Project Dry Hire and TRT joined forces at the CICA conference and exhibition to highlight the Slew Safe system featured on the TIDD PC25.
We spoke to Shane Smith, Project Dry Hire and Phil Chadwick, GM Crane Sales TRT, about the tie up.
“Project Dry Hire has approximately 40 pieces of equipment in its fleet, which ranges from telehandlers up to a 300t crawler crane, it even includes a couple of helicopters,” said Smith.
“We offer virtually anything the client wants, but we’re not trying to be another major hire company, we’re a smaller entity, one that is very interested in looking after applications that are out of the ordinary or a bit different.
“Project Dry Hire is mainly involved in infrastructure style work, mining and more purpose orientated businesses, largely customers that have an application that’s different and can’t get their head around buying the right equipment for the application. We’ve been operating since 2010 and we’re always looking to add to the fleet.
“We recently took delivery of a TIDD PC25 pick & carry machine and the main reason Project Dry Hire looked at this machine was Slew Safe system and the safety benefits we see with TIDD machines,” he said.
“The TIDD is a perfect choice for us. This is our first purchase and we’ve got a second on the way and we’ll be looking at another two at the start of 2019.”
Articulating (cornering) combined with side slope dramatically effects stability and can sometimes cause a tip over. This is a serious issue for the construction industry and results in several rollovers annually, sometimes with fatalities.
With TIDD’s new and patented Slew Safe system, the operator and dogman are warned visually and audibly that they have moved into the red zone and the operator is restricted from steering (slewing) any further into the red zone. The power steering is automatically reduced to 15 per cent effectively stopping the driver from corning tighter than the load chart will permit. The operator is in no way restricted, however, from steering (slewing) back into the green zone (by straightening the crane) and can operate all crane functions in the safe direction. However, it will restrict them from ‘driving off the chart’.
Slew Safe simply and effectively allows the TIDD PC25 operator to pick and carry a load on site knowing that they will be warned and restricted if they get into a situation that triggers an overload parameter. No other pick and carry system can achieve this level of safety to date.
“The development is ongoing and we’re looking forward to the next 12 months to 24 years to see the added benefits as well. A lot of them are retrofitted as well, which is very appealing to us,” Smith said.
“We developed Slew Safe at the request of Select Plant Hire,” Chadwick added.
“Select decided pick and carry cranes that can pick up a load over the front and drive anywhere wasn’t acceptable and also wanted restrictions on the steering, once over load was achieved.
“So we’ve developed a system that gives you full power and normal steering until you get to 100 per cent. At 90 per cent, you get an audible warning and you need to reconfigure. If you don’t and you get to 100 per cent, the machine reduces to 15 per cent speed, which is enough to park the crane but not enough to continue working and certainly not enough to get in trouble.
“With Slew Safe, the crane shows you how much weight you’ve got on the front and rear axles, so with 7t on the hook you’ve still got five-tonne on the rear and nowhere near tipping over. When you get to 100 per cent of the chart, the system stops you getting to where suddenly 5t can become severely reduced and tipping will occur. The operator still has full speed in the safe direction, but remains at 15 per cent in the unsafe direction.
“The operator now has the opportunity to reconfigure the load within the chart by reducing boom length and jibbing up to bring it within radius, so all crane functions only work in the safe direction. They won’t work in the unsafe direction-operators can’t jib out, extend the boom, or raise the hook unless they hit override button. However, Slew Safe can’t be deactivated by the operator at any time.”