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 In late November 2020, Scottish steelwork contractor J&D Pierce took delivery of six new Grove all-terrain cranes: two GMK3060L, one GMK4090, two GMK4100L-1 and one GMK5150L model. After a short commissioning period, Grove service engineers carried out familiarization training with the operators to help them get the most out of the new cranes. J&D Pierce is no stranger to Grove, however. The Glengarnock, Ayrshire-based business bought its first Grove crane in 1997 and has purchased approximately 12 more units since. Today, every model in its fleet of nine cranes is a Grove.

鈥淲hat keeps us coming back to Grove is the quality of the cranes and the good relationship we have with the Manitowoc service team,鈥� said Derek Pierce, managing director of J&D Pierce.

鈥淕rove cranes have strong loads charts, long booms, are compact on site and operate quickly, which makes them ideal steel erecting cranes,鈥� he continued. 鈥淥ur cranes are on site almost all the time and there is never a lot of downtime 鈥� but if we do, on a rare occasion, have an issue, the service we get from Manitowoc is very good. We have a good relationship with the service team.鈥�

J&D Pierce chose the two 60 t GMK3060L and the 100 t GMK4100L-1 cranes as upgrades to four of their five-year-old Grove models. The 90 t GMK4090 and 150 t GMK5150L were entirely new additions. The 100 and 150 tonners went straight to South Wales to help construct the new Swansea Arena, while the 60 and 90 tonners travelled to Gateshead to work on a new distribution warehouse, involving the assembly of 11,000 t of steel.

Grove cranes with optimised roadability

J&D Pierce鈥檚 fleet of Grove cranes work the length and breadth of the country on some of the UK鈥檚 largest construction projects. Travelling to job sites, wherever they may be, will never be a problem for the company鈥檚 cranes. Roading is important and is why Manitowoc introduced the GMK4100L-1 with three counterweight versions. One flexible version, for both 12 t and 16.5 t axle roading regulations, one for 12t/axle configurations and one for 16.5 t/axle configurations.

The new GMK4100L-1 for J&D Pierce comes in a 16.5 t/axle counterweight version, especially beneficial for UK roading requirements. The 10 t counterweight slabs are already attached to the superstructure with the remaining weight lying on the carrier deck. All the operator needs to do is rotate the superstructure, pick up the extra counterweight and start working. This makes rigging more convenient and saves time on the job site as the crane set-up can be completed faster.

Image James Leishman, sales manager at Manitowoc UK, presents Derek Pierce, managing director of J&D Pierce, with a ceremonial key representing the handover of the cranes. Specialising in the design, fabrication, painting and site erection of structural steel work, J&D Pierce is one of the UK鈥檚 leading structural steelwork contractors. Since its early days, the company has grown to employ 350 people and produce more than 1,000 t of steelwork a week from its 3,00,000 sq ft factory. The contractor has also gained a wide reputation for innovation, quality and adaptability in today鈥檚 competitive, changing industry 鈥� characteristics which Grove strives to match in its cranes.