festival. On the Saturday the team removed the old St Wenceslas bell and carried out a rehearsal lift, checking the sequence before an audience arrived.

Sunday brought the installation proper, with the new St James and St Lawrence bells lifted into the tower in front of residents, church representatives and local officials.

Nineteen centimetres of clearance

The technical challenge was the tower opening. The window through which the bells had to pass was just 19 centimetres taller than the largest of them, leaving no room for a swinging load or an approximate approach.

That level of tolerance is what put a compact crawler crane on the job. The URW-706 was small enough to set up on the ground beside the church yet capable of lifting the bells with the fine positional control the opening demanded, allowing each unit to be presented squarely and fed through without contact.

Remote control as a talking point

For part of the operation the crane was driven by radio remote control, with the operator standing clear of the machine. According to KMB, the sight of a crane of that size being guided smoothly from a distance surprised many of the spectators and became one of the talking points of the day.

Remote operation is standard on machines of this class, and on a lift with 19cm of clearance it has a practical benefit beyond showmanship: the operator can stand where the critical gap is actually visible rather than working from a fixed cab position with a spotter relaying instructions.

The lift also had an audience dimension that most crane work does not. Because the installation formed part of a public festival, the operation had to run to a fixed time in front of a crowd, which is why the rehearsal on the Saturday mattered as much as the lift itself.

UNIC Cranes Europe credited KMB’s experience for the outcome. The dealer has held the UNIC franchise for the Czech Republic and Slovakia for many years and handles a broad range of sensitive lifting work, from historic restoration to industrial installation. The bells now ring from the Hostivice tower.