Guay is expanding its crane fleet with the addition of three 700-tonne Liebherr LR 1700-1.0 crawler cranes.
With the new cranes, Guay is meeting the growing demands for lifting capacity and hoisting height for erecting wind turbines in Canada.
The 700 tonne cranes will be the most powerful Liebherr crawler models in the company’s fleet.
“We are seeing a strong increase in demand for new wind farms in our market. The government is investing large sums in green energy to meet the growing demand,” said Guay Executive Vice President Guillaume Gagnon. “We need to invest in larger crawler cranes as wind turbines get heavier and taller.”
The new Liebherr cranes will reinforce the Canadian crane specialist’s fleet and deliver the highest hoisting heights in its crane roster. While Guay plans to mainly use the LR 1700-1.0s on wind farms, the cranes will also be used for construction work.
“We will now be able to erect wind turbines up to 165 metres in height and the maximum hook height of 196 metres will enable us to work on tall buildings,” Gagnon said. “After completing our research, the high lifting capacity and small footprint proved to be the perfect combination for us.”
Innovative crane tech
The LR 1700-1.0 from Liebherr combines the benefits of economical transport in the 600-tonne class with the performance of lattice boom cranes in the 750-tonne class, as well as all innovations featured in Liebherr’s crawler crane developments from the last few years, such as VarioTray and V-Frame.
VarioTray is a small counterweight frame that can be quickly unbolted. This eliminates the need stacking and unstacking of counterweight plates.
The V-frame ballast system is a hydraulically adjustable folding frame that enables the ballast radius of the LR 1700-1.0 to be adjusted between 13 and 21 metres.
“The V-Frame increases the crane’s capacity and flexibility to do all the work we have planned,” Gagnon said.
“VarioTray saves us time when working on wind power projects because we only need a lot of counterweight to erect long boom configurations. We have been working with Liebherr for a long time. We like the fact that Liebherr continually creates innovations that drive the industry forward.”
Guay approaches 60th anniversary
Guay is one of the largest privately-owned crane companies in Canada with more than 20 outlets in Quebec.
Jean-Marc Baronet founded the company in 1964 and is still owner and president at the age of 92. His goal has always been to continue to deliver new solutions to his customers by investing in new technologies and larger equipment.
Today, the company employs around 625 people and operates more than 500 cranes of various types.
Next year, Guay will celebrate its 60th anniversary.
