April 25 - Orlando, Florida-based heavy haulage, specialised rigging and crane company, Crane Rental Corporation, has purchased its first Terex all terrain crane, a new AC 500-2.
Crane Rental's president, Alan Ashlock, was tasked with finding a crane that offered the right balance of size, reach and capacity, so he sought the advice of Terex Cranes distributor, Renegar-Driggers Machinery Company, to learn more about the AC 500-2 all terrain crane.
"The AC 500-2 crane offers the highest lift capacities on eight axles in the 500-tonne class, as well as the longest system length that can travel at 10.9 tonnes per axle," president of Renegar-Driggers, Bob Renegar, told Ashlock. "Its carrier is just 17.1 m long so it also offers the shortest vehicle length in its class."
The crane was purchased with 180 tonnes of counterweight, a full 78 m luffing jib, sideways superlift and a light fixed jib.
Once Crane Rental had received the crane it was immediately put to work replacing two air conditioning units at a pharmaceutical plant, before replacing the mechanical equipment of an air conditioning unit and its supporting steel structure, located on top of a 20-storey building in Orlando.
Rigged with 120 tonnes of counterweight, 51.5 m of main boom and a 65.8 m luffing jib, "it took the crew about six hours to set up the AC 500-2 crane for this lift, which is very good for a lift of this size," said Ashlock.
Working at a 33.5 m radius, the crane completed approximately 100 picks in less than 30 hours.
With its capabilities, Ashlock sees the crane being used at least every 10 days, if not more frequently, and explains that it has been chosen for an upcoming project of lifting a 163-tonne transformer.
