From left, Chris Diack, Kirsten Davidson (Titan Equipment), Kai Kobayashi (Kato Works, Japan) and Dean Diack.

Diack Brothers‘ new Kato CR200Rf 20 tonne crane from the brand‘s Premium City Range is proving a versatile addition to the Hawke‘s Bay company‘s fleet, says director Chris Diack.

“We do a lot of inside installations for wineries and processing plants, which was one of the reasons we chose this crane. Its short jib enables it to work in some quite low-roofed buildings.”

Chris also expects the CR200Rf to be a solid workhorse when it comes to the firm‘s telecommunications work, given its 28m, six-section super boom.

“The extra reach on a smaller crane is ideal as we quite often have to work in some tight spaces to get the telecommunications guys up to the top of the towers. This crane also has excellent manoeuvrability, with its four-wheel steering allowing it to turn quite sharply. This is ideal for working in the city or on other tight jobs such as swimming pool installations on private property, when we can‘t get a big crane in to do the job. It‘s a very versatile machine.”

Since Diack Brothers was established back in 1962 with one mobile crane to service Hawke‘s Bay contract building businesses, it has significantly grown its fleet, which now includes a variety of mobile and truck-mounted cranes, servicing a range of industries.

The new Kato CR200Rf replaced one of the firm‘s existing 20 tonne cranes, which had served it well for more than 25 years.

Chris says his brother Dean is the new crane‘s main operator, and he has been more than impressed with its performance so far.

“The new Kato has more sophisticated electronics and a lot more safety features than our older machines. The new clearance sonar system is a good example, which detects a person or object within a certain range of the crane‘s working distance.”

Other safety features include a 15 percent increase in roof glass size to provide a clearer view, and a multiple view colour monitor, which monitors left or rear blind spots and winch condition. During operation, the load factor and working range are limited to ensure safe margins.

Improved operator comfort is another feature of the CR200Rf, which has been noted by Diack Brothers.

“Kato make their cabs for the Europeans, who tend to be a bit bigger, like us. This makes the machines more comfortable to operate.”

Before they purchased the crane, Chris and Dean visited the Kato factory in Japan, with Titan Equipment‘s national crane sales manager, Kirsten Davidson, and saw their new crane on the production line. The machine took four days to build and the brothers say the experience gave them a totally different perspective of the crane.

Diack Brothers are making a few minor adjustments to the set up of their new factory model, duplicating how they set up the other cranes in their fleet.

“We‘ve bought six Kato cranes in total and all of them have come from Titan Equipment. They are great to deal with and their backup and service is excellent.”

Chris says it‘s not difficult to recommend Kato cranes after so many years working with the brand.

“They‘ve given us no trouble at all, apart from normal wear and tear. We‘ve hardly put a spanner to our Kato cranes in 20 years.”