EnCORE brings new life to Grove GMK3050

EnCORE brings new life to Grove GMK3050 for Dutch steel erector and helps secure operator for the company.

Skilled labor is increasingly hard to find, so when a company finds the right candidate it’s worth going the extra mile. In this case, a steel-erecting company in The Netherlands took advantage of the comprehensive crane sourcing process delivered by Manitowoc’s Breda team as well as its EnCORE refurbishment program to land its next crane operator. 

Van Gesterl Montage had found the perfect candidate to join its expert and close-knit team as a crane operator. But there was one problem: the operator was currently working on an older Grove GMK3050 with over 36,000 hours on the clock. And he liked this crane model so much that he wanted to continue working on it for future work. “We asked him what it would take to get him to join us,” said company owner Rens van Gestel. “And he said, ‘a nice, pristine, original GMK3050’. Of course, that’s easier said than done, as Grove no longer builds the GMK3050, only the third-generation GMK3050-3. But we talked to the guys at Manitowoc in Breda, and they immediately got to work. In no time at all, they had found an original GMK3050 that first rolled out of the plant 21 years ago. So once we identified the crane, we then had to figure out the best way to give it a new lease of life.”

Despite over two decades of service, the crane had only covered 80,000 km and clocked up 8,000 working hours under its two owners. The durable design of Grove cranes, meant the GMK3050 was still in extremely good condition when the technical team from EnCORE in Breda started their work. With EnCORE, customers get cranes and/or components that are rebuilt by highly skilled technicians to the required engineering specifications in line with the exact OEM standards of Manitowoc. For the Van Gestel Montage crane, the EnCORE technical team performed an inspection then suggested a range of repairs, revisions, and cosmetic work to return it to its former glory. With agreement for the updates from Van Gestel Montage, refurbishment began. 

Major components including the boom and winch underwent specialist refurbishment, followed by a suite of other minor repairs and upgrades. Then the bodywork received some loving attention, with every dent and crack repaired before the crane received a full respray, finished with clear coat paint and carbon decals. Following the commissioning of the crane in mid-November at Manitowoc’s Breda facility, the customer took it to its Kaatsheuvel headquarters to celebrate delivery of its latest addition. Just a day or two later, the crane was out and working for Van Gestel Montage, proudly sporting its new livery. “Our ‘new’ GMK3050 looks absolutely magnificent, and its operator was begging to sign the employment contract!” van Gestel jokes. “It’s already become his pride and joy, which is fantastic. We work for clients across the Netherlands and Belgium, so it’s vital that our crane operators are completely happy and comfortable in their machines to deliver maximum productivity.”

The original Grove GMK3050 was the template for today’s GMK3050-3 descendant and an exceptionally agile on-road performer. With a 260 kW Mercedes-Benz OM501LA engine and 6F/1R Allison transmission combining to deliver highway speeds of up to 85 km/h with 5.7 t of fixed counterweight. Once at the jobsite, it offers lifting capacities of up to 50 t, with a maximum tip height of 40.5 m produced by its 9.8 - 38.1 m full-power boom. “This GMK3050 looks as good as when it first left the factory. It’s in virtually mint condition and a casual observer would not be able to say whether its year of manufacture was 2001 or 2022,” said Rolf Klooster, regional director at Manitowoc in the Netherlands. “Our EnCORE refurbishment program is a great option on so many levels; sometimes for budget constraints, other times for sustainability reasons. Or it’s a great alternative to new machines that tend to have longer lead times. Now we can add another reason to the list of advantages EnCORE offers: helping contractors and rental companies find the right candidate.”