IMT Contributes Articulating Crane for TV Show

Enlarge Image An IMT crane with a honeycomb design will be featured on a future episode of "Trick My Truck."

June 26, 2008 • Iowa Mold Tooling Co., Garner, Iowa, contributed an articulating crane and operator-training services to a trucker in Tipton, Okla., for an upcoming episode of “Trick My Truck” on CMT. The beekeeper said the crane will increase productivity and safety for his business.

Gary Grose, manager of Tipton Valley Honey Co., received a Hino chassis decked out with an IMT 4/29 articulating crane. The episode featuring Grose will premiere at 10 p.m. on July 4 on CMT. The articulating crane features a maximum reach of more than 22 feet and a maximum lifting capacity of 4,520 pounds. It also sports an overload protection system, and Grose's model came with radio remote controls.

 

Grose said the IMT 4/29 unit would save him an immense amount of manual labor. “I was ecstatic when I found out I was getting a truck outfitted with a crane,” Grose said. “A crane has so many benefits for my business — all the back-breaking labor that it saves. The crane is absolutely phenomenal. It's going to save us so much time and money that we should be able to drive our costs down to better compete in the global honey market.”

 

“We are very honored to have been asked to participate in this unique opportunity and to be a part of such a special occasion,” said Steve Fairbanks, IMT president. “When we heard about Gary's situation, we quickly realized how much he would benefit from one of our cranes.”

 

CMT's hit series “Trick My Truck” aims to improve the lives of American truck drivers who are in need of a much-deserved break. The cast of the show “steals” the rigs of lucky drivers and then alters the trucks, ultimately improving the truckers' lives.

 

Grose is going to use the new crane to deliver pallets of beehives from field to field across the country. He previously used a skid-steer loader to move the hives around, but that method involved a great deal of manual labor. He said that not only is the crane going to help him be more productive, but it's also going to mean safer operations for his field crew.

 

“Beekeepers usually face safety issues such as heat stroke,” Grose said. “We wear protective gear out in 110-degree heat while lifting 100 boxes of honey, 75 pounds each, every day. Now that the crane will do the heavy lifting for us, we're going to cut down immensely on heat stroke and back injuries.”