Gulf Construction Online - Liebherr lines up innovations

Excavators

The A 904 C Litronic mobile excavator has been completely revised.

Liebherr lines up innovations

Liebherr is set to launch on the market a range of new and upgraded excavators – among its extensive line-up of other construction machinery – at this month's bauma trade fair in Germany.

01 March 2004

AS THE world’s largest manufacturer of mobile excavators, Liebherr is using the bauma 2004 (March 29 to April 4) to introduce several new and revised models.

Two newcomers to be displayed in the compact excavator class, which have service weights of 10 and 12 tonnes respectively, have been specially designed for the limited space available on inner city construction sites and for use in landscape gardening.
Thanks to their compact measurements and agile working-equipment kinematics, these excavators can operate within an envelope just 4.40 and 4.60 m in diameter, respectively. The new compact excavators have innovative technological features and the highest levels of operating convenience, says a Germany-based spokesman for the company.
In the 20-tonne class, the A 904 C Litronic mobile excavator has been completely revised in time for bauma. This model will be exhibited on the stand in both the standard civil engineering and the material handling versions. Visitors will be able to study the special-purpose attachments that enhance the economic viability of these machines during practical demonstrations.
Depending on the undercarriage and equipment specification, the standard version of the A 904 Litronic C weighs between 18 and 20.5 tonnes and is powered by a 99 kW (135 hp) Liebherr diesel engine. The modular Liebherr quick-change system allows all mechanical and hydraulic attachments to be changed from the operator’s cabin in a matter of seconds, he says.
“The new A 904 C Litronic, with an under-carriage supported by four-point outriggers, eight all-terrain tyres and modified working equipment has been specifically intended for industrial material handling. The driver’s cabin can be raised hydraulically to a sightline up to five metres above the ground. The Liebherr multi-coupling system on the A 904 C Litronic ‘industrial application’ permits quick and easy changeover from orange-peel grab to electromagnet or other material handling tools,” he says.
Liebherr is also exhibiting a further mobile excavator for industrial material handling - the A 944 B-HD Litronic. The excavator, which weighs 52 tonnes, is supported by four-point outriggers on the undercarriage and rides on four solid rubber tyres, giving it all-terrain capability. With its 9.5-m-long industrial monobloc boom and eight-metre-long arm, the A 944 B-HD Litronic has an outreach of more than 18 m measured from the slewing axis and is powered by a six-cylinder, 180 kW (245 hp) Liebherr diesel engine. In addition, at the show will be Liebherr’s seven new and redesigned machines from its crawler excavator range. The smallest of these is the R 904 C Litronic, which weighs about 21 tonnes and is powered by a new 99 kW, four-cylinder Liebherr diesel engine that conforms with the latest exhaust and noise emission limits. Its enlarged driver’s cabin offers greater comfort and space to move around, with an ideal view of the work site.
“The elegant design of the R 904 C’s super-structure is another impressive feature,” he says.
A special excavator for use in demolition is the R 934 B VD-HD Litronic with a backhoe attachment and demolition equipment capable of reaching heights of up to 18 m, will also be featured at the Munich show. Weighing up to 42.6 tonnes this excavator is powered by a 145 kW engine. The width of the crawler tracks can be adjusted hydraulically to simplify transport of the machine.
Liebherr also plans to introduce the completely redesigned 48-tonne R 954 C Litronic crawler excavator featuring new, robust, yet lighter equipment, a new steel structure, a modernised superstructure design and a comfortable, spacious cabin. The R 954 C Litronic is powered by a Liebherr six-cylinder inline engine with a power output of 240 kW.
Major details of the 65-tonne Liebherr R 964 B crawler excavator have also been improved, in particular, the new spacious, comfortable cabin. The engine now delivers 282 kW, and the excavator on display is equipped with a 3.4 cu m rock shovel.
An ideal machine for tough operating conditions, such as quarrying or bulk earthmoving, is the 119-tonne R 984 C Litronic crawler excavator, which Liebherr is exhibiting at bauma. Its power comes from a six-cylinder Cummins diesel engine rated at 504 kW. The exhibit is equipped with a 7.8-m-long monobloc boom, a 3.4-m-long arm and a 7.0 cu m backhoe.
The Liebherr range of large hydraulic excavators for use in mining is represented at bauma 2004 by the latest model, the 300-tonne R 994 B Litronic. This is the first time that this large machine, with an 18 cu. m shovel, will be on show at a European trade fair. The R 994 B Litronic has already been well-received by the market, and has a power output of 1,120 kW, he says.
Liebherr has grown into a worldwide group with over 80 locations and more than 22,000 employees, and is presenting many new and ongoing developments from all areas of its extensive construction machinery programme on a 10,000 sq m stand.
Over 70 exhibits will be on view, including hydraulic excavators, mining trucks, crawler tractors and loaders, pipe layers, wheel loaders, crawler cranes, piling and drilling rigs, mobile cranes, tower cranes, concrete mixing plant and truck mixers. From a purely visual aspect, the superlatives include the 80-m high 630 EC-H tower crane and the new T 282 B mining truck with over 360-tonne payload.
Also on display will be the PR 724 and the PR 734 Litronic crawler tractors, two new Series ‘B’ crawler loaders - the LR 622 B Litronic and the LR 632 B Litronic; the new stereo loader range that includes five models - L 506Stereo, L 507Stereo, and L 508Stereo, L 509Stereo and L 510Stereo; ‘Holzknecht’ a special additional attachment for industrial materials and timber handling with heavy equipment such as lumber grabs or high-level dumper buckets; the versatile and compact LRB 125 pile-driving and drilling rig; the Liebherr HS 855 HD hydraulic rope excavator; the LR 1200 hydraulic crawler crane, which claims a world first in having a capacity to lift a maximum load of 200 tonnes; the 400-tonne ‘narrow-track’ crawler crane for wind-power farms; the new 750-tonne lattice-tower mobile crane; the LTM 1080/1 mobile crane with improved load capacity and outreach; the new LTM 1220/1 mobile crane; and the new seven-axle LTM 1400/1 mobile crane designed to fill the gap between the six-axle 300-tonner and the eight-axle 500-tonner.
This apart, the company will feature other innovations including the new LTC 1055 compact crane; the MK 100 mobile construction crane; the new 32 H and the new 42 K.1 fast-erecting crane; a wide range of truck mixers; and new mobile tower mixer and horizontal mixing plant.