NEWS | JULY 2022


ACE END TRUCK REPLACEMENT


manufacturing customer broke ground on a new distribution center in Vancouver, Washington, consolidating production from sites around the Pacific Northwest. Each previous location specialized in a specific type of steel, such as rebar or plate. The steel product, typically heavy, in various weights, shapes, and sizes, had to be moved from one end of the facility out the door and onto a truck that ships it to customers. Alongside Class D and Class C standard duty types of cranes used for support activities, the customer had nine Class E specialized workhorse cranes needed for continuous production.


J These massive overhead cranes are big


and very fast. Each crane has a rotating trolley that spins around to move plate steel product 90 degrees, which is easier for the operator and helps with placement from the production line onto trucks. During the commissioning process of the Class E cranes, and after start-up, there were several problems, said Dowd. The customer had issues with premature


wear on the drum due to incorrect rope construction, problems with the bridge, and drive torque arm assemblies snapping off. It’s not typical to have these types of problems on a brand new crane. The majority of the issues were around the


ohn Dowd, chief technology officer, Ace Industries, tells Hoist, overhead cranes are an integral part of steel distribution, and in 2011, a steel


Class E specialized cranes. In time most of the issues were addressed, however, there was an ongoing problem with the bridge drive assembly that was never resolved. This was due to the under-sizing of the bridge drive assembles and wheel bearing. These cranes travel at speeds of 270 feet per minute. The end trucks and 12” wheels on the cranes appeared to be undersized, and as a result, the customer was experiencing bridge failures every 18 months or so. First it was bridge wheel bearing failures, then there were related issues involving the gearbox. Since the repairs required to fix this condition were complicated and would have to involve a machine shop, it would require multiple days of costly downtime. Every time the customer had a bridge


drive failure, they could not use the crane, which meant not getting their product out the door and to their customers. Ace determined the right solution would


be to get the right size bridge drives and wheels for heavy-duty cranes. The Ace Portland, Oregon branch was


fortunate enough to start servicing the account in 2017 and, at that time began performing some modifications to the bridge drives. They extended the shaft, reinforced the bridge and the wheel capsules, and some other fixes that helped. But the cranes were still continuously having failures. In particular, the steel customer had one Class E crane that was more of a problem than the others. Each of their


eight bays is reserved for a specific type of steel processing, and bay six crane, which handles steel plates, only had a single crane, so no backup in case of a break down. Unfortunately, this crane was experiencing premature wear on the northwest drive wheel. The wheel would only last for six months to a year and then need to be replaced.


When this was discovered, Ace teamed


up with Gary Davis, director of consulting services, IMS, and he was able to provide some intelligence on the crane’s squareness and runway alignment. Davis worked with Ace’s Portland branch team to diagnose the issue. He performed a comprehensive runway survey and alignment analysis utilizing a total station survey device. After Gary’s analysis, it was determined the


crane was not square, the runway was not in span and there were some elevation issues. Compound these issues with the undersized end truck and bridge wheel, and it was apparent the customer had a significant problem on their hands. Ace and Davis proposed to replace the end trucks and undersized bridge wheels for a drive configuration that was foot mounted with 15” wheels, a much more appropriate design fort this type of application and duty cycle.


The Portland service group worked with


the customer to determine proper installation areas and schedule a window of time for both Ace and the customer.


With a good plan in place a team of


technicians would perform the end truck replacement and another team would work on straightening the rail. Davis was involved with the project from the beginning and was onsite to oversee and direct the installation and alignment of the end trucks, to make sure everything was fully level and square. A rigging company was hired to remove


the crane utilizing a 250 ton gantry and Ace worked with Davis to reconfigure new end trucks, bridge drives, and connection plates to make sure they had the right upgrades, wheels, and bridge drive configuration to ensure a 20-year service life for the bearings. The project was successfully completed on time. Ace load tested the crane and everything checked out. Ace started on a Saturday and by the following Sunday, the customer was able to run their scheduled shift. The crane runs faster, smoother and quieter than before. ●


www.hoistmagazine.com | July 2022 | 23


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