favorite crane

[piledriving]

Link-Belt 518, American 9310, Manitowoc 4100

Justin

 

[jeffk2u]

We had an old 2300 series Manitowoc. I forget the capacity..I want to say 35 ton, give or take. This crane was a joy to operate, but lots of bullwork to erect. The boom was all bolts at every joint. 4 per lace times 4 points. the gantry was erected as such that you had to boom crane all the way to tipping point up (boom stops were pieces of angle iron those days). When ya had er all the way up with slack in your hog rods, then you climbed to the roof of the cab and used johnson bars to winch the front legs of the gantry foreward to the pin down spot. Then, sometimes we had to have an excavator pull slightly on the boom with a sling to help get it back over center from the top. I would have my left hand holding the boom brake with the boom lever in the slow down mode, all the time watching over my left shoulder to make sure the boom cables did not mis align on the boom drums. All this with 90 feet of boom in her! After the exciting set up the fun would begin. This crane had been fitted with an original air type lever system They were essentially round knobs with hitchable hook ups on the backside for feel effect They were the original air assist and actually worked quite well. The crane itself had 2 very smooth drums on it. The drawback was having to boom up as you swing over the side as the cats were very narrow and this machine was very tippy . Over front with chains to the rear she was a joy to operate. The company I was with sold her in 1995 I believe. A dredging co uses her along the Detroit River and north from there along the lakes.

help !! I just started a job running a 4000 manitowoc with The Johnson Bar

Why not back down a heavy load in manual with torque converter and throttle
verses Johnson bar in air mode?
What are the pitfalls if any?
I understand the system for light loads.. but it seems like you have more control in manual for heavy loads with just using the brake and throttle with torque converter.
Am I missing something??

 

[Rick Rowlands]

I've really only operated a couple of cranes in my life, a small Pettibone Multikrane back when we were dismantling the Tod Engine in 1996-97, and of course the Insley K-12, of which I've made a grand total of one lift with so far (but have spent 200 hours repairing and refurbishing).

But you asked my favorite crane, and although not in your list I would have to say my favorite is our 35 ton Morgan overhead crane. After 115 years in service she'll still lift the rated load!

 

[Rindfuss32]

I'm a manitowoc 4100 man for sure.

 

[shipman]

My favorite crane is located at our marina/boat yard, been launching sailboats with it since 1973, that era is coming to an end, I'll see if I can get a pic up once I figure out how to do it. Got a Grove rt59s coming to replace "old faithful"

 

[shipman]

Old Faithful

My favorite crane, soon to be de-commished. Anybody want it?

 

[Dualie]

WOW an old guy derrick! thats a relic for sure. If you wernt so far away i would buy it for scrap value for sure.


havent seen one of those in going on 20 years.

 

[liebherr1160]

Hey lieberr1160- what's a grove cm 220? Something they only run in igloo's? Also local 139- I'm running a Grove rt 600 right now and I'm not that impressed. It's probably just me, but before this I was running a beat up terex 50 ton,(it was a rental unit from a nation wide company, and it had a hard life) and even though the turntable was quite loose, I think it would outpick this almost new grove. That old terex was had levers and a foot pedal for the boom, and I still prefer that to pilot hydraulics. I'm not as tired at the end of the day with pilot hydraulics, but they don't have that same feel. Don't get me wrong though, this new grove has got one switch that will make it beat that old terex all summer long, its the one that says A/C.

Found the link ...this is the CM 990 version

http://www.europe-machinery.com/used/crawler-crane/780713/grove-cm-990.html

 

[notime1977]

What is a good crane for dragline work ?? I am new to board and am looking at trying to find a dragline.....any suggestions?

 

[willie59]

What is a good crane for dragline work ?? I am new to board and am looking at trying to find a dragline.....any suggestions?

Welcome to the forum notime1977. :usa

Now that you have 3 posts, you'll lose the probationary status soon and be able to start a new thread about your question.

 

[hoosier]

For all around crane - Clyde whirley very stout rig. Was at Jeffboat unless a rookie has turned it over.
Crawler - the 888 was a nice and smooth ride.

 

[zander]

Any Kato for me fellas!

 

[chero76]

Anyone a dragline/crane to sell? should be 60 tonns a.d aabove.

 

[Impact]

New here. This is my second post. I cracked up laughing at the "transgressions of carpeneters" posts. Gotta love their signals. Gotta love how they expect you to slide a 40' truss under their 12' 2 x 4 brace as you boom down. I now refuse to do that or even try.

Back in the 70's we used an old home built winch truck to lift equipment. Winch worked off a reversible PTO. Operator sat in the driver's cab. Backed the truck around to where you needed it. Set the parking brake, or get someone to scotch your wheels, clutch it, engage the PTO for up or down. Pretty crude but it worked. We didn't know what a forklift was in those days.

Bought a 6 ton RO stinger after that. 40-50' of boom I think.

Traded it for a 25 ton boom truck we mounted on an old International truck. Still have it.

Came across a TMS300LP Grove a few years back. Like "crane operator" I like this old crane, although the maintenance is about to drive me crazy. Re built engine, electrical problems, had the extend cylinder split and leak, can't seem to keep tires on it. About to get everything rebuilt on it, and hoping for better luck. Drives like an old log truck, but once it's set-up--it's good.

Bought a Grove 50 ton All terrain last summer. 1999 model, AT700D. Drives like a cadillac down the highway. Love the four wheel steer and automatic transmission. Operates pretty smooth. But, on the load charts, within most workable ranges the old TMS300 is practically as strong.

 

[No1Hookman]

Favorite cranes--Grove RT65S, RT745, TTS 870 GMK6250, Manitowoc (Kobelco) 12000. Not necessarily in that order. I've farted in a lot of seats in the last 30+ years.

 

[chadjacobs]

Hello to all from a new member!!

Hi all glad to be a part of your forum. Have some questions to put in a thread as sonn as I can.

I guess my favorite crane so far would be a Demag ac100. The structure made you feel invincible. The most confidence inspiring crane I ever ran. So far....... I just got a Faun atf110g and I'm pretty tickled with it!

 

[wallsonsupplier]

Tower crane: type QTZ31.5, QTZ40, QTZ 63, QTZ80, QTZ125, QTZ160,QTZ200 and QTZ315 the free height from 31.6m to 53m, up to height from 100m to 301m, max load from 3ton to 16 tons.
Mobile tower crane: on the basic of QTZ 63, QTZ80, QTZ125, QTZ160,QTZ200 and QTZ315
www.wasico.com

 

[mljohn]

kato? saw one of those in taji iraq a couple years ago some haji's were ram roding concrete barriers with it:usa:usa

 

[classictruckman]

No not in and igloo ..but manure pile's

It was a rubber tracked 22T unit..quite certain it had the ATS540 boom in it ...Grove also made a 990 version steel tracked unit that was 90T capacity..

Cant find anything now ..but I was certain its designation was CM xxx..

Found a picture and load chart here, not sure its the machine your talking about:

http://www.nationalcrane.com/MCG_GRO/Downloads/EN/Archive_Lit_SP_APP.asp

 

[cat994ca]

The Greatest crane I have operated to date is the Maeda MC305C-2. It is a mini crawler crane with a 45ft stick and 41ft to the hook It's small at 3.25T lift at 8ft off centre and 20ft of stick. I have you big guys (25T or better) pick and place it any where it is needed. Inside malls,hospitals or gas and oil plants, If I'm unable to walk to it.