33
JANUARY 2015
ACT
ROUGH TERRAINCRANES
PRODUCT FOCUS
D.Ann Shiffler
reports
that rough terrain
cranes are a slam
dunk for long-term jobs
because they are easy to
operate, provide excellent
mobility, require limited
maintenance and generally
need only one operator.
Canada. “Forus to recommend the rough
terrain crane, the craneneeds tobeon the
jobat least aweek. For a shorter-term job,
we can take amobile crane in todo the
lift. But on the longer-term job, everyone
wants anRT. Theyare compact and
require less space todo the lift.”
Theneed for just oneoperator is alsoa
plus. “A100-ton crawlerwill require two
operators, but a100-tonRTonly requires
one,whichmeans a savings,”he said.
“Rough terrain cranes are less expensive
for the customer todo the same job than
witha crawleror amobile crane.”
InEasternCanada,Gagnon saiddemand
hasbeen strongandhe forecasts 2015will
be agoodyear too.He said larger tonnage
RTs aremorepopular.
“There isminingwork that’s coming in
andwewill have some refineryworkand
wind jobs,”he said. “We are alsoputting
RTs tododamwork forhydroelectrical
power.”
Guayhasmore than50RTs and they
continue toordermoremachines,
especially in thehigher tonnages.
“Most of ourhigher tonnageRTs
areLink-Belts,”he said. “Theyare less
expensive tomove and theyaregood,
qualitymachines and easy tooperate.We
are actually replacing someof ourolder
mobile craneswith larger capacityRTs.”
Whiledemand is steady,Gagnon said
I
nbasketball, the “pick and roll” is
anoffensiveplay that has beenvery
effective inmaking easybuckets.
According to
ACT
’s resident sports
aficionadoAssistant Editor JohnSkelly,
thepick and roll has beendubbed the
“bread andbutter”playof basketball.
Historically, rough terrain craneshave
been the “breadandbutter”of the crane
rentalmarket, and theyperform thepick
and roll aswell.With their simpledesign,
a rough terrain cranebe set upquickly to
make apickand theyareknown for their
ability to roll around the jobsitewith ease.
Besidesbeing easy tooperate and
maintenance friendly, rough terrain cranes
generally requireone craneoperator,
anotherbonus. Theonlydownside to
these cranes is theymust behauled to the
jobsite,which iswhy theyarebest suited
for long-term jobs.
“If it’s a short-term job, it’smore cost
effective touse amobile crane,” said
GuillaumeGagnon, vicepresident,Guay
Inc., based inQuebecCity,Quebec,
that rental rateshavenot improved
exponentially. There is still a lot of
competition, althoughGuayhas enough
work for theirRTs.
Gagnon said everyone in the industry
iswaiting to see if loweroil prices impact
projects that areplanned.
“We arenot sureof the impact,”he said.
“Wehave twooil refineries inQuebec and
I know theyhadplannedon expansionbut
thatmaydependonoil prices.Also there
areplans fornewpipelines.Wedonot
know if theyare still going tobebuilt.”
CurleyBordelon is vicepresident of Scott
Companies, based inMonroe, LA, and
thebreadandbutterof his company’s fleet
are rough terrain cranes. Scott hasmore
than650RTs, including itsGalionand
Brodersonmodels.
“Wedohave crawlers andboom trucks,
butmost of the craneswe rent are rough
terrain cranes,”he said. “Ourdemand for
thesemachines is verygood.Ourmarket
area is fromaroundTuscaloosa,AL to
Houstonalong theGulfCoast.”
2015 is shapingup tobe agoodyear, and
Bordelondescribes theoutlook forRT
demandas “verygood.”
“Thepetrochemical projects are fueling
thedemand,”he said. “Most of our
work is in the areaofmaintenance and
constructionwithin the refineries.”
At thispoint, loweroil priceshaven’t
affecteddemand forRTs along theGulf
Coast. ScottCompanies concentrates
on the “downstream” sideof the energy
business, not explorationanddrilling.
Pick and roll
RTs can be set up for a lift quickly
and are known for their ability to
move around a jobsitewith ease.
With the ability to level themselves, a rough
terrain crane can be set up quickly and
generally just needs one operator.
