The staff at Steve Foster Cranes swears by Tadano – more than half of the company’s fleet consists of cranes from this manufacturer. And two additional ones were added recently: a Tadano ATF-220-5.1 and an ATF 100G-4.
“Our preference for this brand is due to a number of factors, including the two-engine design that is used on all Tadano cranes with more than three axles. It’s a technical feature that we attach enormous importance to,” explains Steve Foster Cranes Director John Foster. The crane professionals from Derbyshire also value the two Tadano all-terrain cranes’ roadability – in the UK, the ATF-220-5.1 can be driven on public roads with a counterweight of 18.3 tonnes, which increases to 22.5 tonnes with the ATF 100G-4.
The ATF-220-5.1 was sent to take care of its first project directly after the handover: It was used to install a 100-tonne overhead crane inside a building, where the Tadano crane was able to show off its powerful performance characteristics. In fact, the job came with challenges that made these characteristics necessary: The overhead crane’s 38-tonne steel girders had to be lifted despite a “headroom” of only eight meters – a task that the ATF-220-5.1 tackled with aplomb. “This was precisely the type of demanding job for which we got this crane,” explains John Foster.
From Steve Foster Cranes’ perspective, the main factors that played a role in buying the ATF 100G-4 were its proven reliability and well-known performance – both of which, are characteristics that the Derbyshire-based crane service provider considers to be an integral part of every Tadano crane. It should come as no surprise then that Steve Foster ordered a total of four Tadano cranes in the last year alone: an ATF 60G-3 and an ATF 130G5 in addition to the aforementioned ATF 100G-4 and ATF-220-5.1. “We think that’s a pretty clear sign of the trust we’ve earned from a successful customer that continues to grow despite the challenging times brought about by the pandemic,” points out Tadano Crane Sales Manager Paul Goodall.
