John Lukow, Vice President of Cranes for Custom Truck One Source, discussed the design features of the Load King Stinger PL-180, the company’s first A92.2 crane, live at The Utility Expo 2021.
The PL-180 is an all-new design purpose-built for aerial lifting. Immediately noticeable are the outriggers, which the company calls X-style outriggers and which are shared features among all of Custom Truck One Source’s crossover models. The structures of the outriggers all come to the center, underneath the bearing. “You have your outriggers tied directly into the bearing, tied directly into your seat, essentially. I have people talk all the time about how they don’t like the sort of twist you can get in some other boom trucks. You will not feel that on this crane.”
The ”PL” is for “personnel lift” and the “180” is for the feet above the ground for the worker’s hands with the luffing jib at zero degrees to the boom. “With the optional 2-stage jib we can get you to 223 feet in the air with zero degrees offset.” That jib also has 15- and 30-degree offsets. The cab is tiltable to 18 degrees for better operator visibility.
The PL-180 in the video is a tri-drive to which they’ve added a tag and a pusher, “so this is basically Federal bridge legal.” Custom Truck One Source offers many other chassis configurations, some especially for customers who buy annual permits. Options include tri-drive and tandem tridem with locking differentials, “a fantastic off-road vehicle; you’ll be amazed.”
Another option shown on the crane in this video is the material handling jib at the rear, which is rated for 2,000 lbs. “The whole point is material lifting at the job site.”
Upon decommissioning, the crane can be returned to Load King and made ready for a second life. An additional counterweight is added, a replacement jib is fitted, the LMI (load moment indicator) is updated, “and we’ll give you a B30.5 lifting crane.” The customer is required to return the luffing jib from the A92.2 configuration, “because that’s not valid for people lifting under B30.5.” Customers who opted for the 2-stage lattice jib can retain that, however.
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