Flashback Friday! Photos of one of our IHI CCH300T telescopic crawler cranes on a site in Belper, Derbyshire in 1996 for Ivor King Piling. As you can see we were no strangers then to supplying sheet piling equipment and crawler cranes to restricted access sites. The hydraulic retractable undercarriage on this machine really coming into its own when accessing the site. In those days this was truly pioneering especially being a telescopic machine rather than a traditional lattice boom crawler crane.

You may also note that the vibratory hammer was piped up to be powered by the crane. This was pure innovation. Saving on the need for a separate power pack and the crane operator could handle both machines resulting in labour savings too.

Lastly and by no means least this bit of history also demonstrates the strength and depth of our relationships. We have been doing business with Ivor King Piling for 25 years and this is reinforced today by the number of machines we have sold them. No less than 17 machines, including crawler cranes, silent pilers, CFA piling rigs and telescopic leader rigs have been supplied over the years. A truly remarkable journey and one we will never forget. We are proud of our heritage.

We have recentled added a brand new Giken F301 silent piler to our rental fleet. With a pressing force of 100 tons this machine weighs just 12 tons and can install single U profile sheet piles 600, 700 and 750 mm wide and single Z profile sheet piles from 508 mm to 700 mm wide.

It may also be supplied with a water jet pump, super jet reel or supercrush equipment for harder soils including rock.

Pictured here working in Almere, the Netherlands for Sterk Heiwerken installing Z section sheet piles underneath a viaduct to allow for the road to be widened and reduced in height to take larger vehicles.

Available for hire Europe wide with experienced operators. Call for further info or rates.

We are celebrating the sale of the 6th Giken silent piler to our esteemed customer Ivor King Piling. This particular model is a Giken ECO700S super crush piler and is pictured here working at Minworth Sewage Treatment Works in Birmingham. The machine is installing 750 linear metres of sheet piles up to 11 m long in tough soil conditions.

Further involvement in the project from AGD includes the supply of all the cranes required for the job. The 70 tons IHI DCH700 crawler crane was actually the first machine ever sold by us to Ivor King and helped us to develop a relationship that has extended over 25 years. 

We also hired a 25 tons Marchetti Sherpina telescopic crawler crane and Giken CB2-5 7 tons clamp crane. The clamp crane walks along the piles following the Giken as it advances making it ideal for working in restricted access sites. In this case the restriction was working weight so the telescopic crawler crane was switched to the clamp crane as the works progressed.

Click here to read a case study and click on the link below to watch a video of the project.

Whatever your crawler crane and piling equipment requirements - call AGD. The only number you need.

Once again AGD have been favoured with an order for a package of machines on hire. Our fleet of piling rigs and crawler cranes compliment each other very well and are ideal for both sheet piling contractors and bored piling contractors.

This time we have an order from VolkerGroundEngineering to supply a Llamada P105TT CFA piling rig which is being used to pre drill with 600 mm diameter augers, ahead of the sheet pilie installation. The complimentary machine is a Marchetti Roma 55 tons capacity telescopic crawler crane which is being used to unload, handle and pitch the sheet piles at their site in Bicester, Oxfordshire.

We have another job ongoing with Volker at Luton Airport where multiple telescopic crawler cranes are being used in the 40 tons, 70 tons and 80 tons classes along with another CFA piling rig for pre drilling. Keep watching for further updates!

AGD - the crawler crane and piling equipment specialists.

AGD Equipment and Ivor King Piling working together to deliver a complete sheet piled retaining wall installation at New River, Wood Green, London.

The project involves the extraction of existing piles along the embankment, dredging of the river and installation of sheet piles alongside both banks of the river.

Ivor King have set up a floating excavator on top of some pontoons, the purpose of which is to extract any existing sheet piles using an EMV along the embankment and then to dredge the river ahead of the sheet pile installation.

For this job two Giken F301 silent pilers were selected to press the 7 m long EZ18-700 sheet piles silently in order to minimise the noise and disruption to neighbouring properties.

The silent pilers are serviced by a Marchetti Sherpina 25 tons telescopic crawler crane which is sitting on temporary works straddling the river supported by the previously installed sheet piles. The temporary works were designed and fabricated by Ivor King and comprises steel mats which are moved with the crane from the back to the front of the structure as the silent pilers advance.

A larger Marchetti Sherpa 70 tons telescopic crawler crane is placed at the start of the job where it is utilised to unload lorries with pile deliveries which are then loaded on to pontoons and moved up river to the smaller crane with a workboat.

The whole operation is working very well and as the distributor of both Giken and Marchetti products it is a true example of collaboration and partnership that is helping to deliver this complete project successfully.

AGD Equipment are proud to announce their appointment as UK & Ireland distributors for the SMS range of side clamp, crane suspended and excavator mounted vibratory hammers. 

SMS have been manufacturing vibro hammers in Turkey for 10 years, and their depth of knowledge and experience is well demonstrated in several important markets. Now it is our pleasure to assist them in opening the market in the UK.

As is AGD's normal philosophy we have invested in SMS products for our rental fleet and will be using this vehicle to introduce them to customers to try before they buy!

You can see photos and a video here of the first SMS PARS SCT 80 model side clamp vibro at work in Doncaster where it is on hire to Ivor King Piling.

AGD are proud to introduce the NCB FD200 CFA piling rig to the UK market. This 60 tons machine has a rotary head with 20 ton metre torque, powered by a 400 hp tier 4 engine. It's parallelogram support facilitates 360 degree drilling around the tracks and it can install piles up to 900 mm diameter to 24 m depth. Pictured here installing a 600 mm diameter secant wall on hire to VolkerGroundEngineering in Chelsea, London.

It is the most powerful machine in our fleet and is also suitable for displacement piling / rigid inclusions. It is available for sale or rental throughout the UK and Ireland.

Click on the link below to see a video of it in action.

One of our 8 tons capacity Hitachi mini cranes was recently dismantled to enable lifting into site by tower crane. We removed the boom and counterweight in our workshop prior to delivery late on a Friday night, and then sent a mechanic and the operator on Saturday to get it assembled ready for work on Monday morning. The machine is on hire to BBGE working as a service crane for a mini piling rig installing foundations at the site of the iconic Battersea Power Station in London.

We are proud to announce our appointment as UK and Ireland distributors for Pajot air hammers. Pajot have been manufacturing piling hammers for over 100 years and now have a range from hand held post drivers right through to 5.2 tons hammers for tubes up to 1200 mm diameter or heavy section pairs of Z sheet piles. Click on the link for further information and to view informative videos.

Come and visit us at Vertikal Days on the 16th and 17th of May at Donington Park stand 117. The following cranes will be on display:

Sennebogen 613M - 15 tons wheeled telescopic crane

Marchetti Sherpina - 25 tons telescopic crawler crane

Marchetti Roma - 55 tons telescopic crawler crane

Hope to see you there!