German company ORTS GmbH Maschinenfabrik has been operating successfully on the grabs market for over 40 years. For the last 20 years, the company has also supplied its radio- controlled diesel-hydraulic grab — in fact, ORTS is the maker of the original radio-controlled diesel-hydraulic grab.
ORTS is able to guarantee that its grabs are of the highest quality, as they are all manufactured in the company’s own workshop near Lübeck, Germany.
Twenty years ago, ORTS started development work on the very first radio-controlled diesel-hydraulic grab. This grab from ORTS GmbH combines the advantages of mechanical single-rope grabs and electro-hydraulic grabs in one grab.
The ORTS diesel-hydraulic grabs only needs a hook to operate. Therefore, this type of grab can operate on all types of crane. No additional equipment is required to get the same — or even better — performance than that offered by an electro- hydraulic motor grab, but without the disadvantages of mechanical single rope grabs (with or without radio control).
With 20 years of experience in diesel-hydraulic grab technology, ORTS offers a very effective, reliable and flexible grab with optimum discharge rates when handling all kind of bulk cargo.
ORTS also offers an orange-peel clamshell grab for scrap or stones. Over the years, the company’s diesel-hydraulic grabs have proved their reliability handling all types of cargo.
ORTS has ensured that it follows a programme of continuous improvements to its grabs, often in consultation with its customers. Its first prototype, which is now 19 years old, is still in operation today. ORTS’s diesel- hydraulic grabs are in operation around the world, in a wide variety of environments. These range from very warm regions like the Persian Gulf, South Africa, Brazil and Australia to very cold areas such as Estonia, Finland and Norway.
In 2013, ORTS GmbH introduced a new generation of small and compact diesel-hydraulic grabs for other applications and projects, including biomass plants, building contractors and big farmsteads.
All ORTS grabs (diesel-hydraulic, electro-hydraulic and mechanical) are renowned for their effectiveness (high discharge rates), reliability and a long lifetime handling millions and millions of tonnes. ORTS’s grabs typically offer a working life of over 15 years, so the initial purchase price becomes less important as the years go by. In the long term, what counts is quality, reliability and effectiveness; a cheap grab can very quickly become an expensive grab. A grab is not cost-effective when it needs its first spare parts after only a short time in operation, nor when it experiences operational breakdowns. Also, to be fully cost-effective, the grab must be able to accommodate a full load. It becomes costly to operate when the clamshells are never really full. ORTS’s global customers know and appreciate the quality and technological superiority of its grabs. Over the years, new ideas related to grabs and related technologies have originated at the ORTS facility in Lübeck. One example is a floating oil-salvage grab, which can take oil from the water surface after ship accidents. This grab has been in highly successful operation for many years.
Some of the world’s largest grabs have been made by Eng. Sigvard F. Orts (the biggest has a dead weight of 115 tonnes). The company has delivered dredger grabs to Russia, every single tooth of which weigh almost 1,000kg. These dredger grabs have been used to move stones with a single weight of up to 60 tonnes. The dead weight of the dredger grab is 80 tonnes.
ORTS GmbH’s drawing board is also responsible for a salvage clamp and an orange-peel dredger grab with a dead weight of 50 tonnes. The company’s product range also includes load traverses/lifting beams with a lifting capacity of up to 100 tonnes, as well as other lifting equipment.