DROMEC supplies new winches for tower cranes

at Smulders Antwerp

Branche: Crane solutions

DROMEC supplies new winches for tower cranes at Smulders Antwerp

Smulders is an international steel construction company specializing in high-quality steel structures for offshore wind, civil works, and industry. From their location in Antwerp, they deliver complete projects from design to installation, with a strong focus on sustainability.

Renewal of tower cranes

At the Smulders yard, in addition to the massive overhead crane Titan, two large tower cranes operate daily. For both cranes, DROMEC successfully replaced and installed a total of five new winches within a short time frame.

New winch systems

For tower crane type M02, a new main hoist winch with a lifting capacity of 5 tons, a trolley winch with a lifting force of 1 ton at 30 meters per minute, and a new slewing drive were installed.

For tower crane type M06, DROMEC replaced the drive of the 6.5-ton main hoist winch and installed a completely new trolley winch with a capacity of 1.25 tons at 52 meters per minute.

The overhaul not only brought the systems up to current standards but also provided room for additional customer-specific requirements. For instance, the hoisting speed was significantly improved thanks to stepless control, making crane operation more efficient and user-friendly. All winches are electrically driven, contributing to a more sustainable system.

Collaboration and customization

In this project, DROMEC contributed not only to the technical design but also to the winch control systems. With extensive experience in developing customized control solutions, the team was able to advise and support Smulders throughout the entire process.

“I experienced the entire process—from engineering to the installation of the winches for Smulders—as very pleasant. They are flexible, open to our advice, and eager to collaborate on finding the best solution.”

– Ruben Elenbaas, Project Engineer at DROMEC

New winch in existing structure

A special aspect of this project was integrating the new winches into existing crane structures, including the reuse of the original bolt pattern. With minimal crane downtime, the team completed the installation on site, fully tailored to the customer’s needs.

This project shows that winch refurbishment is a smart choice when the structural integrity of tower cranes remains in good condition. Through modernization and renewal, customers benefit from improved performance, higher reliability, and longer crane service life.


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DROMEC winches. Your movement in good hands.

Dynamic and Innovative in winches, winchsystems, controls and software. With our enthousiastic team, we develop  from small till  very big & complex systems with the highest demands in terms of safety and ease of use. We also work very closely with certified body’s as DNV, GL, BV, ABS, Lloyds so your winches and systems can be completely certified at our own company together with you.

It often starts with a good idea, preferably on a piece of scrap paper. After an initial consultation, we prepare one or more proposals, including a target price and preliminary drawing. Your idea or problem, always remains central in this. If the feeling on both sides is good, we start. Thanks to our own inhouse developed and written project software, your project stays in the picture and under control from start to finish, including the planning and delivery time.

We are LRQA ISO 9001 certified. Our policy is to maintain a healthy business by continuously improving the quality of our winches, drives, software and services. We strive for respect for people and nature, which contributes to the quality of our work. You can find our full policy statement here.

Joost Ressing

Sales

sales@dromec.nl mail Joost +31 (0)317 - 68 11 55