The capacity of cranes continues to increase at an astronomical rate. We are seeing 500t all terrain cranes becoming common place in the industry and capacities now reach 1,200 tonnes. Rigging equipment needs to keep pace with the sheer weight of lifting that is completed on site. Dynamic Rigging Hire is investing in the right equipment to ensure it keeps pace with these developments.
The lifting industry is becoming more and more complex – the sheer number of sites requiring robust cranes that can lift greater amounts is astounding.
Dynamic Rigging is living up to its name, keeping pace with the fast-moving crane industry with a continued investment strategy in a diverse range of products.
Ross Johnson, the manager for Dynamic Rigging Hire, is astonished by some of the lifts and the technology that is required to complete them safely.
“Lifts continue to grow in their complexities. We have to be able to deliver for clients both a diverse but also a high quality range of products,” said Johnson.
Johnson and the team at Dynamic Rigging Hire provide a range of equipment that helps crane owners supplement their rigging gear and with specialty rigging products.
“It is interesting – in the crane industry, a lot of the operators have a fair bit of their own lifting gear but, at times, the needs of rigging gear outstrips the crane client’s own stock or, due to supply chain issues, they are unable to source at those critical times,” he said.
“We often also have times where the client may own the equipment but may not be currently certified, they cannot find the paperwork or, sometimes, they can’t even find the gear itself when they are about to head out on site.
“Owners of these small to medium crane businesses tell us they are sick of buying and owning the equipment, because it gets lost, left behind, or damaged.
“Hiring rigging gear, much like the rental of capital construction equipment, means the rigging gear is supplied through a formal inventory management system, has current certification and is tagged then simply handed back on completion of the lift.”
According to Johnson, utilising the services and the equipment offered by Dynamic Rigging Hire ensures the management of this equipment is taken out of the hands of the crane crews.
“Everything has a periodic inspection criteria, which is determined by Australian Standards. These work alongside the manufacturers’ standards and guidelines, which determine how often equipment should be checked for wear and tear, along with any faults,” Johnson said.
“These inspections can occur either quarterly, every six months, or annually and, of course, we maintain this inspection regime vigilantly. Once a piece of equipment is out with a client and it gets returned to us, that equipment gets inspected in the same manner as if it was receiving an annual inspection,” Johnson said.
“Equipment hired say 15 times over 12 months will effectively receive 15 annual inspections. For us, it makes sense to inspect the equipment after every use just so we can ensure it is completely up to standard, that it hasn’t been damaged, and is ready for the next project,” he said.
When a product is returned it is cleaned and inspected. Before it is sent out again it is again checked to ensure nothing was missed in the original inspection.
Dynamic Rigging Hire’s lifting equipment allows operators working on Tier One construction sites to ensure everything meets the strict standards and compliances employed on these sites.
“If you are working for a Tier One building company, you have to be double, triple checking your equipment, ensuring it as absolutely up to scratch. It must meet the strict criteria enforced by Tier One sites, with all of the correct documentation,” Johnson said.
“It’s not just about large capacity high value gear either as a significant part of our business caters for those minor odd pieces of rigging gear that can stop the simplest of lifts. Pre-cast lifting clutches – the bane of the crane industry – are well catered for so the client doesn’t need to own all the brands in all the sizes.
“We often receive calls early in the morning where a site has trucks in the street loaded with panels below a tower crane and the correct type of pre-cast lifting clutch isn’t on site. This is a costly delay and we respond to these calls promptly.
“Every piece of equipment has a certificate, everything is tagged and in good order. They are absolving themselves of those headaches and ensuring they can work on Tier One sites with minimal fuss,” he said.
For Dynamic Rigging Hire the quality of the products it invests in is pivotal to the success of its customers’ projects. Wherever possible, it utilises Australian made products to ensure they are of the right standard to withstand the rigours of working on site, said Johnson.
“We always like to go with known brands. Wherever possible it is Australian made. Maxirig in Geelong manage all of our fabrication – they fabricate our spreader beams among many other products,” Johnson said.
