Manitowoc 31000

[ben94f150]

Great pics and video Ray. Hope the diecast model is as sweet looking as the real one

 

[cranedude07]

Ray, you are one lucky guy! id do anything to work with the 31! I just came back from visiting them end of july. had both of them down though, the VPC motor was broke or something on the other one, not yours. those are awesome pics! shots ive been waiting to see, up close and personal! need an oiler or anything for her? id kill to do it haha. this rig is just insane and AWESOME!

keep those pics and videos coming!

 

[gostr8r]

31000

cranedude07, it is an extra special opportunity to be involved in this beast in anyway at all, plus be sent up there for the classes too. The Manitowoc Factory guys are all awesome!!!!! We most likely won't hire an oiler since we'll man the rig with 2 operators and a Manitowoc technician. Between the 3 of us we should be able to keep her in good shape, lubed and cleaned up nicely. Much of the rig is auto lubed anyhow, but some things will be done the old school way. I'm pretty excited to find out when and where it will make it's first project lift, but no news of that yet. Even if there was I couldn't post it until it was on the job and set up. Don't want to jinx the deal ya know. Loved your models and how well you have them set up!

 

[gostr8r]

I never really bragged too much about the design details of the rig, but since getting up close and personal with it each day I can say that Manitowoc has certainly done their homework on this bad boy. It now has a nice a/c unit, a slew of cabinets along the back wall, a small wall mounted folding seat behind the operator, AM/FM stereo with a CD player, shades all around, floor glass to see below the elevated cab, a lap top computer with all the manuals and info on the rig [schematics, tech stuff and such], several monitors that can be set with the operator's preferences to view the drums, the VPC, the engine room and the boom tip looking down along the load lines to the block, an automated engine compartment and cab fire suppressant system in addition to 8 on board fire extinguishers, triple power options [can be run off the diesel generators, hydraulic generators or even city power like a tower crane], a 600 gallon fuel tank with 2 big engines but it can run at 50% speed on one to get by in a pinch, 4 trunion mounted tracks, 8 big swing drives on the turntable ring gear, a fully adjustable powered 8 way seat with heat and massage, enough cabinet top space for a hotel type fridge, micro wave and/or an oven, several rigging winchs in the lower and upper too that serve many purposes on set up and tear downs, hydraulically pinning boom pins all the way out, a portable power unit with many functions, a multiple arrangement easy reeving load block that can be configured with 3 to as many as 22 sheaves, cable followers that will alert the operator when he has reached the last 3 wraps or the full drum over spooling limit, more catwalks, ladders and platforms that you can count, well engineered shipping drawings for all the blocking requirements with the very specific dimensions for each of the 75 to about 125 loads, an intercom system to speak to workers close to the rig, interior and exterior lighting all around the rig and at each of the 9 camera stations. I could go on all night about this monster and how well they did things to make it more operator, owner and customer friendly but it's late and I'm tired. There really is a lot more to it! G'night Johnboy.

 

[cranedude07]

i wish i would have known you was going to be up there, i would have waited to take my trip up there and went when you got there and met up with ya, maybe get in close haha! this crane is a BEAST and just so interesting! i wish i could get up close and personal to it again fully setup, and walk all over it! would have been heaven to me haha! im just obsessed with this rig for some reason. hope its first job is close, id take a trip to go watch its first lift, probably wont be possible though if it goes to a plant of some kind.

what is that sheave for thats on the front right roller assembly? ive been trying to think of what it could be for since the open house lol.

 

[gostr8r]

ben94f150 had nothing but good things to say about you so I know I would have felt the same way if we met. I hate to say it but the lifts themselves are not as impressive as the rig. Maybe the 1st will be something to really talk about tho. They go so real slowly and it's noisy with all the beepers and going off. The swingers, VPC and the crawlers all have 'very loud' indicators. About the mystery sheave, if you're talking about the single sheave that's under the drum number 5 [luffing hoist drum] it's actually for the drum 6 [rigging hoist drum] that is located out of sight down inside the machinery's rotating deck. It has a 3/4"s rope for pulling the big 2" load lines thru the blocks, bails, equalizers and point sheaves. It also is used as a safety and hold back when 'folding' and unfolding the main strut for the jib. Look closely at some of the pics where that strut is folding back and you'll see it attached to the middle of it [thru a snatch block] to keep the strut's center from getting away from them. The 2 in rope is attached at the top of that strut also to keep it under control as it folds over from the pinned position.

