Our History
MAX Timeline
Mark Kuhn & Shane Bradshaw start MAX Crane & Equipment Hire in Port Augusta in August 2002 with 4 staff and 3 cranes.
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After two years in business, staff numbers had increased to 8. Photo shows MAX 12 tonne Franna working at WMC Olympic Dam mine site. MAX also supplied cranage for the SX expansion.
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South Australian Premier Mike Rann attended the MAX Open Day to welcome the arrival of the 180t Grove GMK 5180 Crane. It was the largest crane in SA at the time.
MAX employee numbers increased to 14 and our first Trainee joined the company. Photo of the Barton siding derailment campsite, 740km northwest of Adelaide.
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Demand for MAX services is strong, the company doubles in size again with 31 staff now employed. Photo shows our 100t Terex-Demag AC265 unloading Leopard Tanks for the ADF.
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The arrival of the the 250t Liebherr LTM 1250-1 meant that MAX could take on larger projects, like the mantle change at OZ Minerals Prominent Hill mine site.
The arrival of the 400t Liebherr LTM 1400-7.1 in 2011 gives MAX the opportunity to move into wind farm maintenance.
MAX celebrates its 10 Year Anniversary – now with 52 Staff. BIS Industries crane division in Whyalla is purchased and Steel City Cranes in Whyalla is born.
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MAX establishes a permanent presence in Moomba, 1153km north of Adelaide in South Australia’s Cooper Basin oil and gas fields.
MAX moves from Lot 4 to Lot 6, Main North Road, Port Augusta into a state-of-the-art office and workshops with fully bitumen hardstand.
Steel City Cranes amalgamates into MAX with the business moving to a new depot at Mulconray Road, Whyalla.
MAX Adelaide Depot opens with 2 staff (it now has 27)
Rebranding of the business from MAX Cranes to MAX, introducing Can-Do Capability and the ‘MAX Blue’
MAX Port Pirie depot established with 1 staff member (it now has 26).
MAX Traffic Management was launched by our Port Pirie depot. The company now has 90 staff.
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MAX purchased a 1200 Liebherr LTM 11200-9.1 Crane, the largest all terrain crane in the Southern Hemisphere. A 1200t Open Day was held at our Port Augusta head office.
The MAX Heavy Lift Team was set up with 7 staff and a new depot opened, it now has more than 20 staff.
MAX partnered with CBCH Crane Hire in Whyalla.
Building on the success of the internal, self-funded trainee program MAX created over 12 years, in September 2021, we launched the MAX Academy. South Australian MP for Stuart, Dan van Holst Pellekaan spoke at the launch event.
We used to be just about cranes but we’re more than that now. As a trusted partner to all our clients, we provide end-to-end project solutions – everything you need within one team. This change broadens the scope of what we do and increases the value of our service to our customers.
MAX has employed 605 people over the past 20 years and has taken on 49 trainees and apprentices. We now have 6 established depots, 215 staff, 90 cranes, 13 prime movers and 34 trailers.
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