"Also, our customers asked for such construction equipment," said K. C. Pingle, divisional manager at O.Rentals, which is a crane rental company in Dubai and part of the Al Shirawi Group. Founded in 2006 as Dortmund & Hubbard LLC it has been operating under its new name since the reorganisation of the Group in 2020.
The company has had a fleet with Liebherr's duty cycle crawler cranes for 10 years. There are currently eight machines from the HS series in O.Rentals' fleet. Their main application is dynamic soil compaction. "We don't see much clamshell or dragline business orders in this region," explained Pingle. For dynamic operations, reliability of the machines, which gives them uptime and productivity, is key for the customer. "We intend to use the cranes as long as they last. The cranes are very reliable. They have served us well. Recent projects have met all performance parameters."
One unique project in O.Rentals' company history is Palm Islands located in Dubai where they carried out soil compaction.
A short while ago, seven duty cycle crawler cranes from O.Rentals were involved in a large project in Mexico for one year. "We are extremely delighted with the support of Liebherr's team in Mexico," said Pingle. "We have learned the hard way, but now we know that with a proper technical evaluation on-site and on-going preventive care future breakdowns are minimised and the service life of the crane is enhanced."
With up to 35,000 operating hours for one machine, and that even under the toughest conditions, O.Rentals' HS fleet proverbially went through many crane lives. This is a major milestone for the machines and shows the customer that they have chosen the right equipment for their demands. "We have not used any of the competitors' products because Liebherr's machines are extremely easy to operate and assemble. A big advantage is their vast experience in dynamic compaction." When Pingle said, that he "found everything in Liebherr" he particularly emphasised, "high-quality products, reliability and a professional supplier."
