The Baden Davis Crane Connection recently delivered a new Tidd PC28 to the Hunter Region operation of Tutt Bryant Heavy Lift & Shift (TBHL&S). It is the first of three ordered by TBHL&S.
The Hunter Regional Manager for TBHL&S is Shane Shuttleworth, who has been in the crane industry for 20 years, mainly based in NSW Hunter Valley. Shuttleworth started from the ground up as a rigger, then a crane operator, before progressing through to supervision and management roles.
The Hunter region operation of TBHL&S primarily services the mining and energy sectors throughout the Hunter Valley. TBHL&S operates a fleet of all terrains with capacities ranging from 80t through to 300t. It also operates a number of truck-mounted cranes with 55t capacities, a range of Frannas as well as the Tidd pick and carry cranes.
Shuttleworth explains more about the typical applications for the cranes and what they are expected to do.
“With mining, there are various lifting requirements in all sorts of areas,” he said.
“We can be sending cranes to help construct the mining equipment and infrastructure as well as helping to maintain the equipment and the coal preparation plants. The mining equipment ranges from large electric Draglines, which are being slowly phased out of the mines, through to the popular diesel-powered excavators, trucks, and mobile fleets.
“We are seeing the capacities of the equipment increasing, so, as a service provider, we need to keep up our capabilities to be able to support our customers.
“This means the range of cranes in our fleet has to evolve accordingly,” said Shuttleworth.
The Tidd PC28 has improved operational features designed to help operators work more efficiently and comfortably on construction sites and also on the road.
TBHL&S mainly operates a fleet of Grove all terrains, Kato 55t capacity truck-mounted cranes and around 15 pick and carry cranes.
“As everything is getting bigger in the mining industry, we are looking more towards the 25t-plus capacity pick and carry cranes. With the Tidd PC28 we get the advantage of the same footprint of the smaller capacity cranes and the extra capacity,” said Shuttleworth.
“We purchased the first Tidd PC25 back in 2014, and this was one of the first models introduced to the market. The crane has been good for our operation, and we’ve been really impressed with the support we have received for the crane. The Tidd PC28 was made more attractive because of the extra lifting capacity it provides, and the service and support we have already experienced with the PC25,” he said.
TBHL&S worked closely with The Baden Davis Crane Connection for the purchase of the Tidd PC28.
“We worked with Anthony Davis and his team at The Crane Connection, and we found the sales and training process for the crane to be seamless,” said Shuttlesworth.
“Anthony and his team provide a great service. They deliver when they say they will deliver and Anthony, being in the industry a long time with his wealth of knowledge, really knows the products he is representing.
“The day the crane was delivered to the yard, Anthony was here to conduct familiarisation training on the Tidd to a group of operators and workshop staff. He ran through the new features of the PC28, which was really helpful for our team,” he said.
Working on mine sites raises a number of issues when it comes to safety and compliance. Shuttleworth explains how the extra capacity and the safety features, including the LMI and Slew Safe provided by the Tidd PC28, assist in the mines, recognising the new pick and carry as being compliant and a very safe piece of equipment.
The Tidd PC28 has improved operational features designed to help operators work more efficiently and comfortably on construction sites and also on the road. Increased lift capacity and greater manoeuvrability, in smaller work areas, are key benefits of the new crane. The Tidd PC28 is constructed using the highest quality components with safety a major focus with every element of its design.
Safety features include Dynamic LMI with a deadlock switch inside the cabin and the LMI bridging switch outside the cabin. Slew Safe is a key safety feature on the Tidd PC28.
TRT has developed Slew Safe as a significant new safety feature. It is designed to prevent rollovers and works with a number of features, including audible alarms and LMI warnings, and power steering is restricted to 15 per cent to prevent further slewing. The Tidd PC28 is the only pick and carry crane with this level of safety and Slew Safe can be retrofitted to all existing Tidd PC25s.
Slew Safe is an effective system to restrict the driver from operating off the chart, with audible and visual alarms along with steering restriction in the unsafe direction when overloaded. Slew Safe cannot be over-ridden but will operate normally in the safe direction.
The Tidd PC28 has also been designed with operator comfort in mind.
Safety features include Dynamic LMI with a deadlock switch inside the cabin and the LMI bridging switch outside the cabin. Slew Safe is a key safety feature on the Tidd PC28.
The ergonomically-designed forward mounted rollover protection system cabin with two-door configuration and ducted air conditioning, has 150kg-rated air suspension seats and three-point safety belts, which means comfort over long hours, helping to reduce operator fatigue.
Many of the key features are designed on industry feedback and include:
• European-standard automotive finish
• shortest forward projection in its class
• an outstanding turning radius, articulating 44° either side
• 2.3t roadable, front and rear counterweight
• Mercedes Benz DM906 six-cylinder, turbo charged intercooled 205kW diesel engine
• 6.12-18.64 high steel boom tensile with four telescopic sections
• 28t capacity on fixed tug (stationary) 27.6t capacity on running rope
• Allison 3000 series six-speed forward automatic transmission
• Kessler high-speed planetary axles with diff lock on front axle
• Meritor transfer case
• two-stage engine and exhaust brake
• 410L tank with locking cap
• automatically activated emergency hydraulic steering
• duel line airbrakes on all wheels with ABS
• pneumatically-released spring applied emergency/park brake on all wheels.
The new 18.64m-high tensile full power boom features a 75 per cent stationary chart for the heavy lifts and 66 per cent pick and carry chart. The boom’s telescope sections 1 and 2 are fully synchronised and provide hook compensation. Telescope section 3 is independently operated, with its own hydraulic cylinder.
The Tidd PC28 features a 28t maximum lift on the lug and 27.6t on the hook block, delivering lifting capacities for improved efficiency and greater lift options and setting a new benchmark in the industry.
Moving from the stationary chart to the pick and carry chart is as simple as turning off the hold brake.
“The pick and carry crane sector has been responsible for a number incidents over the years, including rollovers. Generally speaking, this isn’t the result of faults in the crane or its design, it is as a result of operator error,” said Shuttleworth.
“But it has led to many of our customers, including the mines, wanting the safest equipment on site. Certainly, the Slew Safe feature is excellent and provides customers with extra peace of mind. They can see the way it communicates with the operator about the constantly changing conditions when they are pick and carrying the equipment around the mine site.
“Another great advantage with the Tidd PC28 is the stationary 75 per cent chart. When the crane is not moving you have more capacity for the lift. You can then get the lift in closer to the crane in terms of the radius, and then move off on the 66 per cent chart.
“We see this feature as providing the Tidd with a significant advantage compared to other pick and carry cranes on the market,” he said.
