01.08.2014

New crane joins the old

Colorado Crane has taken delivery of a new 85 tonne Link Belt HTC-86100 truck crane and went to work with the company’s 33 year old Link Belt HC-218A lattice truck crane.

The company was founded as a steel erector in 1986 and is based in Morrison, Colorado, it runs a small fleet which also includes another Link-Belt lattice truck crane and a smaller Link-Belt Rough Terrain crane.

Colorado Crane’s owner Patrick Lansu purchased the new unit for taxi-crane work in the Denver-metro area “The HTC-86100 is awesome, for the smaller taxi-crane jobs, I can travel around Denver and take all the counterweight on the machine with no extra trucks. Within 45 minutes, I’m ready to work, with the swing away jib on the boom tip. It’s an impressive rig, and it is so comfortable to drive. It’s almost like driving a truck,” he said.
Please register to see all images

Colorado Crane's new 85 tonne Link Belt HTC 86100

“We purchased the HC-218A lattice truck used around 27 years ago, and it is still hitting its mark. We put about 1,500 hours a year on that machine, probably almost 41,000 hours since we bought it. We have updated and retrofitted the HC-218A to comply with the latest industry requirements and parts have not been an issue since Link-Belt still carries them,” he adds.
Please register to see all images

Colorado Crane's 33 year old HC218A

“I have a business to run, but if I get the chance to run a crane, it’s a holiday for me especially running this 86100. My grandmother worked for Link-Belt Speeder in the 1950’s and 60’s in Indiana when they were making farm equipment. She eventually retired from there so I guess you could say it’s all in the family,” concluded Lansu.