The partnership with Gleason Cranes has seen the return of US-manufactured rubber tyred gantry cranes to the Australian rail market.
Earlier in the year, Gleason Cranes announced it had been appointed the national distributor for leading US brand of rubber tyred gantry cranes, Travelift.
A staple fixture of intermodal facilities in North America, Mi-Jack’s Travelist and Translift rubber tyred gantry cranes (RTG) are making a return to the Australia rail construction and intermodal market, said Gleason Cranes’ Chris Logan.
“The Australian market may not be aware, but there have been seven Travelift container handling RTGs operating locally with major rail businesses, including Australian National Railways, the National Rail Corporation, and Toll North QRX. Mi-Jack Travelift is also the primary RTG provider to the North American prestress industry with the product very popular on new bridge and existing bridge reconstruction,” said Logan.
Mi-Jack has machines operating on six of the seven continents and is globally recognised for designing and manufacturing innovative and productive machines. When it comes to the rail industry in particular, Mi-Jack’s extensive experience means that the company is familiar with the particular requirements of the sector.
“They can customise the dimensions required to work on bridges and have the capability to pick and carry at capacities which offer huge advantages and cost savings over traditional construction cranes. For the rail sector, they have provided rail wheels in lieu of rubber tyred when requested. The Mi-Jack Travelift RTG range offers capacities ranging from 18t to 295t and dimensions can be customised to meet specific applications,” said Logan.
All of Mi-Jack’s machines and components are manufactured to international ISO certified standards and Logan said these standards demonstrate the cranes’ quality.
“Gleason Cranes is well known to the Australian market, we’ve been importing, buying and selling and supporting cranes for over 40 years and we know a winner when we see one. The Travelift product is a winner,” said Logan.
There are a number of design features which make the Travelift RTG popular, said Logan.
“The optimal engine horsepower/RPM requirements needed to operate the Travelift are supplied automatically through the Power on Demand feature which maximises efficiencies and achieves 36 per cent fuel savings and 25 per cent extended engine life,” he said.
The product incorporates other key features such as lead wheel steering that includes a multiple steer mode system, allowing the operators to steer the crane using distinct steer modes including: 0° in-line steer, 90° transverse steer, circle steer, all wheel steer and crab steer at full capacity.
An inward facing cab is more spacious featuring a 180° rotating seat which allows the operator direct sight towards the direction of travel and/or the load.
High rise cab increases the eye level height and provides better sight lines over stacked product.
An auxiliary hoist allows the operator to rotate product while reducing the potential to damage the product.
The dual/split trolley provides a solid four point pick ability for unbalanced loads. Air conditioning powered by an AC generator or driven by an air compressor is available.
RF remote control allows safe operation of all standard crane function from ground level.
scale package scale readout in the cab to show weights of product lifted.
All wheel drive, drive components at all four corners to increase gradeability as required by rough yard conditions.
Trolley and hoist synchronisation allows the operator to use on joystick to work on both trolleys and hoists in unison for ease of operation.
The ladder and platform kit allows easy access to top beams and their components in the event other means of access are unavailable.
The camera package assists the operator by increasing visibility of potential blind spots while travelling.
The spreader bars/strong backs manufactured by Mi-Jack are customised to fit the needs for each application.
The Autospreader, with adjustable slides and hooking capabilities controlled from the cab, helps to eliminate the need for ground riggers and the need to climb ladders to hook or unhook product. The AutoSpreader comes in various models capable of handling double tees, hollow core, wall panels, I-Beams, and any other applications to maximise productivity.
By equipping the Mi-Jack Travelift rubber tyred gantry crane with a magnet package, controlled from the cab, the operator can handle steel products without the necessary ground crew needed to hook and unhook product. C-Hooks are designed for easy handling of steel wire and steel coils.
“The Travelift is a world class product,” said Logan. “It is extremely versatile and designed to operate in numerous applications and industry sectors. It is particularly well suited to the intermodal and container handling industry but is equally at home in prestressed concrete manufacturing and rail applications.
“With the amount of infrastructure projects in the pipeline, we believe now is the ideal time to be working with Mi-Jack and the Travelift product and the team at Gleason Cranes looks forward to answering any questions and providing more information on the range,” he said.