A Stiff Breeze

A Stiff Breeze

A wire rope hoist from the south

A wire rope hoist from the south is doing a great job in the far north.

19.06.2019 Imprensa

Kiel, right in the north of Germany – we think of stiff sea breezes, white beaches, sailing boats, Kiel sprats, tangy beer and maybe the Werner cartoons. The Kiel Canal – the world’s busiest artificial waterway – ends in Kiel, where the world’s largest sailing event, the Kieler Woche, takes place every year. Even Albert Einstein set sail into the Baltic Sea from Kiel. What has all this got to do with hoists from the south of Germany? Sportboot­hafen Kiel GmbH needs special cranes to set the masts of the sailing ships and lift smaller boats into the water. One of these cranes needed a new hoist – and the new technology comes from Künzelsau.

The salty air had badly rusted the old wire rope hoist of the mast crane, rendering it unreliable. Sportboothafen Kiel GmbH therefore decided to replace the wire rope hoist. The conversion of the installation was carried out by the Kiel-based company Gosch & Schlüter GmbH – a long-standing, certified partner of STAHL CraneSystems. Michael Kutschke from Gosch & Schlüter GmbH, Thies Steffen from STAHL CraneSystems and the customer worked out the modernisation of the crane together. An SH 30 wire rope hoist from STAHL CraneSystems with a lifting capacity of 1,000 kg is now being used on the mast crane. To protect it against corrosion by the salty air, a powder coating was applied in STAHL CraneSystems’ own paint shop. This coating, as opposed to normal finishes, also ensures an even coating thickness on the edges of the hoists, giving a much longer service life. In addition, an adapter plate customised to the crane was also supplied, making the wire rope hoist easy to screw on. The position of the motor was adapted to the rope lead-off angle required. To make the modernisation of the master crane easier, the LSD (load sensing device) was integrated into the torque support of the gearbox. This means that no load sensor has to be retrofitted at the tip of the crane’s jib. All the electrical equipment is protected to protection class IP 66, and the cable entry glands for the contactor control integrated in the hoist are made of stainless steel.

The new mast crane was taken into operation in March 2019, just in time for the start of the new sailing season. However, the crane in the Dietrichsdorf Harbour is just one of the projects that Gosch & Schlüter GmbH has completed using reliable hoists and components from Künzelsau. STAHL CraneSystems hoists are already being successfully used in other harbours along the Kiel Firth too.