The recent launch of the new Ranger pick and carry crane from Specialised Machinery Company (SMC) was exciting and successful, with a huge response from crane owners from all over Australia.
Most crane owners were pleased to see a new and very different approach to mobile pick and carry cranes enter the market. The new approach includes additional stability features, longer boom, higher hook capacity, and more power.
Ranger production has now started, and it is all Australian made, being fully fabricated and manufactured locally in Perth, Western Australia. A sales and service network has been established throughout the majority of Australian states and territories.
The design of the new Ranger 45 has always been safety driven, but the team at SMC have provided features that others pick and carry cranes don’t have.
These features include:
• heavier lift at better distances with 45t on the hook
• design in the fast-acting outrigger stability system
• heavier line pull winch of 7.5t with six falls
• more boom length up to 25m tip height
• softer ride with road tuned suspension and sway stabilisers
• more power for better take off and maintaining better speeds on grade
• larger rigging storage.
Many crane owners and operators raised questions around the stability of pick and carry cranes and, over the years, this has been an issue for many styles of articulated mobile cranes. The new Ranger R45 provides more inbuilt safety features to ensure the operator manages the operations of the crane and lifts safely.
Kim Grierson, managing director of SMC, highlights the features and benefits he sees benefitting crane sector at large.
“The new Ranger is the only articulated crane in Australia incorporating our new patented outrigger design. The outrigger concept is designed to provide much better stability with better safety when, and if, required,” said Grierson.
The new Ranger can deploy the outriggers quickly and easily to assist with the heavy static lifts. The outriggers can be deployed for both light and heavy lifts.
The R45 Ranger has a pick and carry capability of between 32t to 35t on tyres, but as many crane operators say, there are times when the operator needs to pick up a much heavier load just outside of the pick and carry stability rating and, in many cases, the crane is usually fully articulated. In these instances, the operator can simply drop out the outriggers to the ground and extend the boom to the load, lift it off the ground and then, using the boom, slowly retract the load back towards the crane and back within its pick and carry radius. Once back in the radius, the crane can complete the task safely.
The main thrust of the outrigger system is mostly safety driven but, of course, it increases its lift capacity enormously. The Ranger R45 with outriggers in place will increase the lift capacity by approximately 30 per cent with an increased stability of almost 200 per cent with the outriggers out and down. This means the crane is now stationary and can lift those heavy 40t to 45t loads off trucks or smaller loads much further out.
Once the load is lifted it can be lowered to a safer handling height and moved back into a pick and carry radius. Raising the outriggers allows the crane to move into pick and carry mode. The outriggers can also be lowered to just 10mm to 50mm off the ground or to a clearance height off the ground when manoeuvring heavy loads, and this will provide added safety if the pick and carry load does move out of radius.
If this happens, the crane will slowly rest on the outrigger, stopping the crane from overturning. The operator can then stop and readjust the load to a much safer radius but has avoided a dangerous rollover. Most articulated cranes roll over or tip over due to the load being too close to the safe pick and carry rating and it doesn’t need much to overbalance. The Ranger R45 with its simple outrigger system will be arrested the load avoid overturning.
Safety was the main design criteria. Safety with loads at a much longer and higher reach. The Ranger R45 has an exceptionally long reach of 25m tip height and has a maximum boom angle of 70 degrees, which allows it to work in and around refineries and construction sites, lifting those loads higher and longer than any other of the Ranger R45 competitor, said Grierson.
“When working at these heights the stabilising effect of the outriggers come in to play again,” he said.
“Articulated cranes tend to slightly sway or roll when lifting any load this high on rubber tyres. The Ranger R45 is designed to pick and carry the load with the booms mostly retracted back to a safe radius and manoeuvre into position and then raising and extending the booms aiming to position the load at 24m up within a structure.
“During this time, the outriggers can be deployed quickly, providing better stability and safety to the operator whilst providing a safer workspace and better safety on site, whilst lifting the load in high tight confined areas. The outriggers can once again be fully deployed on the ground or held off just millimetres from the ground meaning that added stability is very close to hand if lifts go wrong.
“Although the Ranger R45 has been derated or limited to just 45 tonnes on outriggers it has almost doubled its stability, which is the focus of safety and stability. Other articulated cranes in the Australian market except for the Ranger R45 have greater exposure to rollover. The Ranger’s outrigger system is positioned almost 1m forward of the axle centre line, which provides enormous multipliers for stability and security when lifting heavy loads. The Ranger R45 comes with a 2t and a 3t removable counterweight, which is easily fitted,” said Grierson.
The Ranger R45 can be offered with various engines around 240kW (320hp). The main engine offered is the Mercedes OM936 combined with the popular six- speed Allison automatic transmission and a driveline to match.
The Ranger R45, with its larger engine, easily accelerates to a comfortable 80 to 90km/h for on highway running combined with the soft handling steering to match and plenty of braking power when required.
“The new Ranger R45 with extra stability is unmatched, with a new standard in articulated mobile cranes with its 45-tonne lift capacity on the hook, fast set up outrigger stabiliser system providing an enormous increase in stability, and with features no other crane has,” said Grierson.
“Combined with a long 25m reach, five-section full power boom, more engine power for better acceleration and hill climbing, soft ride suspension, a more spacious operators cabin, large storage for rigging, automatic rope compensation on all booms, integrated spare tyre with in-built tyre lifter, and more,” he said.