 

[cranedude07]

bens a good guy, i met up with him and his girlfriend when i went, and saw his awesome collection! yeah i can imagine all those beepers and warning alarms going off, i know the 18000 has a warning beep when it turns, i would hate hearing that if i had to turn the crane all day haha.

heres a pic i have that shows that sheave im talking about, its just where it sits and how its angled thats confusing me, i have drawn an arrow to it, its beside the lights

 

[gostr8r]

Yep, that's the guide, or deflector sheave for the drum 6 rigging winch, that's inside the deck under those big hoist drums. Look here at the big luffing hoist drum [#5] with it's 2" wire rope, and just under it is that sheave for the rigging winch [#6] that is hidden inside the deck behind #5.

 

[cranedude07]

oh, ok. that thing has been bugging me ever since i seen it haha. do you have plans on getting a model of this rig? whens the next time you are heading back up there to train or test? i might take another trip. dont really want to go in winter, too cold up there lol

 

[gostr8r]

Don't know if the boss will send me back or not but would go without hesitation if he says to. Can't afford the $ of the model or I would order it. Wifey wouldn't understand that at all. I hope they will get one to use in the classes we just took to help with the clarification of some of the terms and to make things more recognizable during lectures. Things get a little foggy when they put out so much stuff in such a short time period.

 

[cranedude07]

oh, well if you do, let me know, i might drive up and meet ya and hopefully you can get me inside haha. yeah the ,odel is expensive but will be well worth it! cant wait for mine to come! i think they might use one to help in the class, i think manitowoc is suppose to keep 150 of the 500 to themselves.

 

[ben94f150]

Their is talk of a third 31000. Production would first be 2013 because Manitowoc does not want to flood the market.

 

[cranedude07]

also, whats those big long sticks that stick out from the side of the luffing mast or jib tip? they look like long survey measuring sticks, is it part of testing, or just a lightning rod?

 

[gostr8r]

They're extra long yard spicks so to speak. They have to do side load testing and the sticks give them a way to accurately measure how far out from plum the side loads pull the top of the rig over. With a load on the hook and in the air they use another crane to take it out sideways [thru an snatch block that's anchored out 90 degrees to the tip], from under the head section, until the input from the strain gauges tell them to stop and then they take the measurements. They can do it safely that way with out collapsing the boom. More strain gauges were on there than I could count.

 

[ben94f150]

Hows it going 31000 man.

 

[gostr8r]

Going well Ben.

Tired and wet but alright. In this shot here you can see the loadline on the second crane pulling up on a very long choker thru a snatch block that's just out of frame on the lower left corner. It's anchored to a set of test weights on the ground that won't move, but the suspended load on the 31000 will move laterally towards the snatch block. Obviously that long choker runs down from the other crane, thru the snatch block, and then over close to the ground to the test load that's hanging on the 31000, hooked up to it by a shackle on it's test weights. http://s1029.photobucket.com/albums... pound lift/?action=view&current=IMG_0436.jpg

 

[ben94f150]

Nice pics ray. You running a tower crane again. Enjoyed your visit. Sure know your cranes. Great stories to. On how you started running cranes. Looking forward to that cd.

 

[cranedude07]

Oh, I thought it might have had something to do with sideloading. I saw all the strain gauges (i think) all over the crane, little black boxes with like 50 wires going in and out of it.
So how come your (crane rental Corp) 31000 has new counterweights and the other has old maxer weights? Did they just run out of new weights or just use those until new ones are made?

 

[gostr8r]

Ben I wished I was back on a tower crane but many of our's are going out unmanned. I'll try to get that disc out this weekend too. Still catching up on 'honey do's'. I'm setting glass at a VA Hospital with a 60 Ton Link Belt starting Friday. Did some wire welding this afternoon tho. I know you could teach me a lot about that! cranedude our c/t's boxes are each half the weight of the other 31000's and casted, but the others aren't. Our's can be loaded out for shipping by smaller crane and separated on a truck bed for better weight distribution or versatility of the loads. It all adds up to the same weight but we have twice as many boxes as the other one does. So we have 4 stacks on each side and instead of just 2. I guess if a buyer wanted boxes like our's they could get 'em, because it's an option. You're very observant!

 

[cranedude07]

Oh cool.
Haha, you don't know how many times I've studied pics of this rig, trying to learn pretty much everything about this beast! Have you gotten the operators manuals, books of it yet? Bet they are pretty thick! I'd love to have a copy lol