Crane Specialists Inc., of Manheim, PA, recently delivered the largest and longest knuckleboom crane in North America - an Effer 1750 8s + 4s - to Weaver Precast Inc.

Based in Ephrata, PA, Weaver Precast manufactures, delivers and installs Precast basement walls primarily for residential use and is the nation’s largest and oldest Superior Walls dealer. The company was in the market for a new crane because it wanted to decrease its need for outside crane contractors for which it was spending approximately $1.5 million, annually.

Gary Weaver, president of Weaver Precast, who currently owns and operates six truck cranes, had several requirements on his mind for a new crane.

It needed to provide these features:

• No overweight permitted,

• Longer reach and more capacity than his current cranes — walls weigh approximately 3,000 to 5,000 lbs. (1,361 to 2,268 kg),

• Transportability for jobs 50 to 150 mi. (with fast transport speeds) from Ephrata, and

• a comfortable ride.

After researching various makes and models, Weaver contracted Crane Specialists Inc., the Effer dealer for eastern Pennsylvania, which installed the 1750 to a Western Star Chassis 4900F A tandem chassis, load tested it and delivered the crane. Since then, Weaver has employed the 1750 on several jobs and the company has been pleased with its performance.

“While operating the 1750 with radio remote controls, the operator stays near the load, which eliminates hand signals,” said Weaver. “We’re also able to continue working on very windy days when we typically had to shut things down. The load hook is much closer to the work, not suspended 100 feet from the boom tip, which would make the walls act as sails.”

Effer was founded in 1967 and manufactures its cranes in Bologna, Italy. North American Lifting Equipment is the company’s U.S. importer.

For more information, visit www.effer.it.

This story also appears on Crane Equipment Guide.

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