all terrain crane Archives | Page 6 of 12

Crane overturns on New Jersey road job

Crane operator Christopher Graham, 39, was seriously injured when his crane flipped over backwards down an embankment in Brick, South East New Jersey on Saturday.

The crane, a five axle All Terrain, was working on a new overpass on the side of the Garden State Parkway when it went over backwards and down the wooded embankment throwing the operator clear. He was airlifted to hospital and was said to be in a stable condition, with leg and head injuries.

The crane appears to have lost the right rear outrigger beam which in combination with a sinking front outrigger might have been the cause. An investigation is ongoing.

Terex Explorer 5800 at the Jack Daniel’s distillery

Gilley Crane and Jack Daniel’s recently came together when Gilley Crane was tasked with lifting two boilers weighing more than 100,000 pounds each at the Jack Daniel’s Distillery in Lynchburg, TN. The plan required each boiler to be lifted twice at a 28-foot radius in a confined space.

“At one end of the lift, we had to work around a fenced-in lot nearby other equipment, while at the other end we had to work around rebar sticking up around the boiler base,” explains Gilley Crane Owner, Robert Gilley.

Working in the confined area, Gilley Crane’s crew needed a compact crane with good maneuverability. Having only a two-day window to complete the project, the company needed a crane that offered fast mobilization, quick setup and efficient operation.

Gilley Crane selected their new Terex Explorer 5800 all-terrain crane, purchased from its Terex Crane distributor in Cleveland, Renegar-Driggers Machinery Co, Inc. Gilley Crane’s four-man crew quickly roaded the Explorer 5800 crane plus full counterweight the 30 miles from its Manchester yard to Lynchburg. It required four additional transports to move the crane’s 154,800 pounds of counterweights to the project site.

Powered by a 12.7-liter, 550-hp Tier 4F (Euromot Stage IV) engine, the crane has the power to quickly make it to the jobsite at speeds reaching 53 mph. Once on-site, engine speed and power is reduced to 1600 RPM and 275 hp respectively, providing ample capacity for proper crane operation while reducing fuel consumption.

In total, the project required eight lifts to move and place the two boilers and bases. The 20-foot-tall by 25-foot-long boilers and 10,000-pound bases were first placed onto trailers and moved approximately 200 yards to their final location. Working with 55.4 feet of main boom at a 28-foot radius, the Explorer 5800 delivered more than enough capacity to lift and position the boilers and bases.

GMK 6350 for Carson-Mitchell

Missouri based contractor and crane rental company Carson-Mitchell has expanded the top end of its fleet with the addition of a 300 tonne Grove GMK 6350. The new crane boasts a 60 metre main boom and a maximum system length of 113 metres.

The company’s previous ‘flagship’ crane was a five axle 190 tonne, Grove GMK 5210. The company which was established in 1946, offers a range of truck, All Terrain and pick &carry cranes starting at 8.5 tons. It got into cranes though its own needs a general contractor and eventually began to rent the cranes out to others. This then developed into a separate division within the company.

500t Terex AC500 for Hungary

Dunagep, one of Hungary’s largest crane rental specialists, has taken delivery of a Terex AC500-2,

Dunagep, (Danubian Building Machines Servicing Corporation), one of Hungary’s largest crane rental specialists, has taken delivery of an eight axle 500 tonne Terex AC500-2, its largest All Terrain crane to date. The new crane has a 56 metre main boom plus luffing jib and Superlift attachment, maximum system length it 145.8 metres.

The company which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, is based in Budapest with subsidiaries in Slovakia and Croatia. It mainly serves the steel, refinery and petrochemical industries, and the crane will make its lifting debut working in an Hungarian power plant.

Dunagep chairman Laszlo Szecsenfalvi said: “This is a great crane and we had no hesitation in choosing it in preference to other makes. Good transport logistics, quick set-up, long reach and reliability are just some of its many features. It has added a whole new dimension to our product line-up.”

Terex sales manager, Andreas Schramm added: “The AC 500-2 crane will enable Dunagep to accept and undertake work that previously would have necessitated working in conjunction with industry partners. Now they will be in a position to complete these larger projects themselves.”

Failing to manage traffic

Spotted in Weymouth, UK, a four axle All Terrain crane carrying out a lift with apparently little consideration for traffic management.

The crane, owned by South Coast Crane Hire, was reportedly lifting a caravan at the Chesilvista Hoilday Park and, for whatever reason, was forced to set up in the middle of the site entrance.

According to our correspondent no attempt was made to warn passing drivers – or pedestrians for that matter – seeing as it has been set up over the pavement/sidewalk as well. Although the crane was short rigged, this has not been enough to prevent the outriggers and counterweight from protruding the opposite traffic lane. Cars driving towards the crane are forced onto the wrong side of the road, close to a roundabout with restricted visibility.

In the words of our correspondent: “One for your death wish section I guess? No traffic management and I had to drive over the outrigger pad to get past. There wasn’t anyone or any signs on the road warning about the crane either. This is a good example on how not to do a job!”

On a positive note, the crane looks well maintained and the operator has used some decent mats under the outriggers, however we do agree with our contributor that it qualifies for our Death Wish series.

Crane slips into ditch

A three axle All Terrain crane overturned earlier this month on a remote road in Scotland.

The crane, a 55 tonne Liebherr All Terrain crane owned by Ainscough Crane Hire, was travelling down the narrow track when it appears to have got to close to the edge of road, slipped into the verge/ditch and rolled into the brush.

Fortunately no one was injured in the incident.