Strait Up Cranes & Rigging recently took delivery of a fully refurbished Link Belt from The Baden Davis Crane Connection. It’s the second Link Belt in the fleet, says Grant Gjessing, Strait Up’s Managing Director.
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Strait Up started operations 15 years ago, working on a major contract building the Moolarben Coal Mine in New South Wales.
“We had the crane contract to completely build the infrastructure for the mine,” said Grant. “I was not an owner back then, I was only working for the company. I came back to Strait Up as a Supervisor 11 years ago and within six months I had bought half of the business,” he said.
“Back then we were running an old Tadano 50 tonne truck mount crane. We had a new 2010 Franna as well as a 1998 18 tonne capacity Franna. Ours were the first cranes on site for the construction of Moolarben Coal, we then secured a service contract across the road at Glencore, which was Xstrata Coal at the time.
“When I bought into the business, we bought our first Link Belt, a HTC86100 from the Baden Davis Crane Connection. That’s where our relationship with Ben Baden and Anthony Davis started and we’ve continued to buy cranes from them ever since.
Grant and Strait Up Cranes have been impressed with the performance of the Link Belt.
“The service we’ve received from the Link Belt and the roadability of the crane have been quite exceptional. We’ve had good service from The Crane Connection, in terms of parts perspective, as well as backup servicing around breakdown issues.
“They service us out of Sydney which is a three-hour trip from their yard to our front gate, but they have been here a couple of times to resolve any issues, and they’ve completed the work very efficiently. They provide a great service and Ben, Anthony, Shawn and the team have been really good to us. We’ve developed a very good working relationship with them over the last 11 years,” said Grant.
He goes on to explain the background to receiving the latest Link Belt.
“This is the third crane we’ve bought from Ben and Anthony, we bought the first Link Belt 11 years ago and then a secondhand 130 tonne capacity Grove, that was six years ago. I’m always keeping an eye on what’s coming up for sale or what Anthony is importing. I keep up-to-date via his monthly newsletter.
“He will also call and let me know if something is coming up and that’s how the second Link Belt came about. He knew we were in the market for another slew crane at the time and he had the Link Belt HTT86100 in the workshop for a repair.
“It is slightly different to our first crane as it features a rear steer function so it can get into tighter spots. It was previously owned by GBP Cranes and Haulage. The Crane Connection put the crane through a complete major inspection and full paint job, it looks and feels brand new. It arrived in March and went straight to work on a solar farm project near Mudgee and it also completed a couple of jobs at Glencore,” said Grant.
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Anthony Davis speaks about the 10-year inspection process the company recently completed on the Link Belt.
“We originally sold the machine to GBP Cranes and Haulage in Gunnedah in 2014. They bought two of them, and when they got to their 10-year mark it was time for them to upgrade. So, we traded that machine in on a second hand 2020 90 tonne Liebherr that we had in stock. I let Grant know we had the crane coming and he took it,” said Anthony.
“We completed a 10-year inspection on the crane, the boom came out, all the boom sections were crack tested, all the hydraulic rams were tested, the out riggers came out and were crack tested. We also checked all the rams internally and they were crack tested and checked as well.
“We had to replace the sprag clutch on the winch brake and we also checked the slew ring. The majority of the major inspections we turn around in a month, if they are in pretty good condition. Then it goes into the paint shop.
“When all of this is completed, we arrange for an engineer to come in and they complete their independent overload testing. In this instance it was Findlay Consulting Engineers. We also complete the CraneSafe on the crane and we look after the registration transfer for them. Grant is bringing his first Link Belt back for a 10-year inspection and for painting as well,” said Anthony.
Grant is happy the Baden Davis Crane Connection can provide a one stop shop when it comes to used cranes.
“They provide a great service when it come to new and used cranes. They are the National Distributor for Link Belt and the New South Wales distributor for the Tidd pick and carry and also Kobelco crawlers. They source used cranes from all over the world, they manage major inspections, and they operate their own paint shop all from the one yard. These are big advantages for a business like ours,” said Grant.
“I’m also sending my original Link Belt to them. We’ve just completed a one-year life extension on it a few months ago, but we’re sending it down for its Major Inspection. It’s going down for a complete overhaul with Ben,” he said.
There has been a lot happening for Strait Up Cranes & Rigging, explains Grant.
“We recently moved into a new premises which features new offices and a big yard which is already filling up like every other crane yard in the country. There are shipping containers and flies, and inserts and everything else to do with cranes, spare winches, spare hooks. It’s a very professional looking space and it serves us well,” said Grant.