There is much concern among heavylift specialists in the USA about the downturn in power plant construction. But, however bad it may be, there is still work to be done out there and there is still a need for new cranes, as All Erection & Crane Rental has proved.
All has purchased the first two units of Manitowoc’s latest model, the 600t rated 18000. The first unit was shipped to a power plant site in Richmond, Virginia on 19 December. All is clearly a fan of Manitowoc’s big cranes having previously taken two of the seven 21000s that have been produced to date.
The 18000 fills a gap in Manitowoc’s range between its 270t capacity 2250 and the 750t capacity 21000. It competes with Demag’s CC 2800. It would also compete directly against the Liebherr LR 1600/1, except that Liebherr has recently upgraded it from 600t capacity to 750t, renaming it the LR 1750 (see News).
Manitowoc’s new model was born after attempts to market a light version of the 21000, with four pairs of crawler tracks (the so-called Octa-trac system) met with a muted response from the market. The 18000, therefore, is more compact and looks more conventional.
The crawler tracks are 11.8m long and the mast tail swing is a tidy 10.29m. The crane has a 447kW (600hp) engine, a line speed of 158.5m/min with 32mm diameter wire rope (164.6m/min with 28mm wire rope) and line pull of 217kN with 32mm wire rope (160kN with 28mm rope). To meet the needs of the European market it breaks down into transport units of no more than 3m wide and 4m high.
The model 18000 achieves its maximum lift capacity when rigged with Manitowoc’s #55 boom. Attachments include a #79 luffing jib and Max-er, which combine to give a maximum reach of 186m, well beyond the 163m maximum height under hook of the Demag and close to the 191m of the Liebherr.
The 18000 can also be rigged with other Manitowoc equipment; for example, with #55/79 boom and top it is rated at 408t and with #55/79 boom and #79A top it has a 450t rating. It is this versatility that swung it for All Erection, says vice president Jack Swan (although the competitive pricing was also a factor, he adds). Booms, jibs, inserts and Max-er lagging attachments can all be interchanged with other Manitowoc cranes that All Erection owns, such as the 2250 as well as the 21000. The 18000 can also use the ballast wagons of either the 2250 (using two in tandem) or the 21000. ‘It gets utilisation out of what we’ve got,’ says Swan.
Another key issue, Swan says, was tail swing. Swan says that Manitowoc designed the 18000 after hearing him talk about a problem with tail swing. Retrofit work on power plant usually takes place in relatively tight spaces. To get the necessary reach and capacity, the 2250 would have to be set up with Max-er 2000 attachment and a trailing ballast wagon set 17m back, Swan says.
