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| Shinui Petra’s Manitowoc MLC650 – First in South Korea |
Shinui Petra, one of South Korea’s largest construction equipment rental companies, has introduced a ground-breaking crawler crane into its rental fleet – the MLC650 from Manitowoc. The crane has been specially selected for its unique Variable Position Counterweight (VPC), a design feature which allows for reduced ground preparation, space requirements and counterweight. All of these attributes makes the MLC650 ideal for use in South Korea, where work sites are often congested.
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| Choi Byung Eun |
“When we first saw the MLC650 at the CONEXPO 2014 exhibition in Las Vegas, Nevada, US, my team and I were thoroughly impressed by the unique VPC technology. The ability for this crawler crane to navigate with ease in highly congested job sites, coupled with its increased capacity for heavy lifts without traditional counterweight configurations, gives us a strong competitive advantage,” said Choi Byung Eng, president and CEO of Shinui Petra.
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The MLC650 has 104m of main boom to which up to 30m of fixed jib can be added. A 101m luffing jib is also available to reach a maximum lifting height of 157m. Shinui Petra has ordered the performance-enhancing VPC-MAX attachment for the MLC650 which enables the crane to raise 140m boom or a boom and luffing jib combination of 205m. In addition, its maximum capacity is boosted to 700 ton with the VPC-MAX. The MLC650 has joined the Shinui Petra rental fleet and has already completed its first lifts.
The crane is well-suited to infrastructure applications and so it is perfect for their first task – installing of concrete beams for the construction of an elevated road. With extreme limited space for the crawler crane’s assembly, the MLC650 was still able to setup swiftly due to the considerably lesser space required comparing to alternative cranes in the market.
The counterweight does not have to be fully extended to the rear of the crane during setup, nor it touches the ground in the process. Moreover, MLC650 does not have carbody counterweights and with the VPC-MAX system, it eliminate the need to remove or install counterweight after or during a lift. As a result, time and cost are greatly reduced.
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For the project, MLC650 was rigged with 56m main boom, VPC-MAX attachment, 400 ton counterweight and hook block with 10 part-lines. It lift the 150 ton load to a working radius of up to 40 metres.
“The VPC changes the way companies think about the projects,” Bruce Buchan, SVP crawler crane at Manitowoc Cranes. “It not only enhances crane capacity, but also reduced mobilization time on the job site which, in return, saves customers a significant amount of time and money, delivering a faster return on investment to them.
The patented VPC system is also deployed in Manitowoc’s largest crawler crane, the Manitowoc 31000, which has a maximum capacity of 2,300 ton. One of these units is also based in South Korea, working for Chunjo Construction Co. Ltd.
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| Park Jong Seoung |
Park Jong Seoung, general manager for Manitowoc Cranes in South Korea, said the company’s ongoing commitment to innovation had helped it build a loyal customer base in the country.
“The legacy of Manitowoc crawler cranes in South Korea spans several decades and crane owners here have always appreciated the company’s ability to bring new levels of performance to the industry,” he said. “So, it’s no surprise that the VPC is proving so popular. We’re delighted that Shinui Petra has taken delivery of this MLC650 and we feel confident that other VPC-equipped cranes from Manitowoc will be arriving in the country in future.”
References
- Shinui Petra takes South Korea’s first MLC650 crawler crane, Manitowoc Cranes, 15 February 2016.
