January 29 - Shuttlelift says that facility managers looking for new machines for on-site material handling should give careful consideration to its SB Series of single-beam, rubber-tired, mobile gantry cranes.
The company claims that the series can deliver improved material handling and operational efficiencies while reducing manpower and operator risk when compared to captive lifting solutions such as overhead rail and ground rail systems, which can be inflexible when a building is expanded since they do not allow the new areas to be served by the same crane.
Furthermore since the fixed indoor crane cannot move outdoors, additional lifting equipment will be for exterior work spaces, and there will be a need to double-handle loads when moving them in and out of buildings.
Shuttlelift notes that even if a company already has a captive lifting system, its SB series crane does not need to replace it, but can be used in conjunction with an existing overhead bridge crane to make tandem picks of long items.
The company also believes that its SB series also offers advantages over non-captive lifting solutions such as carrydeck cranes, rough-terrain cranes, truck cranes, reach stackers, forklifts, transporters and crawler cranes.
It says that the biggest issues with these solutions, compared to its SB series, are capacity and stability.
On stability it says that the use of a single-beam gantry crane to lift a load, where the weight is placed directly under the frame of the crane, delivers mechanical advantages and eliminates potential stability issues in using a rough-terrain crane, crawler crane, reach stacker or forklift.
Shuttlelift points to the SB's articulated pivot trunnion, which enables the SB crane's frame to flex on uneven terrain.
The company says its single-beam gantry cranes can manage loads from 30 to 100 tonnes and greater, making them ideal for single-point picks that include such loads as nacelle hubs, jail cells and septic tanks.
The SB series will be on display at the upcoming CONEXPO-CON/AGG show in Las Vegas, from March 4 - 8.
