Link-Belt’s Crane Fest event in Kentucky was followed by Manitowoc’s Crane Expo event at its Grove plant in Shady Grove, Pennsylvania.
Two of the crawlers seem to be in direct competition for the core 220 US ton general-duty construction market. First came Link-Belt’s 230 US ton 298 HSL, and then came Manitowoc’s 220 US ton capacity Model 14000. “While the 298 fills out Link-Belt’s crawler crane line between 200 and 300 tons, it more importantly provides the replacement answer for all the aging 230-ton crawlers in fleets around the world,” Link-Belt says. The 298 HSL is Link-Belt’s second crane to come from the alliance with Hitachi-Sumitomo. (For more, see ‘Duelling Crawlers’, p. 19).
Link-Belt RTC 8090
Link-Belt also launched the ATC-3250, a 250 US ton (220t) five-axle all-terrain crane, its third. The seven-section 223ft (68m) latching crane boom is powered by a single hydraulic cylinder. It locks at four places on each extension, providing a total of 38 different operational boom lengths. A 43ft (13.2) two-piece lattice fly and four 20ft (6m) lattice fly extensions further extend the crane’s maximum reach.
Link-Belt’s smaller crawler, the TCC-450, is a North American version of the SCX400T, the 40t telescopic crawler launched in Europe in 2005 by sister company Hitachi Construction Machinery (Europe). The TCC-450 features a 33ft–105ft (10–32m) 4-section, box boom. It gets 11,000 lbs (5t) of line pull from the main winch. A 197-hp (147 kW) Isuzu engine provides Tier 3-compliant power.
“As this work becomes even more specialised, and general contractors look to TCC’s as a lifting solution alternative, the larger dealers and national rental houses will move toward adding these units to their fleets,” said Pat Collins, lattice crane product manager. “It’s conceivable we could expand to three or four different sized units.”
At the Manitowoc event, the company showed a new series to its line of National boom trucks. The Series 1300H is a 30 US ton (27t) capacity, stand-up control crane. It is the largest capacity National Crane that can be mounted on a three-axle truck, while maintaining an overall vehicle length of under 40ft (12m) and carrying over 3 US tons (2.7 t) of payload. It features an operating console that can be detached and moved between operator stations.
“The 1300H fills the gap between the 1100 series and 1400H series stand-up crane models,” said Mike Herbert, National Crane senior project engineer.
Manitowoc also launched a MAX-ER attachment that increases the capacity of its Model 16000. The standard boom length is 96 m (315 ft) on the 16000. With the MAX-ER, boom length can be increased to 120 m (394 ft). With the addition of a luffing jib, there is an even more dramatic increase. Typically, the 16000 can handle a 54 m (177 ft) boom with a 84 m (275 ft) jib, for a total reach of 138 m (452 ft). But with the MAX-ER, the crane can support a 90 m (295 ft) boom and a 84 m (275 ft) luffing jib, a total of 174 m (570 ft) of reach.
