MK440E at work on condo tower project

Favelle Favco tower cranes have been a mainstay on the New York City skyline for many years. A rugged design and strong capacity charts have given these luffing jib tower cranes a good reputation and a loyal following, according to Thomas Guzzi of New Jersey-based TES Inc., the sole distributor for Favelle Favco tower cranes in the United States.

TES recently sold two new Favelle Favco MK440E units to U.S. Crane & Rigging, based in Ridgewood, NY. Founded in 2000, U.S. Crane is one of the fastest growing crane companies in the region, providing equipment from 30 to 600 tons capacity in street cranes and 9 to 55 tons in tower cranes. The company also rents derricks and offers specialized transportation services.

“More and more contractors are going green,” said Tom Auringer, owner, U.S. Crane & Rigging. “I knew this was the perfect crane for this project, but we needed it to be electric. TES and Favelle Favco said they could provide it.”

A workhorse

The first MK440E is working at a condominium jobsite in downtown Brooklyn known as 11 Hoyt, located at the corner of Holt and Fulton Streets. The crane was erected last summer, and as of mid-November 2018, it was positioned 22 stories above ground, lifting rebar, helping with concrete pouring and moving building materials. The crane is also lifting and installing the building’s concrete exterior panels. The exterior panels were designed so that they will produce a rippling effect as the building rises in the sky.

The crane has performed flawlessly, Auringer said. “We have two additional units on order,” he said. On any given day, some 200 workers are on the jobsite. U.S. Crane & Rigging’s operator and rigging team work with the contractor and architect to provide the lifting solutions in the proper sequence. When the building reaches its full height of 51 stories, the crane will top out at a height of about 800 to 900 feet.

Typical loads on the main hoist are 110,300 pounds at a 40-foot radius, 55,100 pounds at an 80-foot radius and 25,000 pounds at a 140-foot radius. The fly hoist can lift 22,000 pounds at a radius of 149 feet and 6,600 pounds at a radius of 222.7 feet.

The MK440E has a maximum boom length of 225 feet with the fly. It has a 25-foot tail radius. The speed of the crane is an attribute, Auringer said. With the luffer at 15 to 86 degrees and a boom length of 225.7 feet, the crane’s luff speed is 2 minutes at 114 KW. The slew speed is .49 rpm at 2 X 11.5 KW.

Michael Khoo, general manager, Favelle Favco Cranes USA, said he anticipates more interest in electric tower cranes from his company.

“This was the first job that we introduced the electric version,” said Khoo. “All of our other models are all diesel hydraulic tower cranes.”

Green perception

Khoo said while electric tower cranes are popular, the issue is getting sufficient power to run them.

“If you don’t have enough power, the crane will not perform,” he said. “The two options in New York are to get power from the city or to use a generator.”

Khoo said end users often think that an electric crane is a more “green” option.

“That’s actually not true,” he said. “If you are using a generator to power the crane, you will still be using a lot of diesel fuel. But the market perception is that an electric crane is cleaner.”

Khoo does think demand for electric Favelle Favco cranes will heighten. “For us it will be a matter of getting the market used to having an electric Favco crane,” he said.