Manitowoc is marking its first ConExpo since establishing itself as a standalone crane company in a big way: according to president and chief executive officer Barry Pennypacker, of the company’s 12 cranes on display at the show, eight were developed in the last six months.
“The remaining four, were developed in the last year,” Pennypacker added. “We’re a different crane company and we plan to treat our customers that way.”
Pennypacker said it was in a conference room in February 2016 that the company began in earnest shrinking its crane development time from three years to six months.
At the show, Manitowoc introduced two new rough-terrain cranes, a crawler crane, a new telescopic crawler crane and two new truck cranes—one of which also incorporates boom truck features.
Manitowoc says the latest GRT880 rough-terrain crane is a generational update boasting better reliability, increased capacity and mid-range and maximum radii than previous generations. The crane is rated at 16 percent greater capacity at full radius, 13 percent greater capacity in mid-range applications and 27 percent greater capacity at close radii.
The GRT880 is an 80-metric-ton (t) crane with a 135-foot boom. The boom has a reach of 200 feet and a maximum tip height of 223 feet. The boom is lighter and longer than its predecessor but can lift heavier loads across its load chart. Hoist line pull is rated at 17,380 pounds on both the main and auxiliary hoists and results in fewer parts of line being needed to lift loads.
Primarily aimed at rental customers, the lightweight, small-footprint GRT655 is a 50 t crane with a 114.3-foot-, four-section greaseless boom. A long-boom (141.2-foot, five-section boom) configuration is available. The longer boom gives the crane a maximum working radius of 120 feet along with a 3-percent boost in chart capacities. Line pull on the GRT655 is 16,658 pounds.
