Customers often ring West-Trans Equipment, because they know we sell high quality truck mounted cranes, specifically HMF truck mounted cranes, and they ask, “do you sell Hiabs”. The answer is yes, but no.
Like “Vice-Grip”, “Esky” or “Bobcat”, “Hiab” is actually a brand name. Hiab is an acronym which was used as the name for a Swedish company, Hydraulic Industries A.B. Where A.B. simply means the same as Pty Ltd in Australia, or LLC in the United States.
So Hiab is a brand name and a company. Just like we Australians all call a cooler an Esky, a pair of locking pliers “Vice-Grips” or a skid steer loader a “Bobcat”, many people call VLC’s, or Vehicle Loading Cranes, or Knuckle Cranes a “Hiab”.
So Why Hiab?
Hiab was one of the first companies to bring knuckle boom cranes, or folding truck mounted cranes to Australia in the early 1970’s, after developing them for forestry use in Sweden in 1944. Just 1 years after Hiab started business in Sweden, in Demark, Arne Bundgaard Jensen opened for business, building his first truck mounted crane in 1947, and thus HMF was born. Sometimes it pays to be first.
And so to the original question, West-Trans Equipment sells HMF Cranes in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. We don’t sell the Hiab brand, they do that themselves. But we do sell the finest quality vehicle loading cranes available in the world.
Why West-Trans Equipment?
West-Trans, like HMF are engineers first and foremost. While West-Trans has focussed on specialist truck bodies, HMF have focused on building the best vehicle loading cranes in the world.
HMF use the most advanced materials in the construction of their cranes, such as super high strength steel, and fabricated bases, instead of simple cast iron.
Weight, fuel burn and space are all vital to the transport industry, and with our cranes being fitted to trucks, HMF have focused on building the most compact, and most powerful cranes, making them as strong as possible with the lowest possible tare weight.
Hiab Performace
Hiab X-HIPRO 192 E-5 rated 16.6 Tonne/Meter of lifting capacity. It can lift 880kg at 15meters reach. Its basic weight including stabilisers is 2803kg.
The Equivalent HMF Performace
HMF 1920RCS-K5 rated 16.4 Tonne/Meters of lifting capacity. It can lift 900kg at 14.9meters reach. Its basic weight including stabilisers is 2250kg, over 550kg lighter for the same performance. Imagine having an extra half a tonne of payload, or better still, not carrying 550kg around when you have no goods on your truck.
So do you want to buy a Hiab? Or an HMF? Call West-Trans Equipment today or visit our website www.west-trans.com.au for more information.