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Designed for quick and safe setup without the need for outriggers and mats, along with maximum pick and carry capacities, stability on rough ground and lower ground bearing pressure — telescopic boom crawler cranes, or telecrawlers, are routinely used in many common and unique applications.
“Typical applications include utility work or lifting work on infrastructure projects,” said JJ Grace, Manitowoc’s product manager for Grove GHC cranes. “Some unique applications include barge, pile driving, pick and carry and foundation work. One of the latest uses is as an assist crane on a wind farm and as a tailing crane.”
In wind power installations, use as a tail crane and for assembly of crawler cranes are the most common applications for telecrawlers, noted Beau Pocock, business development manager at the mobile and crawler cranes division of Liebherr USA, Co. Other common uses would be for road and bridge construction, at refineries and for jobs with tight quarters and diverse landscapes.
“A unique application for telecrawlers is power line and cell tower construction,” Pocock added. “The environment that transmission lines and cell towers are placed in makes these cranes valuable because of their abilities to operate on uneven terrain and varying ground conditions.”
James Land, GTC sales director at Tadano, pointed out that common applications for telecrawlers include foundation, bridge and heavy civil, wind support, powerline construction and maintenance work. Teleboom crawler cranes have also become much more popular in commercial construction, he related.
Latest Technologies
All Tadano teleboom crawler cranes can be run with the tracks fully extended, retracted, or even with asymmetric track extension configurations for maximum jobsite versatility on narrow footprints, Land noted. “A third winch option has also been added to our lineup due to customer demand,” he said, “and we have developed specialty options such as hydraulic tool circuits and a hydraulic powerpack that can be mounted in place of rear counterweight.
“To minimize the frequency of service required, we track usage time of swing, travel and winch functions,” Land continued. “For example, if the machine is on a barge for an extended period and not using the travel function, it does not log time against the track drive service interval. Utilizing this feature can greatly reduce the cost of ownership and time spent servicing components that still have plenty of life.”
Recently introduced by Manitowoc is its largest telescoping crawler crane. The new Grove GHC200 has a 200-ton capacity and a 185-foot main boom.
“As jobs get more challenging, higher load charts are needed to accomplish them,” Grace said. “The GHC200 is ideal for general construction and renewable energy, for example, because of its strength and increased pick-and-carry capabilities.”
The GHC200 offers new features, such as an additional 90% pinning location on the boom sections for increased capacity and versatility when setting up the crane. When configured with the 71.5-foot manual or hydraulic swing away extension, the crane has a maximum tip height of 265.7 feet. With out-of-level load charts, the GHC200 offers the ability to pick-and-carry at 100 percent of its load chart on inclinations of up to 4 degrees, and it can swing loads a full
360 degrees.
The GHC200 can be transported to a jobsite in six to seven loads and offers quick self-assembly. In-cab amenities for operators include a heated air suspension seat and a climate control system, along with cameras providing hoist, rear and right-side views. In addition, a 20-degree tilting cab provides high visibility and increased operator ergonomics when working at high angles with an extended boom.
At Liebherr, reported Beau Pocock, the new LTR 1150 is the first telescopic crawler crane to be equipped with the manufacturer’s VarioBase variable supporting base that allows for significantly higher load capacities, especially for lifts directly over the supports. The system determines the optimum load capacity in real time depending on the fixed track width and the variable rotation angle.
For the first time for Liebherr telescopic crawler cranes, the company has also calculated WindSpeed load charts for the new LTR 1150, which make it possible to work safely and flexibly even at higher permissible wind speeds.
The Liebherr LTR 1150 expands the company’s telescopic crawler crane lineup with a model between the LTR 1100 and the LTR 1220. A key feature of the new crane is the ability to be transported on low-loaders complete with crawler carriers.
Market Growth
The unique features and specialized capabilities of telescopic crawler cranes make them extremely appealing on construction sites where many lifts need to be carried out in different places, for example in the construction of industrial buildings.
The advantages of a fast telescopic boom that would typically be found on mobile cranes with the stability of a crawler crane and the ability to cover rough ground, continue to drive the popularity of these compact, maneuverable machines.
Success Story
Link-Belt telescopic cranes lift roof panels for a large distribution facility
Smith Erectors of Markle, Indiana, is utilizing the reach and versatility of two Link-Belt telescopic cranes for construction of a new 700,000 square foot manufacturing and distribution facility for Diamond Pet Foods in Rushville, Indiana. “We have TCC-2500 and ATC-3275 models on site to set all the internal steel structure for this building,” said Jason Moore, crane operator at Smith Erectors.
On the jobsite, Smith Erectors used the Link-Belt ATC-3275 to place most of the initial steel structure of the facility. Each bay, roughly 60-feet wide and weighing approximately 60,000 pounds, was lifted into place with the machine.
To lift insulated metal panels for walls and the roof on the 600- by 1,200-foot distribution center, Smith Erectors chose the Link-Belt TCC-2500. The long reach of the machine, which was fitted with one or both 25-foot lattice fly extensions (depending on radius requirements) meant the TCC-2500 could place panels up to a 260-foot radius by traveling up and down the length of the building.
“We left a hole in the middle of the building for the TCC-2500 to travel inside on the finished concrete and place panels roughly 160 feet in either direction,” Moore related. “We’re obstructed with our boom angle but that lets us do the whole building with the TCC-2500.
“These are both just handy cranes for this kind of work, the computers both set up easily, and you can set your limits easily, especially when working with roof obstructions.”
