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As the housing market fell and construction slowed down, equipment utilization ultimately dropped. Contractors looking for ways to increase the use of their equipment had to get creative. For Tim Raymond, this put him in a position to get back to what he loved best: designing equipment. Rubber Tire Crane
For 40 years, Raymond designed, manufactured, and sold truck-mounted aerial lifts for Reach-All, Vantage Point Manufacturing, and Elliott Equipment Co., Omaha, Neb. In 2005, he started working for one of his customers, a concrete contractor in Sarasota, Fla. Among the company's cranes is a 40-ton National 18103 boom truck for lifting masonry block. As Raymond puts it, "Things got slow in the concrete business." To expand the use of the crane, he designed and built a self-contained, universal pin attachment work platform that pins to an existing crane's swing-jib sheave head. Now marketed by Reach-All LLC as an aftermarket product to the crane industry, the Reach-All platform attachment can transform many cranes, particularly those with boom function radio remotes, into a truck-mounted aerial lift.
The work range and platform capacity are dependent on crane capacity, but Raymond notes that installing this attachment on larger truck cranes allows for larger platform sizes, capacity, and work range.
For example, the 40-ton National boom truck's Reach-All platform has a 1,000-pound capacity with a 3:1 safety factor. The platform measures 34”W x 120”L x 42”D with an aluminum deck plate and 4-inch kick boards on all sides. Safety lanyard anchor points are rated at 3,300 pounds each.
The platform attachment has hydraulic auto-leveling and rotation with a 90° leveling work range provided by a 3-inch hydraulic cylinder with Sun Hydraulics counterbalance valves. The 180° platform rotation is provided by a rotation drive assembly consisting of a slewing ring bearing and a hydraulic self-locking worm drive.
Hydraulic system includes a 12-volt self-contained power unit using a Monarch DC motor, gear pump, reservoir, and proportional valves in one compact unit. An Interstate SRM-27 marine battery with 750 amps and a 30-month pro-rata warranty powers the platform.
Other features include electronic leveling sensor and a control box with controls for leveling override and proportional platform rotation control, a battery voltage indicator light, an on/off switch, and a foot-actuated auto leveling enable control switch. For platform leveling and rotation, a pocket-sized radio remote backup is available with on/off outputs.
Raymond notes the crane design must be approved for a platform attachment. The crane also should have a swing-jib, sheave-head design with four pin points. A valid load capacity and work range chart for specific model of crane must be provided. Remote radio boom controls will enhance the performance, likening it to a modern aerial lift work platform.
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