Tadano AT Lifts Through Roof of Pennsylvania Plant

Sept. 26, 2023 – Lane’s Crane Service of Moosic, Pennsylvania, took on an interesting lifting challenge from beverage bottling company Joriki USA recently.

Joriki needed Lane to erect four 37’ tall, 19,000-lb. tanks on the company’s plant floor under a 41’ ceiling joist.

Lane’s AC 7.450-1 all-terrain crane, purchased from Tadano distributor Empire Crane, turned out to be the right machine for the job.

The crane’s extended 263’ main boom, coupled with the Sideways Superlift System (SSL), eliminated the need for a luffing jib — something that saved on transportation costs and setup time.

Matthew Lane of Lane’s Crane Service, describes how well the recently purchased AC 7.450-1 performed on the challenging lift. “We chose this crane due to its long reach and ability to do the job with main boom only, as well as its efficiency when being assembled on site,” he said.

Assembled in Less than Three Hours

The fact that no luffing jib was required not only ensured lower transportation costs and faster assembly, but also reduced the space required for assembling the crane on the construction site.

The AC 7.450-1 impressively demonstrated its high efficiency, as it took the crane operator and two crew members less than three hours to set up the machine with the 263’ main boom in SSL configuration and full counterweight.

Tadano America All-Terrain Product Manager Hutton Strader adds, “Tadano put a lot of thought into the design of this machine, which is effectively a 7-axle crane that competes like an 8-axle but has the space envelope closer to a 6-axle. It’s a lot of strength and reach in a relatively compact package.”

Access Through the Roof

The lifts themselves presented the Lane’s team with an interesting challenge: the four 37’ tanks had to be set upright in the hall, which was only 41’ high.

The only access for the lifts was to lower the crane’s load block through the roof.

Small rectangular openings just big enough for the load block were made in the roof exactly above where each tank would be installed.

Lane’s team used a 35,000-lb. capacity forklift as a “tailing crane” to stabilize each tank as the crane lifted it to vertical and then set it in place.

The method let Land safely install all four tanks in the shortest possible time.

All Expectations Met

The AC 7.450-1 is definitely a dynamic crane, and it served Lane’s Crane Service well for this unique job.

Matthew Lane adds, “We were very pleased with the performance of the crane on this project, especially considering this was only the second job for this machine, and the first using the superlift. Everything went seamlessly, the customer was happy, and the operator and crew are looking forward to using this machine on future jobs.”