Spotlight Cranes By Seth Skydel
Teleboom Crawler Cranes Provide Multiple Advantages in a Single Machine
Designed for quick and safe setup without the need for outriggers and mats, along with maximum pick and carry capacities, stability on rough ground and lower ground bearing pressure— telescopic boom crawler cranes, or telecrawlers, are routinely used in many common and unique applications.
“ Typical applications include utility work or lifting work on infrastructure projects,” said JJ Grace, Manitowoc’ s product manager for Grove GHC cranes.“ Some unique applications include barge, pile driving, pick and carry and foundation work. One of the latest uses is as an assist crane on a wind farm and as a tailing crane.”
In wind power installations, use as a tail crane and for assembly of crawler cranes are the most common applications for telecrawlers, noted Beau Pocock, business development manager at the mobile and crawler cranes division of Liebherr USA, Co. Other common uses would be for road and bridge construction, at refineries and for jobs with tight quarters and diverse landscapes.
“ A unique application for telecrawlers is power line and cell tower construction,” Pocock added.“ The environment that transmission lines and cell towers are placed in makes these cranes valuable because of their abilities to operate on uneven terrain and varying ground conditions.”
James Land, GTC sales director at Tadano, pointed out that common applications for telecrawlers include foundation, bridge and heavy civil, wind support, powerline construction and maintenance work. Teleboom crawler cranes have also become much more popular in commercial construction, he related.
retracted, or even with asymmetric track extension configurations for maximum jobsite versatility on narrow footprints, Land noted.“ A third winch option has also been added to our lineup due to customer demand,” he said,“ and we have developed specialty options such as hydraulic tool circuits and a hydraulic powerpack that can be mounted in place of rear counterweight.
“ To minimize the frequency of service required, we track usage time of swing, travel and winch functions,” Land continued.“ For example, if the machine is on a barge for an extended period and not using the travel function, it does not log time against the track drive service interval. Utilizing this feature can greatly reduce the cost of ownership and time spent servicing components that still have plenty of life.”
Recently introduced by Manitowoc is its largest telescoping crawler crane. The new Grove GHC200 has a 200-ton capacity and a 185-foot main boom.
The new Grove GHC200 has a 200-ton capacity and a 185-foot main boom, and when configured with a swing-away extension a maximum tip height of 265.7 feet.
“ As jobs get more challenging, higher load charts are needed to accomplish them,” Grace said.“ The GHC200 is ideal for general construction and renewable energy, for example, because of its strength and increased pick-and-carry capabilities.”
The GHC200 offers new features, such as an additional 90 % pinning location on the boom sections for increased capacity and versatility when setting up the crane. When configured with the 71.5-foot manual or
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All Tadano teleboom crawler cranes can be run with the tracks fully extended,
Wind power jobsite support is one of the many common applications for Tadano telecrawlers.
26 CRANE HOT LINE ® July 2024 • www. cranehotline. com