A Jordanian Tale of Two Cranes - Cranes Today Magazine 1999

 A Jordanian Tale of Two Cranes

In the second of our two features from under-reported parts of the world, Yousef Mousa, principal of Yousef Mousa Crane Company, offers an insight into the values of a crane owner in Jordan.

When I read Cranes Today, and see all the new and magnificent cranes, I just tell myself: “Even in my dreams, I will never be able to own such cranes. I just have to live with my old cranes and their never ending problems”.

The fact is that Jordan is a poor country, and generally, nobody can afford to pay for new ones.

This is the story of a crane that proved to be one of my best cranes. It was in 1994 when I purchased from the UK rental company GWS a Grove TMS 250B, 28t capacity, year of manufacture 1978. the crane was in generally good shape – GWS had certainly maintained their cranes properly. Thanks to David Moreton, managing director at that time.

Why has the TMS 250 proved to be a good crane? The answer is: -

Ø Rigid and simple.

Ø It is easy to maintain, with no electrical complications.

Ø It has a light trapezoidal boom, with only one telescopic cylinder. This gives better lifting capacities.

Any major trouble? Yes. Only one – that was the outrigger boxes, front

and rear. The steel sheets cracked under load, because they did not have reinforcing membranes. So we had to weld complete new sheets and reinforce them.

              I was happy with the performance of this crane, I decided to purchase a similar one. After much looking, I found a 30t TMS 250E available in the United Arab Emirates. It was originally imported by the big construction company CCC, but was later sold in an auction to a native Arab.

             This crane, manufactured in 1984, had been rarely used. CCC, with projects mainly in the deserts, failed to use it properly, I think because they are used to rough terrain cranes. As for the second owner, I think the crane was too sophisticated for him to be able to deal with.

             Eventually I went to the UAE and purchased the crane. Back in Jordan, all the necessary repairs were done – mainly electrical and some oil leaks. The crane was soon ready for work. To my great happiness, the outriggers were factory reinforced. That is proof that Grove engineers were not sleeping! You really feel happy, when the manufacturer looks after its products.

             In the Gulf, I noticed that the most popular are cranes from Japan. In the streets of Dubai and Abu Dhabi you see mainly Kato, Tadano and P&H cranes. These cranes are popular due to their simplicity. So the message to crane manufacturers is: try to build simple cranes. Cancel all sophisticated valves!

I am proud of my two Grove TMS 250 cranes, and I am now looking for bigger capacity cranes.