Half Loader
Also called Half Loader Spreader Module, Half-loader configuration
A spreader module built into an aluminium crane mat that moves a high outrigger load away from the centre of the mat and spreads it across two positions, lowering the pressure reaching the ground. On ALIMATS® it is also a configuration category: half-loader builds reach higher safe working loads than the standard build over the same plan area.
From our specifications
Thirteen of the 25 ALIMATS® configurations are half-loader builds, and they are what extends the top of the range: standard configurations run 38 t to 59 t safe working load, half-loader configurations 38 t to 80 t. The gain shows most clearly at equal plan area — at 8.074 m² the standard three-layer build is rated 57 t and the five-layer half-loader build 80 t; at 1.346 m², two layers either way, 58 t becomes 80 t. The module itself is 1.16 m long and weighs 48 kg, with handles as standard, so it is positioned by hand rather than by plant.
Source: alimat_configurations — 13 of the 25 published ALIMATS® configurations — and our published Half Loader Spreader Module specification
Where it matters on site
It answers the case where the ground is the constraint and the set-up position is too tight to grow the mat into — city-centre work, decks and podiums, positions boxed in by structure. We designed it around the 6.05 m², 7.06 m² and 8.07 m² configurations, and on our system it removes the need for separate crane pads. Half-loader configurations sit outside the self-serve hire pricing: the module is specified into a build-up against a stated reaction rather than swapped in for a bigger mat, so they are quoted after a conversation about the load, the ground and the space available.