White Crane Company Inc., West Columbia, S.C., operates a rental fleet of lifting equipment that ranges from 18-ton industrial carry-deck cranes to 250-ton crawler cranes and 550-ton all-terrain rigs. Founded in 1977 by Eddie Flynt, the family-owned crane-rental and rigging business continues to serve commercial, industrial, and residential customers under the leadership of President Jason Flynt and Vice President Ryan Flynt.
The Flynts say that the most popular crane in White Crane’s fleet is its 60-ton-capacity Terex Crossover 6000 boom truck, which the company purchased to add more flexibility in servicing industrial, commercial, and residential construction customers.
One the first jobs for White Crane’s Crossover 6000 came when a 60-ton rough-terrain crane that a customer was using didn’t have the capacity to place a 3,500-lb. load at a 107-ft. radius. The customer was considering an 80-ton crane for the lift, but that rig carried a hefty rental price.
White Crane quoted the Crossover 6000 as an alternative. “Our Crossover offers 4,900-lb. capacity at a 105-ft. radius, so we could perform the lift without it being a critical lift,” said Ryan Flynt. “We were also half the cost of the 80-ton crane.”
The Crossover 6000 has a 110-ft. maximum boom length and a 170-ft. maximum tip height when equipped with a 57-ft. offset jib. The crane’s capacity and horizontal reach let it place loads far out on rooftops, for example, installing generators and air conditioners atop industrial buildings at a 160-ft. radius. “We can use this crane on just about any job,” said Jason Flynt. “Having a 160-ft. radius is unheard of in a 60-ton truck crane.”
Charity meets education
Last year, White Crane helped South Carolina’s Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) with the state’s first Habitat for Humanity house built partly by kids in the juvenile justice system. White Crane is a member of the Mechanical Contractors Association, which volunteered to help instruct the kids on building techniques. “It’s a great program,” said Ryan Flynt. “The kids learned important trade skills, and the house helped a deserving community member move into a home of their own.”
The kids had to do their work inside the DJJ facility’s fences, so the house had to be lifted over the fence and set onto a truck for delivery to the new home site when they were done. White Crane donated the cranes and rigging for the lift.
White Crane originally planned to use two 90-ton cranes, but after reviewing the Crossover 6000 boom truck’s capacity charts, White Crane replaced one of the 90-ton cranes with the Crossover 6000. “The chart actually has the Crossover’s capacity rated 20% higher than that of the 90-ton crane at the radius we were working,” said Jason Flynt.
To lift the approximately 33,000-lb. structure over the fence, both cranes operated at a 95-ft. boom length and a 45-ft. radius. At that boom length and radius, the Crossover 6000 can lift 23,100 lbs. Together, the 60-ton Crossover 6000 and 90-ton mobile crane handled the Habitat house lift easily. In just four hours, White Crane’s crew set up the Crossover 6000, rigged the load, made the lift, de-rigged the crane, and moved it out.
The Crossover 6000 blends the upper structure of a truck crane with a commercial truck chassis. “We like having the commercial truck chassis because we typically get a longer lifespan out of truck engines versus crane carriers, and two people can ride together, so you don’t have the extra fuel and mileage costs,” explained Ryan Flint.
The crane’s X-pattern outrigger design eliminates the need for a front stabilizer jack, enhances lifting capability, lowers the crane’s center of gravity, and isolates the truck chassis from the crane’s upper structure. Terex Cranes sales manager Steven Ake said that keeping the truck chassis away from crane operational stresses lengthens chassis life.
Jason Flynt explained why White Crane decided to buy the Terex Crossover 6000. “When weighing the costs of a machine, and price and capacity class are basically the same, then the stronger crane is an easy decision to buy,” he said.
