Chellino Crane Takes Possession of First Luffing Jib for Model 12000

Enlarge Image Chellino Crane recently purchased a Model 12000 crawler crane from Manitowoc for use in oil refinery applications.

May 10, 2006 — U.S. rental firm, Chellino Crane, based in Joliet, Ill., recently took delivery of the first luffing jib for Manitowoc's Model 12000 crawler crane. Although this model launched just over a year ago, with a number of units already delivered, Chellino's luffing jib configuration is a first in North America.

 

Chellino purchased the Model 12000 nine months ago; however, it was not until the company began winning oil refinery contracts that the need for the 170-foot luffing jib was recognized. The job at the facility initially used a 500-ton (U.S.) capacity rival crawler crane, configured with luffing jib. But Chellino found the Model 12000 a better, more cost-effective fit for the project. Previously, the Model 12000 had comfortably performed routine refinery lifting tasks with its maximum 70-foot of fixed jib on top of a heavy-lift boom of 200 feet. But a job installing a relief-valve pipe onto the upper section of a coke unit required extra lift and height.

 

The coke unit was 250 feet tall, while the relief-valve pipe sat approximately 10 feet higher. Both the unit and pipe each weighed 3 tons, each handled comfortably using the Model 12000's luffing jib. When combined with heavy-lift boom, the luffing jib attachment gives a maximum tip height of 310 feet, although the luffing jib alone, with all inserts, can reach 170 feet.

 

“With the luffing jib we can now increase our lifting services, and therefore our profitability,” said Greg Chellino, company president of Chellino Crane. “The Model 12000 is very dependable and easy-to-operate with beautifully smooth hydraulics, an excellent line pull, and it's a quick worker. It is very easy to transport and assembling and disassembling hasn't given us a single problem.”

 

The Model 12000 has a maximum line pull of 23 tons and a maximum line speed of 535 feet/minute. It includes a six-cylinder, 332 hp Mitsubishi 6D24-TLA2K engine, and its hydraulic system is powered by four variable displacement piston-type pumps and a heavy-duty pump drive.