New, Oldie and Used

 There are still some remarkably old trucks on the road, and some late model used vehicles, with lots of life left in them.

It is hard to tell how old many trucks may be because manufacturers tend to produce the same model for many years. However it is possible to establish a minimum age based on when a model was discontinued. One of the best known truck models of the 20th century was the Ford Louisville produced from 1970 to 1998.

This L8000 may well date from the late years of the model. Aside from the bumper (!) it appears to be in good original condition.

A newer vehicle - possibly year 2000 based on the fleet number, this Western Star is likely en route to Newfoundland. Dutton Transport of Moncton, NB had a sleek looking mid-rise Freightliner hauling the step deck trailer.

A "less used" pair of Western Star day cab tractors were waiting for their next assignments down on the waterfront:

I think they were involved with set up for this Grove 5250L crane:

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Moodie's ups the ante

 Moodie's Crane Rentals is one of the three main crane operators in Nova Scotia, along with Irving Equipment Ltd and A.W.Leil  Cranes and Equipment Ltd (a Seafort Capital partner company). Moddie's has offices in Halifax (Burnside) and Pictou. What may be its largest crane recently posed for a photo op on the waterfront.

It is a Grove ( by Manitowoc) GMK 5250L,  which is a 5 axle, 250 tonne capacity unit with a 110 ft reach. It is also equipped with a three axle dolly to comply with Nova Scotia road weight regulations.

Grove brochures show the boom nested over the cab (where the roof is depressed) however that would place too much weight on the axles so the dolly is used to distribute the load.

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Cranes for Crane - Part 2

Work continues dismantling a Potain tower crane that came down during Hurricane Dorian (see Part 1, September 27.) A second large crane has now been raised to assist in the work.

 This one is a Manitowoc 440 ton crawler with lattice boom. I estimate the boom to be about 300 feet.

The Manitowoc model number is 14-440T-03, 16000. A number of cranes of this type are advertised on line for sale or rent, the nearest in Mississauga, ON another in Syracuse, NY. I imagine R&D Cranes brought this one in especially for this project.

There are "smaller" cranes on the job too, including a Grove 9000-02, used to assemble the crawler and a Grove GMK 5240 (no clear view of this one for a photo.)

The mast of the Potain tower crane is still resting against the adjacent building, but since this photo was taken it has been lashed to the structure of that building. That building was under construction, but work has now been suspended.

The red arrow shows where the mast clipped another adjacent (occupied) building on the way down.

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Crane for a Crane

On September 8, 2019 Hurricane Dorian passed through Halifax. The class 1 storm toppled trees, tore off roofs and brought down utility lines.

The most spectacular damage however was the collapse of a tower crane that draped its boom over a nearby building and left its mast leaning against the same building.

Removal and clean up will be a lengthy and complex operation, and a variety of equipment has been mobilized to handle the job. One particularly impressive piece of gear is the Grove GMK 6400 all terrain crane owned by R+D Cranes of Dartmouth, NS (a division of Cherubini Metal Workers).

Boom stowed in the conventional position, the crane appeared to be newly arrived from the factory in July.

Manitowoc introduced the GMK 6400 model in 2017 and is rated at 400 tonnes, 450 tons (US) and has a self-rigging auxiliary hoist. It has a 60m main boom and a 136m maximum tip height.

The crane requires a dolly to distribute the load sufficiently to travel on Nova Scotia roads. Gross vehicle weight is 72,000 kg or 158,730 lbs.

The tower crane that came down was manufactured by Potain in France, and has been used on other projects in Halifax.

(2014 photo on a different project)

A major street in the area, and several businesses  (one block from my house) remain closed until the remains of the  crane can be removed.

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Kenworths take the big loads

Two more Watson trucks appeared today for aircraft components, but this time it was a Freightliner COE and a Kenworth. The latter is obviously intended for some of Watson's heavier loads, so would not be challenged by the weight of its cargo on this trip - a tail piece was in a frame that created quite an overhang on the curb side.

This big KW (fleet number W3879) was built for heavier loads than this aircraft tail section.

The Freightliner COE, number W5867 has been here before and shown in these pages last year.

Another Kenworth farther along is operated by Five Star Specialized Carriers of Quispamsis, NB (near Saint John) with a Grove hydraulic crane aboard. The blue Freightliner in the background carries the jib for the crane.

 

 It takes a tridem tractor and four axle trailer to haul this 90 tonne capacity crane.

 
And as a follow up to yesterday's post on the International from Rondeau - it did not load aircraft components, but a pair of used Case wheel loaders from Holland. One unit still carries the name of Rudi Van De Sluis of Lewedorp.

Beside it is another International from Quebec, running for USA 2000.

Checking the US DoT number reveals that the truck is indeed running for Transport Michel Rondeau Inc of Lanoraie, QC, located in the heart of farming country between Montreal and Trois-Rivières.

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Ready to Work

This Grove crane, with its attendant truck are poised and ready to start work for Partners Industrial Crane Rentals.

The crane is a Grove GMK5275, which boasts a 233 foot, 7 section boom (which can be extended to 354 feet with a jib) and a 275 ton maximum lifting capacity. It is mounted on a five axle chassis. All axles can be set up to steer (axle 4 can be disengaged on the highway) and axles 3, 4 and 5 are drive axles, with an optional drive on axle 2.

To keep axle weight down to comply with local limits it is also fitted with a three axle dolly.

The Western Star truck is hauling a trailer with an array of counterweights for the crane.

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Cranes by Train

The intermodal yard in Burnside sees some interesting cargoes from time to time. Saturday October 30 was certainly a banner day for cranes. There were four brand new cranes on hand, two Groves and two Liebherrs.

1. The biggest unit by far was this Liebherr, owned by FAM. FAM is a world-wide materials handling company, based in Germany, but with operations in Canada, out of Calgary.

2. Eurogruas of Sevillle, Spain , five axle Liebherr. (grua = crane in Spanish) Eurogruas operates over 1650 units mostly in Europe and Africa.

3. Three cranes in a row on rail cars.

4. Grues Cambrils has this Grove model 4080. (grue = crane in French, but the company is Spanish) It is a sales operation.

5. Another four axle Grove (an orange grove?), model 4100 - no owners markings.

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