Boom inserts for wind turbine work

Manitowoc has expanded its MLC300 boom insert options to increase boom lengths for greater reach.

The inserts offer wind turbine work greater heights (Photo: Manitowoc)

The new Wide Boom Plus kit is for its MLC300 lattice-boom crawler crane. Manitowoc said that the new inserts will give crane operators extra reach by lengthening their booms up to 429.8 feet (131 metres) when used in combination with the VPC-MAX and extended upper boom points. They will be useful for assembling wind turbines.

New heights

The height of utility-scale, land-based wind turbines has increased nearly 60 per cent in the last two decades, reaching an average of 90 metres in 2020 in the USA, the company said.

Wind turbines are expected to keep growing in size in the coming years, as building the turbines to higher elevations enable the wind towers to harness stronger winds. The new Manitowoc boom inserts will enable the 350 tonne capacity MLC300 to construct these increasingly tall wind towers.

Brennan Seelinger, Manitowoc’s product manager for crawler cranes, said wind turbine work above 90 metres currently requires a 400 tonne capacity or larger crane, which can result in higher costs for operation and transportation.

“Our new boom inserts will open up more jobs for our crawler crane owners,” he said. “They will increase utilization of our MLC300 crane with added flexibility. Where before crane operators would need to bring in a larger crane, now they’re able to employ their MLC300 with boom inserts and take advantage of increased reach from its smaller footprint.”