Born in northern Europe during WW 2, the hydraulic knuckleboom truck crane has become an established accessory to European trucks.  This has not been the case in the USA where even today the total US market volume is less than that of England, Germany or France. 

However, during the past five years there has been a steady  increase in the US market,  although the vast majority of these cranes are still imported from Europe. Ironically, the reason for this increase is due to the development of the Euro product. 

This European market is highly competitive, resulting in manufacturers continually developing and improving their product in an effort to gain an edge -  safer, stronger, lighter, more compact and all with price in mind.  The most dramatic of these developments was the introduction  of  longer reach cranes.  From the 25' of the 1960's' to the now common horizontal reaches of 75' plus,  - in a fully foldable crane. These knucklebooms  are designed for horizontal reach whereas telescopic /stiff boom cranes are  is designed for vertical reach with comparatively poor side reach capacity. 

The long reach knuckleboom is  therefore ideal for the construction  industry, especially in truss/roofing work. It is lighter, takes less space on the truck, can be used with or without a winch and - it tucks itself away behind the cab or at the tail end leaving an open cargo truck bed.  At the same time the European manufacturers began to increase the size and capacity of these cranes and we now have several models in the 80 ton meter range. Unfortunately, all of these cranes are primarily designed for the Euro market.

Three years ago a local crane importer decided to reverse the trend of importing European cranes and adapting them for US use.  What was needed was a European manufacturer  who would build cranes specifically for US applications while conforming to the very high Euro quality standards.  It took more than six months to find such a manufacturer.

Earlier this year the first of these special cranes made its debut in what is without doubt the toughest application for a knuckleboom truck crane, the handling of wallboard. 

The JABCO 'Silver Edition' JT 240 (a 24 tm ) took more than a year to develop and six months on one of the severest test -beds in the industry. Each and every problem that such a crane would face was countered and every change was carefully supervised by this new US/Italian partnership. 

The 'Silver Edition' started with a clean sheet of paper and an extensive list of crane problems in the wallboard handling business recorded over the past 15 years. These included:

PROBLEM - Rotation wear & tear. These cranes work on uneven construction sites. We need higher torque, stronger components. The test unit was set on a marine crane test rack  - at a lean of  8 deg.   Maximum load at full reach. Lift and rotate for months. Check and double check. Re-design and strengthen where necessary.

PROBLEM  - Cracking in base and column. Re-design, strengthen, reinforce. Test and re-test.

PROBLEM - Deflection.  When offloading board from a pallet fork in a second/ third floor door or window, the boom begins to raise as the load decreases. The result is often that the tip of the boom jams itself against the top of the door/window opening.  Calculations were made with four competitive cranes. The deflection averaged 11".  The JT 240 at max reach is under 4".

PROBLEM - Vibration in transit.  Bolt down, support and beef up any part that could shake itself loose.

PROBLEM - Hoses and fittings. Must be US/JIC sizes. Done.

PROBLEM - Seat controls. The European type seat controls are simply not built for the average U.S. operator. The 'Silver Edition' seat operation was designed in USA.

The first JT 240's have been in operation for five months. The 'Silver Edition' is now a working reality and the second model in the range - the JT 320 (32 tm) is in shipment. Look out for these bright silver cranes, designed and built for the job.

What's next? Check the JABCO web site at - www.jabco-cranes.com.