How good is a Grove TMS 475 for a beginner

[Knepptune]

Glad your keeping the old girl busy.

Generally it's not a great idea to leave something with a load overnight. I've never been around a crane that's not gonna creak and settle when left under a load for an extended period of time.

For a 1 man crane company a 50t isn't a bad size. Here in the states you would have to haul the cw separately, so you don't see many 1 man crews with a 50t. If you can leave the cw on the crane and just roll with it, the cost of operating it isn't gonna be much if any less then running a smaller crane.

 

[Evans]

Greetings, one crane company might be the most boring company ,specially when that only crane is hired for a longer period of time and left you seated in office most of the time.
my crane has been hired by a gold mine ,not sure for how long ,I never bothered to ask :beatsme maybe fear to frustrate the deal. But what I did was to access the job on the ground and found out that I am their guest for sometime . i have provided an operator and a rigger .the rest mine will provide.

SO now I am spending time thinking of buying a second one , sooner. CAN YOU GUYS ADVICE WHICH WAY TO GO ,A BIGGER SIZE, SOME SIZE OR SMALLER SIZE ..
economically our countries down here are not very stable .thinks change anytime and new laws anytime.

 

[Knepptune]

Sounds like that crane is working out pretty well. Its hard to say what size would work best for you. Do you turn down smaller crane jobs or do you turn down more work due to your crane not being big enough?

Do you road your crane with the cw on it or do you haul it separately? If you haul it on the crane that's about as big of a crane as your gonna be able to do that.

If a smaller crane is what your thinking about I'd look into a grove tms250. It'll be just like your 475 only smaller. Same controls, same valve setup. Same cabs. Great little cranes.

 

[Evans]

thanks Kneppture, , yes people are asking, i did some media adverts including flairs ,local paper etc .
now most enquiries are for the 50ton with a few asking for a smaller crane with long boom length and at times they just want a lower rate
whats your take on tms300/B VS tms250 VS another 475. do you still stand with the tms 250

I don't think it sounds nice to have two 475 . and still on tms 300 and tms 300B are these sisters miles apart in terms of performance or weight .

 

[clintm]

Never owned a crane just a boom truck for own use. But in my experience with your location and lack of part's availability I would try and find another machine just like you have for parts interchange so when one is down waiting on part's thats when the second one goes down then you can just borrow parts off of one to keep going till all the part's get to you or when you wreck one you will have a parts machine for the other.

 

[Knepptune]

Only you know the market there. If you can keep another 475 busy there's certainly an advantage to having two of the same crane.

From what you've said I kind of think I'd lean toward and tms250. It's gonna be very very similar to your 475. Same controls, same valves, same overall design. With it being on a 3-axle carrier it's gonna be able to get in and setup a lot of places your 475 won't. In my opinion a tms300 is close to in size to your 475 to have one of each. If you find a tms250 with the jib and stinger it'll give you 126' boom. And that's on a fairly small carrier.

 

[crane operator]

Evans, like others have said, only you can know your market.

Here in the us- there is quite a bit of work for smaller cranes, setting trusses, A/c units, hot tubs etc; what I would term residential work, that I do with my 25 ton groves.

I would think in your area there would be less of that, and only the mining and industrial customers would have the need for a crane. Meaning less work for smaller cranes. I do most of my industrial/quarry work with my tms 300, or my 70 ton P&H.

I have mostly older groves, its a great advantage to the operator, and as a owner to have very similar machines.

The tms 300 and 475 are very similar in capacity's and size. The 475 has a wider outrigger span, and extendable counterweight, and 5' more of main, and its heavier. There are way more tms 300's out there, than 475's. The 475's lattice boom main, was a labor intensive boom to build, and grove didn't make very many. The tms 300's were built from 1973, until the early 1990's.

Given your location I would stay with the tms grove series, they are a simple design, and very strong.

There are always people that want a cheaper price on a crane. If you have the 50 ton and the 35 ton, they may feel they're getting a deal when they have the cheaper crane come, but in reality, the charts aren't much different. You'll find very few jobs that you can do with your 475, that you wouldn't/couldn't do with a tms300. The 475's over the side chart, is basically the tms 300's over the rear chart.

If you're traveling 100miles to a job, I'd much prefer the smaller tms 200/250. Its only 50,000lbs, instead of 80,000. It will do quite a bit of work, and pick up into the 20-25,000lbs range. That said, I find mine to be a little bit short of main boom. They're only 80' main, and a lot of times 95' would be much nicer, but you're only a jib swing away from 105'.

 

[Evans]

Thanks gentlemen ,Clitm you brought a very valid point on sharing parts or parts interchange and to go for another 475. ,I never thought of that .at the moment market is enquiring on the 475 that I am marketing .

