First Sany Crane Blows Into California

The crane was delivered and put into service at the Windstar Energy Project in Tehachapi, California.

The first Sany SCC8300 crawler crane in North America was immediately put to work on a wind farm in California.
The first Sany SCC8300 crawler crane in North America was immediately put to work on a wind farm in California.

After its North American debut at CONEXPO-CON/AGG in March 2011, Imperial Crane took delivery of the SCC8300, the new 330-ton crawler crane from Sany America, and immediately put it to work on a wind farm in California. The crane was placed into service at the end of April 2011 at the 120-MW Windstar Energy Project in Tehachapi, CA.

"We are excited to have the first SANY crane in the U.S. on the site. The equipment was impressive at CONEXPO and we were excited when it arrived through Imperial," says Craig Mazurawski, mechanical superintendent of RMT, a leading clean energy construction and engineering firm. RMT is responsible for engineering, procurement and construction of the civil and electrical Balance of Plant (BOP), including the erection of Gamesa 2.0-MW wind turbines.

For this project, the SCC8300 is equipped with just the main boom, set to a length of 240 ft. The SCC8330 also comes equipped with a 59-ft. wind energy jib. With its extensive load chart and reach at this configuration, the jib is well suited for setting turbine blades. In addition to the attachment, the SCC8300 offers six other boom configurations, enabling it to do the work on the windmill farm, then be transported easily to other jobs. Its width is less than 10 ft. and its main body breaks down to less than 100,000 lbs.

The crane's maximum tip height is over 515 ft. It comes with a 400-hp Cummins QSM11 engine, 28-mm wire rope and 33,000-lb. line pull. The Porsche-designed Ultracab is designed for comfort and maximum visibility to aid the operator in the high-lift, high-capacity situations found on a wind energy farm.

Major construction of the project commenced in December 2010. The Windstar facility is scheduled to come online in the fourth quarter of this year.

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