CRAWLER CRANES Ӏ SECTOR REPORT


j offshore wind turbines at


Linkbelt’s TTC 1400 on a Kansas windfarm


ports is also becoming a much more important business segment and the weights of components continues to rise.” Lattice crawlers do not have a monopoly on windfarm work: telescopic crawlers are there as well, sometimes as assists. Wilkerson Crane Rental of Kansas City, Kansas purchased three Link- Belt telescopic crawler cranes, a 250-ton (235-tonne) TCC-2500, and two 140-ton (127-tonne) TCC-1400s for a 69-turbine wind project near Joplin, Missouri, and then obtained two more of the 1400s. “The TCCs can walk down


a dirt road on tracks, or across rough fields and suck in the boom for easy travel," said Larry Smith, Wilkersons sales and estimating manager. “They can get around so well while they are picking and carrying. They are so agile, almost perfect for the work they’re doing out here. You couldn’t ask for a better crane, really. All three Link-Belt telecrawlers are nimble enough to assemble larger 715- ton lattice crawlers onsite, and to unload turbine components off transport trucks for eventual assembly. The TCC crane operators are usually working in a 35 to 40 ft. (10.6 – 12.1 m) radius, although working up to a 100 ft. (30.4 m) radius is common. Crane boom configuration can be from 85 – 105 ft. (25.9 – 32 m) out or more; the boom angle varies with the space available and placement with changing load weights.” Of course, windfarms are


far from the sole application of crawlers. Almost any infrastructure project sees them at work. We have mentioned HS2; Florida’s Howard Franklin Bridge – see box – is another example of massed crawlers at work. As long as civil engineering happens, there will be a place for the king crawler.


68 CRANES TODAY


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81