New Link-Belt
luffing
attachment enables operator to work in tight places
Pompano Beach, Fla., (January 2001) — R & J Crane Service of Vero Beach, Fla., did not waste anytime implementing the new 27-ton capacity luffing attachment that they recently acquired for their LS-238H lattice boom crawler crane. Wedged between existing structures and the Atlantic Ocean, R & J couldn’t complete the project without it.
“What is the importance of the crane with the luffing boom attachment to us? It enables our operator to reach high up on a building in a confined working area. With the new luffing attachment we can work safely and still reach out a considerable distance with a significant load,” says Rick Wiebelt, president of R & J Crane Service.
Short of erecting a fixed location tower crane there is little else that will get the job done, and give the flexibility of the conventional crane with the luffing attachment. In built-up urban areas, such as South Florida, this arrangement is imperative.
“Luffing
attachments are often a more economical use of your resources over a tower
crane. We can lower the luffing boom and obtain a greater radius than we
can with a conventional crane. Having said this, I should also point out
the need for a highly skilled operator to run this specialized piece of
equipment. Not everyone is capable of this, and not all makes of cranes
are as easy to use in this configuration as are our Link-Belt machines,”
continued Wiebelt.
An illustration of this point is in Pompano Beach, where one of the company’s two Link-Belt LS-238H lattice boom crawler crane with a luffing attachment, is working. High rise buildings bound the oceanfront location on the north and south. To the east is the Atlantic Ocean. Immediately to the west is North Ocean Boulevard. Working room is so limited that the counterweight of the crane barely clears the building when the crane is orientated north-south. To swing 180 degrees, the luffing boom must be raised to approximately 85 degrees. Once the machine has picked up its load and swung back 180 degrees, the operator can extend the luffing attachment out to 75 degrees to reach a 200-foot radius.
Seawood Builders, Inc., is building an eight-story, poured-in-place, concrete condominium. The concrete is poured with a large mobile concrete pump fed continuously by a series of mix trucks. The erection of the forms for the next floor must continue during this operation. The contractor’s completion schedule, the owner’s occupancy date and future income depend on this. Without the versatility of the R & J’s luffing attachment, it would be similar to asking two major pieces of construction equipment to occupy the same place at the same time.