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Nov. 21, 2023 – PDI National Cranes, part of the PDI Group of Companies in King, Ontario, Canada, recently added a new Link-Belt 175|AT all terrain crane to its taxi fleet, which specializes in commercial, industrial, and general construction in greater Toronto.
According to Dallen Rands, branch manager for PDI, the 175-USt all terrain crane is ideal for cell tower work because of ease of travel, one overflow truck, and quick set up.
PDI crane operator Peter Gumney estimates the crane can be set up in 30 to 40 minutes.
“In Ontario we can run boom over the front, so no dolly is required,” said Rands.
“Then, we only need one overflow truck [to carry the counterweights], and once we stack counterweight on the deck of the crane, we have a clean work platform for the fly jib,” Rands added.
Rands added that PDI typically uses Link-Belt’s SmartFly jib for cell tower work. “It’s a very clean setup without anything extra,” he said.
The cell towers that are most common for PDI stand just over 200’ tall and are made up of five segments.
The triangular base section is erected in place on the ground. It can measure 24’ wide, leg to leg.
Each tower segment tapers, and the longest is 57’ tall.
The segments weigh between 6,000 and 8,000 lbs. each.
“Once I get a section within two to three feet of its mounting spot, I can fine meter on the crane, and look at the winch camera to put it in place precisely, just like the guys would want. Everything worked out perfect,” said crane operator, Gumney.
PDI is a taxi-crane business, so being able to set up quickly for varying cell towers or other applications is important.
“The way the crane walks on a job with full counterweight and jib has exceeded my expectations,” said Gumney. “A recent project involved driving the crane with the counterweights and the jib erected. It was a total of eight setups, and it was totally amazing how fast the crane could move from setup to setup.”
