Get FinancingLink-Belt HTC-8675 II Boom Truck Crane Replaces Giant Grain Dryer
A Maple Park, Illinois, agricultural construction services provider recently used its Link-Belt HTC-8675 Series II crane to replace an 86-foot (26-meter)-tall grain dryer for a customer in nearby Rochelle. A&P Grain Systems used the 75-ton (70-metric-ton) telescopic boom truck crane to move pieces of the Gensler Family Farm’s old dryer aside, starting with a 46-ft (14-meter), 17,000-pound (7,711-kilogram) section. The crew then installed a new, 4,000-bushel-per-hour stacked dryer in its place.
The Crane & The Grain
A&P Grain crane operator Brett Stoxen dismantled the old dryer and moved it 260 degrees to be anchored to a nearby grain bin for the time being. He and the crew then assembled the new dryer in seven lifts of the HTC-8675 Series II crane. Set up with 127 ft (38.7 m) of boom and 96 ft (29.3 m) of jib, the sturdy Link-Belt’s heaviest pick of the day weighed 27,000 lbs (12,247 kg).
“The crane is performing good and handles well,” Stoxen says. “It’s got plenty of power and has a smooth swing. The winches function smoothly. It’s nice to be able to watch the cable and drum moving through the cameras when you can’t see the load you are picking.”
A&P Grain first built the Gensler farm’s grain system in 2010, adding dry and wet bins including two 207,000-bushel units over the years as the need for storage grew. Installation and service of grain systems is the company’s primary business.
“All these systems keep getting bigger and bigger, so we’ll be using this crane more and more,” Stoxen says. He expects that A&P Grain Systems will be using the Link-Belt HTC-8675 Series II on more than half of its jobs going forward.
Compact, Yet Capable
A&P Grain Systems owner Dave Altepeter made the decision to buy a crane instead of continuing to rent one for the larger jobs coming his way. He liked the compactness of a Link-Belt being used by a friend, which led him to the HTC-8675 Series II truck crane.
“While going down the road, I didn’t want it drawing a lot of attention as being an oversize machine or possibly an overweight machine,” Altepeter says. “I wanted to keep it under 80,000 lbs (36,287 kg), which is the legal limit on Illinois highways. The 75-ton hydraulic truck crane is about 78,000 lbs (35,380 kg) if we take everything off when we transport it. So that fit for us.”
The HTC-8675 Series II has a four-section, full-power, pin and latch boom that can extend from 41 to 127 ft (12.5 to 38.7 m). It can attain a 230-ft (70.1-m) maximum tip height using optional boom attachments. There are two fly options, both of which are offsettable to 2, 15, 30, and 45 degrees.
The next-generation, composite cab of the HTC-8675 Series II provides the operator with more visibility and better ergonomics than prior models, Link-Belt says. It also offers built-in air conditioning as well as halogen and LED lighting for operation day or night.
Source: Link-Belt