Manitowoc unveils truck crane and rough terrain crane

With a new product development strategy and a focus on producing products that deliver profits to its customers, Manitowoc unveiled two new cranes at its ConExpo booth Monday morning, the TM 9000-2 truck crane and the GRT 655L rough terrain crane.

“These new cranes demonstrate that Manitowoc is on its way back,” said Manitowoc CEO and President Barry Pennypacker. “You will see 12 cranes on this booth this week and eight were developed in the last six months and four in the past year. We have developed product development and manufacturing systems and we have the right people in the right place.”

Describing the new TMS 9000-S, Pennypacker said the new 100-ton truck crane is lighter, longer and stronger and “will be the best crane in its class. This crane shows that our product development process is alive and well.”

The 115-ton TMS9000-2 truck crane features a number of improvements over previous models, the company said, It is lighter, which increases roadability and helps customers meet North American gross vehicle weight requirements. It has a longer boom, which increases reach and enables lifters to complete a wider variety of applications. And the crane is stronger, with best-in-class load charts for all counterweight configurations.

“The Grove TMS9000-2 is a clear example of The Manitowoc Way in action,” said Harrison Hipple, product manager for truck-mounted cranes at Manitowoc. “We brought our customers in at the earliest stages of designing this crane to ensure we made a product that fits their lifting needs. It was engineered with one goal in mind: to increase utilization rates for customers and increase their return on investment in a truck

The TMS9000-2 is approximately 800 pounds lighter than its predecessor, the TMS9000E. The crane features a new, 51.6 meter (169.3 foot), six-section Megaform boom that utilizes Grove’s Twin-Lock pinning system. It’s a greaseless boom, which reduces maintenance for owners. The improved reach will enable customers to complete a wider variety of applications with the crane, but from a compact chassis [width: 2.6 m (8.5 feet); length: 13.4 m (43.8 feet)]. The crane will offer manual or hydraulic swingways, along with additional inserts, to provide further reach options.

The crane’s 115-ton capacity makes it the strongest four-axle truck crane on the market with the best load charts in its class, Pennypacker said. Both the boom and chassis are stronger on the TMS9000-2 than previous cranes, so there is more capacity across all radii. On average, load charts with maximum counterweight have improved by approximately 5 percent over its predecessor.

The new model also shares the same counterweight system as the TMS9000E, so owners can interchange counterweights and wing weights from the previous-generation crane, giving them flexibility in configurations across an entire fleet. In essence, the leading GVW enables owners to win and complete more jobs at a lower cost, improving their return on investment.

The 55-ton Grove GRT655L is the latest update to the company’s range of rough-terrain cranes. The crane features a 3 meter (9.83 foot) by 12.8 meter (41.9 foot) footprint—make it an ideal rental fleet crane, the company said.

Manitowoc designed the crane based on extensive voice-of-the-customer research, which involved in-depth discussions with rental companies, owners and end-users. This manufacturing method holds the customer at the center of the design process, enabling the company to bring innovative products to market with increased velocity.

Paul Cutchall, product manager for rough-terrain cranes at Manitowoc, said the GRT655 represents advances in Grove technology, along with several features that have been developed specifically in response to customer demand.

“We have loaded the GRT655 with features that companies usually see on cranes in larger capacity classes,” he explained. “This will help lifters to bid for and complete more jobs with a single crane, increasing both their capabilities and return on investment in the crane. With The Manitowoc Way, we speak with customers early in the design process to learn their wants and needs, and in the end, we have come up with a new rough-terrain crane that will exceed their expectations.”

The GRT655 features a 34.8 meter (114.3 foot) four-section, full-power boom. The long-boom version of the crane, the GRT655L, is on display. It features a 43 meter (141.2 foot) five-section, greaseless boom, giving it a reach advantage of 8.32 meters (27.3 feet) over the closest competing model. This longer boom gives it a maximum working radius of 36 meters (120 feet), and a 3 percent greater chart capacity than competing cranes at that radius. Both the GRT655 and GRT655L offer up to 12 percent stronger chart capacities than competing cranes in this class, further reinforcing the cranes’ strength for the rental market.

The GRT655 runs on a Cummins QSB 6.7 L diesel engine that delivers 164 bhp and complies with all EPA Tier 4F emission standards. Dual calipers on both front drive hubs come standard to improve braking, while remote-mounted oil filters and easy-access transmission filters help to speed up routine maintenance. The crane has a GVW of only 36,004 kg (79,376 pounds), which keeps transport costs low, increasing its appeal to rental houses across all regions.