34
ACT
FEBRUARY 2015
PRODUCT FOCUS
ALL TERRAINCRANES
andEquipmentCompanyof Florida
tookdeliveryof anATF130G-5and
anATF220G-5.ConsolidatedCrane
Company inHouston scoopedupan
ATF220G-5aswell.
Awide breadth of work
Tennessee-basedLink-Beltmanufactures
twoATs, the210-tonATC-3210and
the275-tonATC-3275.MikePhillips,
president of PhoenixCrane inAtlanta,
recentlybought his thirdATC-3275 since
2013.He’sparticularlydrawn to the luffing
jibattachment offered,whichallows them
toget an extra10-15 feet of boom just by
flippinga switch.
“Wewanted tomake apurchasebefore
the endof theyear andLink-Belt had the
machine available,” saidPhillips. “Forus,
that’s themost popular size. InGeorgia
with theDepartment ofTransportation
laws restrictingwhat you canput on the
roads legally, that’s the largestmodelwe
canworkwith.”
He added that someof his competitors
have largerATs in their fleetsbutPhoenix
doesn’t aspire toget into that particular
market. They’vegot plentyofwork for
theirATC-3275s.
“Wedoa lot ofworkwithheatingand
air conditioning contractors,” saidPhillips.
“Wedowork in industrial plants andwe
alsohavedevelopedagood relationship
with the rockquarry industries in
NorthernGeorgiaandAlabama. The
tentaclesof StoneMountainon theEast
sideof town reach far andwide. The
amount of rockunder there is enormous.”
PhoenixCrane is taskedwith lifting rock
crushing equipment like jaw crushers inor
out of thequarrywhen they’re inneedof
maintenance. That equipment takes a lot
ofwear and tear and if it breaksdown it
has toget backonline as soonaspossible.
It’softenaround-the-clockwork. Phillips
says it’s goodwork, albeit a littlebit dirty.
“We’vebeenveryblessedwithagood
bit ofwork for thatmachine andwe’ve
made themost of it,” saidPhillips. “We
considerourselves tobe relatively creative
tomake the typesof craneswehavework
for the applicationsout there. TheATs are
versatile and lend themselves to that kind
ofwork.”
PhoenixCranehas agreat relationship
withLink-Belt. Phillips said if theyhave
problems, they frequentlyget sameday
answers and solutions.When theyneed
someoneonsite, theirdealer,Atlantic&
SouthernEquipment, canbe there ina jiff.
That’snot always somethingyou canget
withaEuropeanmanufacturer, he said.
Link-Belt even loanedPhoenixadolly for
threeweeks freeof chargewhenPhoenix
didn’t haveone to spare.
“Whenwebought our secondATC-
3275, Link-Belt provided thedolly forus
becausewe couldn’t get one in time,” said
Phillips. “Thatmade abigdifference. They
didn’t have todo that but theydid.We
weredead in thewaterwithout it. Link-
Belt took careof uson that.”
Packs a punch
GilleyCraneofTennessee recently took
deliveryof oneofTerex’snewExplorer
series cranes. Their 245-tonExplorer 5800
waspurchasedbecause itwas time to
expandandmoveupaweight class. They
started eying the cranebackatConExpo
2014due to its versatility.
Since they received themachine they’ve
beenusing it for everything fromplacing
doghouses tobridgebeams and cell phone
towers. Their flashiest jobwasprobably
their recentworkat the JackDaniel’s
Distillery inLynchburg, TN. They lifted
twoboilersweighingmore than100,000
pounds each. It required lifting eachboiler
twice at a28-foot radius.
“Oneof ourbiggest thingswith this
cranewashavinga five-axlemachine
that canget 334-feet in the air,” saidScott
Peterson, projectmanager,GilleyCrane.
“The5800 is the first craneout that you
canget that kindof reachout of it and
still drivedown the roaddue toweight
restrictions. Terexhas kindof openeda
newmarketwith this crane.”
Peterson sees thewhole lineof the
Explorer series takingoff.
“They’re throwinga lot of capacity into
a compact unit,”he said. “It’s capableof
keepingupwith two engine cranes and
we’vegot real close toa265-ton capacity
crane that’s smaller andmore fuel efficient.
We’vebeenverypleasedwith everything
aboutTerex.”
The5800 is the largest of the three cranes
in theExplorer series. The5500boasts a
140-ton capacityandamainboom length
of 197 feetwhile the5600has a180-ton
capacityanda223-footmainboom
length. Theone-engine concept onall
three craneswasdesigned forminimized
operational andmaintenance costs.As
the strongest andmost compact all terrain
craneover the entireworking range and
class, theExplorer 5800packs apunch.
A game changer
InNewYorkCity,Cranes Inc. hasbeen
riding theATmarket into2015.
“Frankly, thiswasoneof the few
segmentsof our fleet that didnot suffer
all thatmuchduring the recession,”
saidRobWeiss, vicepresident,Cranes,
Inc. “Regardlessof the amount of new
construction, there is always aneed to
replaceheatingandair conditioningunits
onbuildings throughout the city, andAT
cranes,with their easeofmovement and
rapid set-up, are theperfect tools for this
typeof inandoutwork.”
According toWeiss, there’s anew
phenomenon that has increased the
demand forATs: theuseof these cranes
on longer-termbuildingprojects,
particularly for steel erection.Whereas
latticeboom truck craneswere typically
utilized for thiswork in thepast, the
cheaper transportation costs andquicker
mobilization timesofferedbyAT cranes
havemade themagame changer, inhis
opinion.
The Grove GMK5275
is a 5-axle ATwith
223-foot, seven
section boom
completewith
luffing
attachment.
Tennessee-based Gilley
Crane purchased a new
Terex Explorer 5800 for its
large lifting capacity and
compact stature.
