Crane Spotlight

By Mike Larson

Potain unveiled its newest and largest self-erector in April at bauma 2025. The Igo T 139 has a 180.4-foot jib, 17,600-pound maximum capacity and 2,640-pound capacity at a 180-foot radius.

These amazing rigs are usually designed to arrive at a jobsite folded up and sitting on a lowboy trailer or riding on their own axles while being towed by a semi tractor.

Once on site, their supporting outriggers are swung out and leveled before the tower and boom unfold, many times with just the touch of a button.

After the crane’ s counterweights are stacked, it’ s ready to start lifting.

That few-hour setup plus their ability to sit right next to a building and reach far across it to deliver loads right to where they’ re used helps builders do more work in less time with a smaller crew.

Though self-erectors have been popular in Europe for decades, Potain claims to have sold the first one in the U. S. in 2005.

Over the past 20 years, self-erectors have grown steadily more popular as builders and rental companies have increasingly realized their benefits.

Many Choices

Today, U. S. and Canadian users can choose from a total of 36 self-erector models offered by six manufacturers.

Alphabetically, those manufacturers are: Arcomet( 4 models), FB Gru( 3), Liebherr( 7), Potain( 11), Saez( 4) and Terex( 7).

The overall self-erector field offers maximum lifting capacities from 2,000 to 17,640 pounds, maximum jib lengths from 72 to 180.5 feet, maximum under-hook heights from 58 to 214 feet and capacities from 1,102 to 3,200 pounds at the tip of the longest jib.

Belgian manufacturer Arcomet is part of the Uperio Group, a French company whose U. S. subsidiaries are Uperio USA and Compass Equipment, a crane rental and sales company with four locations in the western U. S.

Both companies are dealers for Arcomet. In addition, Compass is a dealer for Potain self-erectors and operates a rental fleet of Potain self-erectors and top-slewing tower cranes.

The four Arcomet models are the A40( 8,820-pound capacity, 131-foot jib), A45 Eco City( 11,020-pound capacity, 147-foot jib), A47 Eco City( 13,230-pound capacity, 154-foot jib) and the A50( 17,640-pound capacity, 164-foot jib).

FB Gru self-erectors are manufactured in Italy and sold and supported in the U. S.

Top Right: Ideal Crane Rental has four Liebherr self-erectors on a project in Madison, Wisconsin.

Middle: Capital Framing uses a Potain Igo 50 on a project in Kentucky.

Below: Creative Lifting Services tows an FB Gru with integral axles to a customer’ s jobsite.

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August 2025 • www. cranehotline. com