With delivery of the 220-tonne (242 US tons) LTR 1220 to Transportation Partners & Logistics LLC (TP&L) in Kansas, Liebherr claims to have put the largest telescopic boom crawler crane to work in the Americas.
TP&L is using the LTR 1220, with a 60-meter (197 ft) telescopic boom, to unload wind turbine mast sections from rail cars and loading them onto trucks.
Jim Orr, president of TP&L, said the LTR 1220's ability to maneuver in and around pipe racks while carrying its full load sealed this deal.
“We needed at least a 200-ton capacity crawler to pick and carry 150,000-lb. loads,” he says.
“The great thing about the LTR 1220 is we can retract the boom and move around a location where power lines or piping are obstacles. With a lattice boom crawler, you might have to take boom sections off to move the crane around, and that costs time and money to us and our customers.”
Telescopic boom cranes are usually on rubber tires, while cranes with crawler tracks usually have lattice booms that have to be assembled on the ground and pinned to the body of the crane. The telescopic crawler concept offers the advantages of quick-set up with the power of a crawler body. The LTR 1220 can completely extended or retracted its boom in just seven minutes.
The LTR 1220 is powered by a six-cylinder 312 hp (230 kW) diesel engine, providing torque of 960 lb.-ft. (1300 Nm). The hoist gears provide a high cable pull of 23,600 lb. force (105 kN).
For TP&L’s work installing wind turbines, the LTR 1220's retracted track width of 14 ft. 9 in. (4.5m) allows it to travel on wind-park roads. The track base can be extended hydraulically for lifting operations to an intermediate 19 ft. 3 in. (5.88m) or full width of 23 ft. 9 in. (7.25m). The crane’s LICCON 2 computer has load charts for all three crawler widths.
The LTR 1220 can lift with side inclination angles of up to 4 degrees, with the LICCON 2 system keeping safe control of operations. Secondary hoisting gear for two-hook lifts assists when handling turbine blades.
The LTR 1220 weighs in at 198,400 lbs. (90 tonnes). The crawler tracks can be removed, reducing transport weight to 119,000 lbs. (54 tonnes) and load width from 5.01 meters (16 ft. 5 in.) to 3 meters (9 ft. 10 in.). Removing the transverse beams cuts weight to 103,600 lbs. (47 tonnes). Once on site, hydraulic jacks enable the crane to assemble itself without any need for an auxiliary crane.
