Taking a test drive in Kentucky

This year's show attracted more than 17,500 visitors, from every state of the US and province of Canada, as well as 50 other countries. A record 862 exhibitors showed products, over more than a million square feet of floor space. While not a major focus for the international crane industry, the show included some interesting new products targeting the North American utilities sector.

Terex's exhibit was led by its utilities segment. The company showed a new member of its Crossover range of boom trucks, a 45USt model, with an an extra long boom and lightweight chassis, specially adapted for this sector.

Local manufacturer Link-Belt, based down the road from Louisville show in Lexington, put its new 75USt telecrawler on show. Available in the second quarter of 2014, the TCC-750 includes the same well-thought-out features and hydraulics as found in the rest of Link- Belt's lineup of telescopic cranes. It comes with added safety features like upper guard rails and a rear-view and winch-view camera system to monitor on-site conditions. The TCC-750 also has a completely sealed lower and hydraulically retractable side frames for easy, fast transport; it can be transported with tracks attached at under 100,000 lbs (45 359.2 kg).

Additional features include Link- Belt exclusive four-section, full-power formed boom with greaseless Teflon wear pads and a maximum tip height of 121 ft. Link- Belt's exclusive "A" boom mode offers substantially increased capacities for short radii, while the standard mode extends all four sections equally for extended reach. The quick reeve boom head and lightweight nylon head sheaves reduce weight and make rigging easy. A hammerhead boom nose allows the operator to work at high boom angles.

IMT launched a new range of knucklebooms, and a new truck body and electric crane for its service truck line.

The new range of knucklebooms has 9tm, 10tm, 11tm and 12tm models all with new options, features and ratings. The new line offers reduced weight, greater lift and reach capabilities.

The 9/65, 10/72, 11/78 and 12/86 cranes have ratings ranging from 65,100 ft-lbs to 86,075 ft-lbs and maximum lift capacities from 8,380lbs to 10,230lbs. The cranes' new features include single link (SL) or dual link (DL) options and 15° overbending. The use of ultra-high tensile steel has reduced weight by 10% to 15% from previous models. Each crane can be fitted with up to five hydraulic extensions to provide application-specific reach.

The latest Dominator trucks are offered with a new crane, the IMT 6000. The new crane is built for the strength and control that propane applications require. Featuring a patent-pending Penta BoomTM design, the crane is rated at 39,000 foot-pounds with a maximum capacity of 6,000 pounds and 22 feet of reach. The crane features a single proportional radio remote control for precise maneuvering, total load visibility and operator safety.