Link-Belt AT Crane Receives High Marks from Howell Crane and Rigging
April 5, 2006 — When general contractor Bartlett-Cook faced a $10 million electrical, mechanical, and plumbing ADA upgrade contract at the Coke R.
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Link-Belt's ATC-3130 II AT crane came through during crunch time on an education project in San Antonio.
“We recently had to set some support brackets and some 5,000-pound air handling units up on the roof of the building,” Icke said. “The units were to be positioned about 100 feet in from the edge of the roof, which required a heavy duty crane with lots of reach.”
Icke called Howell Crane & Rigging, which delivered a Link-Belt ATC-3130 II all-terrain crane with a main boom reach of 170.6 feet. This machine helped the general contractor complete the project on time and under budget.
“Everyone concerned estimated that it would take about six hours to make all the lifts,” Icke continued. “That proved to be an over estimate. Howell's men moved in, made the lifts, and were out of here in about half that time. The reasons for this were that Howell's men knew what they were doing and had the right machine to do it with. That new Link-Belt ATC-3130 II is some machine. There was only negligible setup and breakdown time with a crane like this. It really did the job for us.”
According to Dale Kotara, Howell Crane's operator, picks required the ATC-3130's entire 170.6 feet main boom set at a 134 feet radius and a boom angle of 36 degrees.
“The controls of the Link-Belt ATC-3130 II are as smooth as you could ask for with heavy picks, and the visibility from the cab is such that I can easily and safely view both the ground level work and a placement area down in a hole,” Kotara said. “I can also tell you that the factory installed air conditioner makes all the difference when it gets as hot as it does here in mid-summer.”
Frank Howell founded Howell Crane and Rigging 27 years ago. Today, his son, Audie Howell is vice president and operations manager. The company has 27 cranes including 10 Link-Belts. Although officially retired, Frank Howell is still the firm's president.