“We buy predominantly SpanSet or United slings, also Australian made, so we have a lot of faith in the products, which allows us to say to our clients with 100 per cent confidence ‘they are up to the challenges they will face on site’.”
“The rest of our range are known quality brands, we avoid the cheaper end of the market. I know a lot of people purchase second hand equipment but we purchase new, so we have the manufacturers’ warranty and, as the product is used and ages, we know everything about its history.”
Dynamic Rigging Hire will work closely with the client and, when approached with a lift plan, the team will find the correct rigging solution.
“A company will come to us and explain the lift they have planned, and we will work closely with them to understand it and establish what equipment may be required to complete it. Sometimes there is a risk when investing in bespoke equipment for a particular lift, but if it is required to create the solution, we’ll make the investment,” Johnson said.
Some of the impressive equipment Dynamic Rigging Hire has invested in has been Ingersoll Rand pneumatic chain hoists, which come in 12t and 25t models. Another product that excites the Dynamic Rigging Hire team is the 35t flat rack that has a vast array of uses in the lifting sector. The 35t flat rack is ideal for lifting difficult loads that don’t have lifting points or may move or turn if lifted directly.
Other equipment like small machinery can also be loaded and secured for lifting to the flat rack. Measuring 5.5m x 2.2m, the lifting points are the side trunnions, and this allows clear lifting using a dedicated spreader beam to keep the slings away from the load.
Securing the load are five lashing points along each side, and forklift pockets are incorporated for empty loading. The flat rack has found use as a platform for load tests on factory cranes, while steel weights loaded on the rack can test the capacity of the crane and allows for quick and simple testing.
“A recent use for the flat rack came on site when a mini excavator needed to be transferred to the basement level of the site,” Johnson explained.
“The machine was chained to the lashing points on the side of the flat rack, the tower crane then lowered the flat rack and excavator into basement allowing a quick transition onto site.”
For Dynamic Rigging Hire, the testing of products on cranes, such as utilising the flat rack, has become a core component of the company and an array of testing options ensure they can test with a range of weights and capacities.
Dynamic is the Australian agent for Seaflex, a UK-based water load bag manufacturer. Load testing cranes is one of Dynamic’s key specialities and orange water load bags regularly proof load test cranes where steel or concrete weights are not practical or economical to do so.
“Because we are only transporting empty bags, which are then filled on site, and not the actual weights to test the equipment, we greatly reduce transport costs and they also provide us with greater access to more challenging sites,” Johnson said.
The water bags are hired with a technician to ensure they are set up correctly. This includes the hoses, load cells, and rigging and then the demobilisation of the equipment at the completion of the test, simplifying the task for operators.
“These bags can be used to test up to 200 tonnes and we are often using them on offshore rigs, factory cranes, and in yards,” Johnson said.
As with all rigging equipment sent out on site by Johnson and Dynamic Rigging Hire, clients are emailed certificates and user notes to ensure all the pivotal information and information and documentation is available if required.
“We are transitioning across to a new platform that will allow us to go completely paperless. This will remove a lot of headaches for operators as the required information will be at their fingertips as opposed to in binders containing pages and pages of information,” Johnson said.
The Dynamic Rigging Hire team has recognised the importance of the Lifting Equipment Engineers Association (LEEA) and what the organisation offers in terms of training.
“We are development members of LEEA and a number of the team have been through the full LEEA courses for inspection of equipment and the training has been invaluable for them,” Johnson said.
“As a business, we recognised early on that being members of LEEA was vitally important, not simply for training but to be involved with an organisation that represents our industry and is pivotal in fighting for improvements in the sector,” he said.
Finally though a Melbourne-based business, Dynamic has clients across all of regional Victoria and regularly freights rigging gear into other states. Deliveries to locations like Olympic Dam in SA and Tasmania for example is all part of the day-to-day operations at Dynamic Rigging Hire.