A recent article in American Cranes & Transport Magazine (ACT) highlights the numerous positive attributes of all-terrain cranes and how the purchase of an AT crane can be a wise investment in the construction industry.
ACT spoke with Scott Wilson, president of M-L Holdings Company Crane Group Crane Services. M-L Holdings is headquartered in Albuquerque, NM and has offices throughout the United States. Wilson stressed the importance of having a crane that’s capable of traversing mountainous terrain as well as urban areas with crowded traffic and limited amount of room to maneuver. All-terrain cranes can be a perfect answer to these environments where lifting applications are needed, and they offer advantages over truck-mounted cranes such as multi-axle steering and hydraulic suspension.
The types of jobs should also be considered when investing in an all-terrain crane, and M-L Holdings will make manufacturer recommendations based on the task to be performed. For example, Wilson says that Tadano cranes work well in Texas oil fields because of the abuse received from the rough terrain roads. In urban settings, Liebherr cranes can be a good fit due to building heights and alleyway positioning challenges.
The article then highlights one all-terrain crane from each of several manufacturers whose cranes are available in North America. An example is the Tadano ATF 60G-3, a collaboration of Japanese and German engineering. Tadano recently introduced this 66-ton crane with a unique two front and one rear axle configuration (shown above). The 60G-3 features a boom length of 31.2 to 157.5 feet, a maximum radius of 144 feet and maximum lift height of 187 feet. It’s equipped with a 22-ton hook block in its 11-ton axle load configuration, enabling it to lift up to 18.8 metric tons.
The engine on superstructure is a Mercedes Benz (Euromot IV, EPA Tier 4f), 260 kW (354 HP) with the ZF-AS-Tronic 12 AS 1625 SO gearing mechanism. The crane features a drive of 6 x 4 x 6 on the road and 6 x 6 x 6 off-road. It measures 440 inches long x 111 inches wide x 145 inches tall and weighs 71,007 pounds.
Want to read more? Check out “Take a look: AT showstoppers” at the American Crane & Transport website by clicking here.
Image above courtesy of Tadano.
