Brendon Penn replaces 2001 Grove crane with Grove GMK5110-1

Brendon Penn Crane Hire, a Western Australia-based rental company, has replaced its trusted Grove GMK5100 all-terrain crane after 13 years of solid service and over 280,000 km on the road. And so impressed was the company with the crane’s performance, that the firm’s management replaced like for like, with the GMK5100 making way for the latest generation GMK5110-1.

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Brendon Penn Crane Hire purchased its first GMK5100 in 2001 to support its work for clients in the nickel and gold mining industries in the Kalgoorlie region of Western Australia. For its work around the huge Australian state it was configured with a tow hitch and a trailer, carrying 20 t of counterweight, enabling it to operate as a self-contained rig.

For one project, a customer hired the GMK5100 to service telecommunications towers in the outback, travelling half the width of Australia in a single trip and returning to base ready to take on the next challenge. Throughout its time in the Brendon Penn Crane Hire fleet, the GMK5100 was regularly serviced by Manitowoc’s regional dealer, WATM Crane Sales and Services, who support the full line of Manitowoc crawler cranes and Grove mobile cranes across Western Australia. WATM sold the original GMK5100 to Brendon Penn Crane Hire and also completed this latest sale on the GMK5110-1.

Brendon Penn, owner of Brendon Penn Crane Hire, says: “The Grove GMK5100 was a great asset to our company and our customers were always pleased with its performance. So, when it came time to upgrade our fleet, it made perfect sense to choose the GMK5110-1 crane as a replacement. Plus it offers the best lifting capacity in its class and its main boom length suits the lifting requirements of our customers in the Kalgoorlie region.”

The new generation GMK5110-1 builds on the success of the GMK5100, offering a 110 t maximum capacity with a five-section 51 m boom. The boom features Grove’s Twin-Lock pinning system, which offers better lifting capacity by minimizing the number of hydraulic cylinders required inside the boom. Additionally, the crane’s counterweight can be increased up to 40.1 t, while its drive system features a two-step transfer case to increase agility at low speeds. The GMK5110-1 also includes the updated Grove carrier cab for optimized comfort on the road.

Brendon Penn took delivery of its new Grove GMK5110-1 in March 2015, and the unit has been configured with aluminum wheels on 20.5 tires, a driveline retarder and full counterweight. The company also owns a Grove GMK6220, a 220 t capacity all-terrain crane; and a Grove TMS9000E truck-mounted crane that offers a 90 t maximum capacity and a 72.2 m maximum tip height.

Stephen Lazenby, product manager at WATM, says: “We are proud to have supplied and supported Brendon Penn with cranes for over 13 years and we are certain that this new GMK5110-1 will bring as much success to the company as its predecessor did.”