Sky Climber debuts 'smart' hoist

Sky Climber used World of Concrete, Feb. 5-8 in Las Vegas, to debut its new smart hoist, the FNX Series. "It's unlike anything in the industry right now," said Todd King, a partner at Sky Climber. "This hoist is a game changer."

The FNX hoist family features GPS tracking capabilities for when owners want to locate their hoists; a three-phase motor; dual speed controls at 35 fpm and 17 fpm; and an LCD display. The unit can self-diagnose and annual maintenance is said to take less than an hour. According to King, typical hoist maintenance can take 4-5 hours.

The FNS family consists of the FNX LV and FNX HV, both which feature lifting capacities between 750 and 1,500 pounds. The FNX LV runs on 110 through 240 voltage and FNX HV 220 through 480. The hoists weigh 107 pounds feature upper limit switches, emergency stops, non-powered control descent, manual ascent handles, overspeed detection, self-reeving, breech reeving, overload protection and wireless control capabilities, amongst more.

"A rental company can access everything about the hoist via their mobile phone or computer," King said. "If a national rental company has 1,000 of these, one person can get all the info from his iPhone versus 100 people trying to get information about one or two hoists."

Sky Climber developed its own application for use with the FNX, King said.

The FNX is constructed with a magnesium die cast outer shell and stainless steel handles. "It's a tank," King said.