. that will also go well on double lifts if need be.my location generally is associated with heavy loads that's why I am a bit hesitant to go

along with Knep on tms250 though I kanda of having this believe that 250 can be the busiest of them all ,tight places we don't mention its the best.

CRANE OPARATOR is leaning more to tms 300 and point out few very important points. can do 80% what 475 do. same manual book, i have one already. less weight but almost

same lifting capacity. boom length ok .I want to try and focus on mining and industrial customers as of now ,Operator you were spot on .

heavy lifts more of transformers in the energy sector. . 250 ,300,475:Banghead .

 

[anngrant87]

I've been working on my Grove TMS475 for years! It is very nice to see how simple it really is. Grove TMS475 is definitely the best option for a beginer

 

[Evans]

Great indeed , thanks anngrant87 ,100% correct it is a great machine and I have purchased one. now the dilemma I am in is" which size to go for next". i am looking at less tonnage ,,which size?. do you think going for a second one 475 is a good idea.

 

[Knepptune]

Still makes me grin seeing tms475 and beginner in the same sentence. Like willie says "heck of a crane for a beginner". Obviously it's working out pretty well tho. Most guys don't start with a 50t so props to you guys for jumping in with both feet.

https://cranenetwork.com/crane/truck-mounted-telescopic-boom-cranes/grove/tms250c/216829

This is a later tms250c. They upped the tonnage to 35 ton on the later ones. I'd bet this one sells in the mid 20s maybe less. With the long jib it's got 126' of boom, she'll chart out to 115' radius over the back. I believe the the 250cs have the offsetable jib as well. I really like this model of crane. I still think it'll outlift any other 3-axle crane. One other nice feature is the front bumper outrigger, gives it a complete 360 load chart. Basically the same crane we started our crane business with

Can you tell I really liked ours? .

 

[Evans]

hello gentlemen ,I finally made a decision and purchased a tms 250c to become second chef of staff on my fleet of two. I found it to be a great piece of machine. though load chart is not so good compared to tms300. I really wanted a cummins but it has a cat 3208. surely you can not get all your specs you want on one machine including good price. 80" 30 jib.

not so sure with this "cat". 3000hrs 90k on miles.
tms 475 still doing a good job . meeting new friends along the way.

 

[Evans]

hello gentlemen ,I finally made a decision and purchased a tms 250c to become second chef of staff on my fleet of two. I found it to be a great piece of machine. though load chart is not so good compared to tms300. I really wanted a cummins but it has a cat 3208. surely you can not get all your specs you want on one machine including good price. 80" 30 jib.

not so sure with this "cat". 3000hrs 90k on miles.
tms 475 still doing a good job .View attachment 161872 meeting new friends along the way.

 

[Evans]

oooohhhh a bit rusty on posting pics

 

[Evans]

I would like to take this opotunity to wish all you guys A HAPPY FESTIVE SEASON , do not drink and drive gentlemen . TMS475 is doing ok with minimum maintainance .i changed engine oil @ 400hrs,not sure if its right that way, hyd oil not yet changed since last time 500hrs ago. greasing every sunday . oil filter, "a big silver element",like a big tin ,do you have to change it every time you change oil,i tried to run around but can not find it anywhere in my town.

thank you once again to you all, i have learned so much from all of you,at times just by reading through posts, i found it to be very good route to take to learn more about cranes

 

[Evans]

just some pics , A Gold plant under construction .old ladie not disappointing .

 

[hvy 1ton]

Cool project. I look forward to more pictures.

 

[Evans]

just some recent pics ,the plant is taking shape and Ladie G is not disappointing either.. she is" the" pillar of the whole project. these tms grove are beasts,it stole the show when a 70ton Kato failed to lift and position a 45ton crusher pinion and guess what? old ladie G just took it with easy. some of these cranes here are not in their best conditions ,not underestimating Kato.

 

[td25c]

[QUOTE="Evans, post: 681672, member: 52346" these tms grove are beasts,it stole the show when a 70ton Kato failed to lift and position a 45ton crusher pinion and guess what? old ladie G just took it with easy. .[/QUOTE]

That's normal for the old school big "G" cranes . They would actually lift what it was rated for .

Grove has forgotten more about crane manufacturing than most companies will ever understand .

Everything today is over rated on the load chart making the crane / equipment look bigger than it is .

Keep up the good work Evans !

 

[Evans]

Hello to you all, big G and i we are doing fine. i have been busy with some big projects down here though these big mines do not pay as agreed and they want me to fund their projects.{unfair},
Good news though is i have managed to buy tms 250c and tms 300B to make a feet of 3. i know it might sound like i have rushed to buy, i thought i should have a small fleet to be in the game with funds i got from the mines. The 250c is in the yard and 300 on its way US port. cat 3208 with a bit off blowby but all sound ok ,it brings smoke from the breather . . i am yet to change oil and filters.

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