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Hoist free fall

td25c

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2009
Messages
5,250
Location
indiana
I wouder how many hydraulic cranes had this option,and how many operators use it.I use mine when changing the headake ball to the block.It allows me to hop out of the cab and manually pull out cable when reeving the block.Sometimes on a tall lift I will return the emty hook to the ground with the free fall.It's handy,I dont think I could be without it.
 

liebherr1160

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2008
Messages
550
Location
in an igloo
Occupation
Crane Operator
Grove had it as you well know..the Tadano Crevo ,single and double XL Tadano's have it ,some P&H and i cant remember if it was Bantam or Link belt...

I enjoyed them all for the same reason's you listed ...I'll never forget the P&H T750 ...you have to push the lever all the way ahead and then over center was free fall ..
The operator just showed me how it worked and how getting rid of a load with 8 part line was futile ..just a So you know kinda learning experience ..
there was 40 Ton on the hook and the load about 20 feet in the air ..he gased up the ol' Jimmy and rang in on free fall... that hoist whaled like a gas turbine... pinned the throttle squeezed the brake rang in on full power down .....there was noway you were gonna get rid of it ..and i also learned how to get out of free fall just in case i managed to get into it ...letting go of the lever on that machine would be a disaster ..
 

willie59

Administrator
Joined
Dec 21, 2008
Messages
13,402
Location
Knoxville TN
Occupation
Service Manager
Bucyrus 45C II had free fall main drum. Link Belt made one of the best Hyro Crane clutch drums out there. It's design was almost identical to the drums used on their conventional cranes. Hoist control lever (drum clutch control) was a seperate lever. Really nice brakes and brake pedal locks. :)
 

td25c

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2009
Messages
5,250
Location
indiana
Bucyrus 45C II had free fall main drum. Link Belt made one of the best Hyro Crane clutch drums out there. It's design was almost identical to the drums used on their conventional cranes. Hoist control lever (drum clutch control) was a seperate lever. Really nice brakes and brake pedal locks. :)

That's how mine is,free fall on the main drum,and the free fall is a seperate lever to the far right with a safety lock.
 

JDMGrading

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 26, 2007
Messages
188
Location
Charlotte
1968 Link-Belt 82 1/2 ton has free fall....Also the LS-248 Hylab 2.....Not sure about the Hylab 5.
 

qball

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2007
Messages
1,072
Location
il
Occupation
local 150 operator
a manitowoc tripple two i was on had a keyed provision for free fall.
 

piledriving

Member
Joined
Sep 17, 2008
Messages
8
Location
Norfolk, Va
Occupation
Piledriver, operator, carpenter
give me a friction rig any day of the week. not to fond of the hydro rigs

Justin
 

td25c

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2009
Messages
5,250
Location
indiana
I like both ,hydros and friction rigs.welcome piledriving.What kind of rig do you run? Why are you not fond of the hydraulic cranes?
 

piledriving

Member
Joined
Sep 17, 2008
Messages
8
Location
Norfolk, Va
Occupation
Piledriver, operator, carpenter
25c, I play with a little bit of everything. I am not a full operator. soon to be in the near future. I work for a marine construction company. THe new company I work for has a American 9310, Link-belt 218 and a 248, Terex HC80. I havent been here long so I havent been in the seat of any of these rigs. The company I worked for before had 4 HC80's a HC110, Link-Belt 518 and 218, 2 American 5299 and a 597 which I have had seat time in all. My old man is a operator/pile driver, so I have been around this work all my life. I myself have been around pile driving and cranes and marine work for about 10 yrs full time. I dont like the hydro rigs just cause I dont like the fact that most dont have free fall, so you dont have control if something goes wrong. and I dont like the fact that computers are in the rigs. I geuss I grew up around the old school, hard for me to not run a rig by the seat of your pants.

Justin
 

td25c

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2009
Messages
5,250
Location
indiana
What dose "full operator" mean? Hydraulic & friction cranes are made for different jobs.
 
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