Repair potential

With new cranes in short supply and delivery times lengthening, the pressure is on for users to get the most out of existing equipment. Repair and refurbishment offers opportunities to extend service life and service life extension projects (SLEPs) are a growing activity for crane repair companies.

Jay Shiffler, at US company Wheco Corp, explains that conventional lattice boom truck cranes, with their limited availability and high replacement costs, make them excellent candidates for SLEP. As an example, Wheco recently carried out a SLEP on two Link-Belt HC 238A lattice truck cranes. Both were 20 years old and part of a large and heavily used crane rental fleet. Wheco extended the life of the machines by between 7 and 10 years with the restoration cost evaluated against the expected revenue stream and operating expenses. The company is carrying out similar work for the same customer on two more units.