Leadership from ALL Erection and Manitowoc Cranes celebrate the company’s 50th anniversary and its purchase of 10 Manitowoc MLC300 crawler cranes.
ALL Erection & Crane Rental Corp. has purchased 10 new Manitowoc MLC300 crawler cranes. This 330 USt crawler crane made its debut at CONEXPO 2014 in March and features the groundbreaking Variable Position Counterweight (VPC) technology.
Rick Mikut, crawler crane division manager at ALL, said obtaining the new cranes will help the company save time and money on job sites.
“We can reduce the number of required mats by half,” he said. “That’s thousands of dollars in savings per month, and that’s saying nothing of the reduced counterweight loads and the savings realized by reducing the required job site prep area.”
The VPC system automatically positions the counterweight in response to the required lift. The counterweight moves along the rotating bed and is automatically positioned based on changes in boom angle.
Advantages for customers include reduced ground preparation, lower ground-bearing pressure and less counterweight, without sacrificing capacity. Customers will not have to buy, transport or install as much counterweight compared with a traditional configuration. The counterweight boxes are also designed to be utilized across multiple crane platforms.
The MLC300 features 315 ft of boom and offers an optional fixed jib attachment of 98 ft. A 315 ft luffing jib can also be rigged to extend the crane’s reach to 473 ft..
Michael Liptak, president of ALL said the VPC marks a new era for crawler cranes.
“This is our bread-and-butter capacity range, and being able to create savings for our customers at this capacity is part of why customers choose ALL,” he said. “Without hyperbole, I tell you that this technology will change the crawler category.”
The MLC300 is designed to be easily transported anywhere in the world with its optimized component weights and dimensions. It has a removable live mast shipping module and its boom inserts are designed to allow luffing jib inserts to ship within them, which reduces shipping costs. It also uses Manitowoc’s patented FACT connection technology and is operated via Manitowoc’s Crane Control System (CCS), a standard operating system across several crane models in different product ranges.
“We are also very pleased that these units will feature zinc primer paint and new stipple paint finish,” Mikut said. “This goes a long way to support the long-term value of our fleet.”
Additionally, the MLC300 offers a crawler tensioning system, a dedicated hydraulically activated cylinder and hydraulic supply that allows independent track tension adjustment via crane setup remote and standard hydraulic connection.
“For the Manitowoc MLC300, we interviewed customers around the world,” said John Kennedy, SVP crawler cranes, for Manitowoc. “The result is an innovative crane that is geared toward their needs. Customers will be able to lift heavier loads to higher reaches, reduce the time spent preparing the site for lifts, and ultimately, save money. The VPC’s breakthrough technology will help customers become more dynamic and nimble on the job than once thought possible.”