Servicing issues

BRAKES Maintaining the roadgoing elements of the crane is just as important as the superstructure.
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You see them everywhere – still. Mobile cranes are still about to lend a boom whenever the need arises, though as Arty Wartanain, general manager of Gallagher International – a regional mobile hire firm, points out: “A lot of our business at the moment is about removing tower cranes – it’s a growth industry at the moment.”

The fleet of more than 50 units at the firm is in constant use, with a number of brands and sizes and models in action, so it is important to keep the fleet going at all times. so constant maintenance is one of the key factors here.

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As the facility in Jebel Ali has all the machines and facilities to maintain the fleet, cranes belonging to other customers are welcome to be booked in. During our visit a team of technicians were busy stripping the brake drums from a crane belonging to another rental company.

Many of the staff have been with the company a great number of years, with a few of the staff having been there from around the time of the company’s inception in the early 1970s.

Vans
Mobile servicing is also an important part of the business. To this end, the firm has purchased a pair of Iveco vans, which have been kitted out with a workbench and vice, as well as all the tools as well as the grease, fluids and materials needed to service the cranes on site.

“Being able to do this means no downtime. Keeping the cranes ‘up’ at all times helps the client, just as it helps us” said workshop manager Simon Abraham.

The vans can go anywhere the cranes are, and the technicians can work on practically anything, with one notable exception being the

Brakes
It’s not just the lifting gear that it is important to maintain. These are also vehicles that get driven in the region’s hectic road traffic, so keeping the cranes running is important.

There are four basic principles that govern a crane’s mobility and safety during lifting operations, namely the centre of gravity, the amount of leverage, stability and structural integrity.

The centre of gravity of any object is the point in the object where its weight can be assumed to be concentrated or, more simply put, it is the point in the object around which its weight is evenly distributed.