According to the European Architectural Barometre, every third construction project in Europe uses prefabricated parts. A trend with significant implications for the tower crane industry calling for higher capacity cranes.

WOLFFKRAN's answer to this is its new WOLFF 8076 Compact. The latest member of the WOLFF pack has a maximum jib radius of 80 metres and is WOLFFKRAN's first trolley jib crane in the 800-metre-tonne range. And yet, its high lifting capacity is not its only convincing characteristic.

"We wanted to design a large yet economical crane and get the maximum capacity out of the steel structure. That's why we opted for a low-top design, which we call Compact," says Wouter van Loon, Product Manager at WOLFFKRAN. Despite a tower top around 10 metres lower than that of a WOLFF Cross model, the WOLFF 8076 Compact offers a maximum lifting capacity of 40 tonnes and a tip load capacity of 8.4 tonnes at 80 metres. "And that as a pure 2-fall crane, making the WOLFF 8076 Compact not only the strongest saddle jib crane in our range but also best-in-class compared to its competitors," says van Loon.

Also new is the four-chord design of the first three jib sections instead of the usual three-chord design. “This allowed us to optimise the transfer of forces along the jib and reduce individual components weights, resulting in around 40% higher lifting capacity than with the three-chord design,” explains van Loon.

Standing tall

The WOLFF 8076 Compact connects to the 2.9 x 2.9 metre TV 29 tower system. Combined with the next-largest WOLFF TV 33 tower system, a freestanding height of up 100 metres can be achieved – a time-saving and economical solution for high-rise buildings or bridge projects where tie-ins are not possible. The proven and powerful 132-kW HW 40132 FU hoist winch allows for operating speeds of up to 95 m/min, ensuring fast turnaround times even at great tower heights. Even the maximum load of 40 tonnes is still lifted at 17 m/min

Strong team player

The jib of the WOLFF 8076 Compact can be extended from 30 to 80 metres in 5-metre increments. A hoist rope support on the jib reduces rope slack from 10 to only 1.5 metres, lowering the risk of another crane getting caught in the hoist rope when slewing. The counter jib can also be shortened from 30.3 to 22.3 metres, depending on the maximum jib radius. In combination with its compact tower top, the new XXL crane is therefore also well suited for construction sites where cranes operate close to one another, and the overall crane concept has to be kept low. For example, when fitted with a 55-metre jib and shortened counter jib, it offers a tip load capacity of 16.6 tonnes, making it an ideal crane even on multi-crane job sites requiring high lifting capacities.

Thanks to the compact tower top and four-chord jib design, the WOLFF 8076 Compact can be erected using a standard 350-tonne mobile crane. An auxiliary device on the tower top enables the erection team to align the tie rods of the jib and counter jib without a mobile crane.

A wider access to the cab, a maintenance platform for the slewing drive, and galvanized Class-1 access to the trolley drive and hoist winch further increase safety and comfort during erection and maintenance. The standard feature package is extensive as usual. It includes electronic overload protection with WOLFF Boost, an anti-collision interface, fine drive modes, automatic power optimisation of the trolley and hoisting gear, and the WOLFF Link remote maintenance system with a real-time view of the crane display.