A Brisbane crane hire business is confident the purchase of a TIDD PC28 will provide a significant advantage with Tier One builders and the major construction sites where safety is a major focus.
Tingalpa Crane Hire provides general lifting services to everything from small building projects and major construction work to servicing the mining sector. The company’s fleet includes small mobile cranes through to large slewing cranes. A new TIDD PC28 was recently added to its fleet.
Joe Cherrie owns and runs Tingalpa Crane Hire. Having worked in positions with businesses like Boom Logistics and other large companies, he moved to work with his father seven years ago and, due to a few health issues, ended up fully taking over the company five and a half years ago.
“The business started off with one truck mounted crane which was used to service a lot of town housing projects and small building construction work. But over the last decade, we’ve consistently bought a crane each year and we’re running 10 cranes at the moment,” said Cherrie.
“The most recent acquisition is the TIDD PC28. Before the arrival of this crane we’d been operating a full range of Frannas including a 14t, 20t and 25t machines. We’ve been working for a number of high-profile construction sites which were becoming increasingly safety orientated. We heard about the TIDD and we had wanted to increase the capacity of the fleet with a larger pick and carry with a super lift, and that’s when we decided we would give the TIDD a try.
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“As far as the safety aspect of the crane goes, it’s been really well received on our road work sites and running alongside this has been the increase in lifting capacity provided by the TIDD which has been brilliant. On chart and next to our 25t Franna, the TIDD really gives it a run for its money, especially on flatter sites and where you need a bigger lift,” he said.
“We operate a mixed fleet which starts with 2.9t mini crane and includes a 10t city crane, a 25t truck mounted crane, 55t and 60t all terrains and we also range of telehandlers, forklifts and other equipment. We try to run a ‘set of cranes’ which includes Terex, Tadano, Liebherr and now the TIDD. We try all types of brands, it’s more about the versatility of the fleet and the capabilities we are able to offer with the cranes,” said Cherrie.
“We’re fairly confident the new TIDD will provide us with an advantage with some of the Tier One builders and the major construction sites where there’s such a major focus on safety. It’s proved to be quite a talking point during conversations I’ve already had with safety supervisors on site. A number want to see different load reductions on lifting specific loads like safety barriers or on lifts they feel require more of a safety factor. They are comfortable with the restrictions that are built into the TIDD. They are certainly more comfortable with it because it does give you more capacity when you are stationery and it restricts capacity if you are in a tighter operating area where you might need to articulate a lot more or if your operating on a side slope with high aberrations. We’ve found the machine has performed perfectly to expectation as far as that’s concerned,” he said.
The TIDD PC28 features improved operational features designed to help operators work more efficiently and comfortably on construction sites and also on the road. Increased lift capacity and greater manoeuvrability, in smaller work areas, are key benefits of the new crane. The TIDD PC28 is constructed using the highest quality components with safety a major focus with every element of its design.
Safety features include Dynamic LMI with a deadlock switch inside the cabin and the LMI bridging switch outside the cabin. Slew Safe is a key safety feature on the TIDD PC28.
TRT has developed a significant new safety feature called Slew Safe. It is designed to prevent rollovers and works with a number of features including audible alarms, LMI warnings and power steering is restricted to 15 per cent to prevent further slewing. According to Stephen Dance, TRT’s Country Manager, the TIDD PC28 is the only pick and carry crane with this level of safety.
Slew Safe is an effective system to restrict the driver from operating off the chart. With audible and visual alarms along with steering restriction in the unsafe direction when overloaded. Slew Safe cannot be over-ridden but will operate normally in the safe direction.
The TIDD PC28 has also been designed with operator comfort in mind.
“The ergonomically designed forward mounted ROPS cabin, with two-door configuration and ducted air conditioning, 150kg rated air suspension seats and 3-point safety belts, means comfort over long hours, helping to reduce operator fatigue,” said Dance.
Many of the key features are designed on industry feedback and include:
• European standard automotive finish;
• Shortest forward projection in its class;
• An outstanding turning radius, articulating 44° either side;
• 2.3t roadable, front and rear counterweight;
• Mercedes Benz DM906 six-cylinder, turbo charged intercooled 205kW diesel engine;
• 6.12-18.64 high steel boom tensile with four telescopic sections;
• 28t capacity on fixed tug (stationary) 27.6t capacity on running rope;
• Allison 3000 series automatic transmission, 6 speeds forward;
• Kessler high-speed planetary axles with diff lock on front axle;
• Meritor transfer case;
• Two stage engine and exhaust brake;
• 410l tank with locking cap;
• Automatically activated emergency hydraulic steering;
• Duel line airbrakes on all wheels with ABS;
• Pneumatically released spring applied emergency/park brake on all wheels.
The new 18.65m high tensile full power boom features a 75 per cent stationary chart for the heavy lifts and 66 per cent pick and carry chart. The boom’s telescope Sections 1 and 2 are fully synchronised and provide hook compensation. Telescope Section 3 is independently operated with its own hydraulic cylinder.
The TIDD PC28 features a 28t maximum lift on the lug and 27.6t on the hook block, delivering lifting capacities for improved efficiency and greater lift options and setting a new benchmark in the industry.
Moving from the stationary chart to the pick and carry chart is as simple as turning off the hold brake.
“We’ve ordered the counterweight which will provide us with the full set up. When it was first ordered, TRT were in the preliminary charts and testing for this but I understand this has now been completed, so we should have the full kit on the crane before the end of the year,” said Cherrie.
“We first heard about the TIDD PC28 through Troy Hand from the TRT Brisbane operation, whom I’ve known for many years. The relationship dates back about 10 years and we’ve been using him consistently since then. Some time ago, Troy mentioned the 25t TIDD which wasn’t exactly what we were after at the time, mainly because it had a manual extension to extend the boom but, with the PC28, it’s automatic.
“Price wise, it’s about the same as the Franna but we really wanted a different product with different propositions and that’s what the TIDD provides. It has a better turning circle, it’s a slimmer crane, just about the same width as a 20t Franna, so all those features including the charts appealed to us. I’ve taken one of our operators out of the Franna and put him in the TIDD and it was an easy transition for him,” he said.
“The Slew Safe system provides a really good set up which takes a bit of getting used to if you’re not used to a crane with those types of restrictions, but it’s great because it will prevent driver error and that’s the major issue for us. As an organisation, we want to take as much responsibility for the safe operation of our equipment as possible. We don’t want to put people in a position where they just want to get the job done, without considering the consequences. The major construction sites are striving towards zero error in terms lost time, injuries and damage to machinery and it’s much easier if they don’t have to think about that,” said Cherrie.