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Thu October 8, 2026
Manitowoc
Disassembling a tower crane in the heart of a busy city like Berlin presents a unique combination of lifting, space and transport challenges. The crane used for the task must be powerful enough to lift heavy parts and components, while also offering a compact footprint for work in confined spaces and a flexible design that accommodates local transportation restrictions.
When the team at the Berlin-based crane rental company Wilhelm Banzhaf Krananlagen needed assistance to remove its Potain MD 120 tower crane, it turned to German company Mobile-Hubtechnik Kranarbeiten und Transporte (known as MOBI-HUB), which identified the Grove GMK6450-1 as the right crane for the job.
With a 450 t capacity and 60 m main boom, the GMK6450-1 is Grove's strongest heavy-duty six-axle crane. The model combines exceptional lifting performance with the transportability and maneuverability required for such a demanding urban project.
“It was not simply a matter of finding a high-capacity crane,” said Aicke Grell, crane operator at MOBI-HUB. “We needed a machine that could handle heavy lifts at long working radii of over 70 m while operating in a highly constrained workspace. In addition, the project presented a logistical challenge, as the area is subject to an 8 t axle-load restriction. And because the job site was located on a busy street in the Neukölln district, keeping the project on schedule was critical to minimizing disruption. The GMK6450-1 gave us the flexibility we needed from mobilization through to completion of the job.”
The 8 t axle-load restriction applied because the crane had to cross the tracks of the local Berlin metro rail system to reach the job site, making transport a key part of the challenge. To comply with the requirement, MOBI-HUB took advantage of the GMK6450-1's intelligent design and removed the crane's main boom and transported it separately on a lightweight semi-trailer. Both the crane and the semi-trailer with the boom then easily fell within the 8 t per axle weight limit.
The GMK6450-1 is ideally suited for projects where lifting performance, mobility and transport efficiency are critical.
“The GMK6450-1 is a strategic crane in our fleet because it combines transport efficiency, lifting performance and reach in a way that allows us to carry out a wide range of complex projects and when necessary, we can also meet stringent roading requirements. Its versatility enables us to tackle challenging jobs while delivering the reliability our customers expect,” said Georg Hallau, owner of MOBI-HUB.
The project demonstrates how the GMK6450-1 combines exceptional lifting power with outstanding transport flexibility, enabling customers to tackle complex urban lifting applications efficiently.