Kundel

all about cranes

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Ceiling Beam Size (how to quote a crane system)

If the customer requires a ceiling hung system then the ceiling beam size is important because it tells the manufacturer what size beam hangers are required to hold up the runways. Read more at: http://ping.fm/ARLcH…a-crane-system/

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Ceiling height or max height (how to quote a crane system)

The ceiling height or max height isn't really that important. All it pretty much tells the manufacture is: how much height there is to work with. This is only important when the customer doesn't know the height they need to lift/move a specific product. Doesn't get any easier. Read more at: http://ping.fm/XFakw…a-crane-system/

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Ceiling or Floor (how to quote a crane system)

Ceiling or floor refers to how the customer wishes to support their crane system. In the most basic sense, there are two types of supports - ceiling or floor (advanced applications might require a hybrid of both, but we'll get to that). There are major differences between a ceiling mounted system and a floor mounted system (free-standing we call it). For one, a ceiling mounted system does not require posts. This means the manufacture doesn't need to make posts if the quote becomes a sale... i.e. saves the customer lots of $$. A free-standing system requires posts and I would estimate 80% of all systems we sell are free standing. Trolley eye height is also another factor when it comes to a ceiling or free standing system. With a ceiling hung system, the trolley eye height is achieved by coming down from the ceiling (this is pretty easy and there is a lot of room for adjustment [assuming there is a high ceiling] - which can be done by the customer). On the other hand, a free standing system trolley eye height is achieved by coming up from the ground. Not a lot of room for adjustment so make sure you get a pretty accurate trolley eye height. Let me know if this was helpful - kind of confusing, but that's probably thanks to my writing style. Read more @ http://kundelcranes.wordpress.com/2011/10/05/ceiling-or-flo…a-crane-system/

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Capacity (how to quote a crane system)

The capacity requirements needed for the crane system your quoting (assuming your quoting one) is, by far, the most important item. Capacity helps a crane manufacturer determine: -the type of system -what size runways/bridges need to be used -the maximum distance between two support locations -the maximum cantilever that can be achieved -the overall bridge rating requirements -the number of supports needed -what bridge spans can be achieved with that capacity -floor rating requirements (free-standing) -ceiling rating requirements (ceiling hung) -trolley/endtruck requirements see more at http://ping.fm/v5cF9…a-crane-system/

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How to quote a crane system

Okay, I'll just run down our quoting sheet so you get an idea of the type of information to look for when quoting a crane system. We give this sheet to our new sales employees when they call on potential customers. I'll bold the most important items. GENERAL SPECS: Customer Name __________ Project Name __________ Customer Phone # __________ Capacity __________ SUPPORT SPECS: Ceiling or Floor __________ Ceiling height or max height __________ Ceiling type __________ Ceiling beam size __________ Any ceiling obstructions __________ BRIDGE SPECS: Length or max outer dimensions __________ # of bridges __________ Trolley height required __________ RUNWAY SPECS: Length __________ Center line of supports __________ OPTION SPECS Internal electric bar __________ External electric festooning __________ External air festooning __________ Raised Bridge Ends __________ Motorization __________ read more at http://ping.fm/LSZR6

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Raised Bridge Ends

When we talk about hook height, we are talking about the elevation at which the hoist hooks to the trolley on the bridge. LET ME REPEAT THIS - THE HOOK HEIGHT IS THE ELEVATION AT WHICH THE HOIST HOOKS TO THE TROLLEY IN THE BRIDGE. In most crane applications the hook height is extremely important. Hook height is extremely important because people want to have the ability to lift something as high as they need to. They might want to lift something 20ft into the air, or they might want to lift something 3ft into the air. It all depends on the application. But one thing still remains certain - people want the highest hook height they can get. This is where there is a conflict. See, 95% of our customers (roughly 1 million) install cranes inside a warehouse, shop, what-have-you. The problem is simple: The roof sometimes does not allow them to reach the hook height that they want with a normal system. This is when we go above and beyond (no pun intended). When the roof is low and a high hook height is needed, we offer a solution called raised bridge ends. Raised bridge ends do exactly what it says - it raises the bridge ends so that the bridge is in the same plane as the runway. I'll just show you a picture... So there you have it, our solution when you need to achieve the highest hook height. read more at: http://kundelcranes.wordpress.com/2011/10/04/raised-bridge-ends/

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Internal Conductor Bar

The internal conductor bar replaces messy festooning. This allows for a safer, cleaner, more professional looking system. Internal electric gives the bridge(s) freedom to move the entire length of the workstation without getting tangled in festooning or worrying about gliders not stacking up properly. Right now you're probably asking, what is festooning anyway? Here I'll show you... We offer an alternative to festooning. We call it an internal conductor bar, and this is how it works: [youtube=http://ping.fm/vtAdB] read more at http://ping.fm/HhlIp

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Bays and Multiple Bridges

Systems can utilize multiple bridges. The systems just have to have a capacity rating high enough to accommodate the weight if both bridges we MAX loaded. This is where it gets a little complicated. If you want the two bridges to be able to travel in the same bay, the bay must be rated to accommodate both bridges MAX loaded. If you have multiple bridges, however, and stop the bridges from entering the same bay together (In other words, you will never have a bay with more than one bridge in it), each bridge can be rated at 6,000lbs (if we follow the two above examples). Bridges can be stopped from entering bays by installing what's called "runstops" inside the runway. Runstops prevent bridges from traveling any further. see pictures at http://ping.fm/Ilxad

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1/2 Ton System (1,000lbs Max)

Our Snaptrac system is the lightest capacity crane system we offer - with a max capacity (load) of 1,000 lbs. the Snaptrac is a perfect system for garages, workshops, fab shops, etc. You get the drift. Instead of rambling, I'll just show you pictures and list a couple of its' top features. [youtube=http://ping.fm/rclZb] Some of Snaptracs best features include: Internal electric bus bar, headerless, festooning free, ships in 5-7 business days, versatile configuration, lifetime warranty, quick install, etc... see more at www.snaptrac.com

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Crane Terminology

Overhead Workstation Crane Terminology Runway - The crane runway (in a way) is like talking about the length of a system. If someone asks "What size runway?" they are asking "What is the overall length of your system?" The crane runway provides a runway for the wheels on the bridge... but we'll get to that. Bridge - The bridge is like the width of a system. When someone asks for a bridge length, they are asking "What is the width of your system?" Attached to the top bridge are wheels that run inside the runway sections. Hoist - The hoist (has wheels) runs inside the bridge. In the most simplest terms, the hoist acts as your "picker uper" and picks things up (or hoists things up). [Quick recap, the hoist runs inside the bridge and travels the width of the system, the bridge is attached to the runway and travels the lenght of the system] Trolley/Endtrucks - The top of a trolley includes wheels that ride inside a bridge section. The bottom of a trolley hooks to the hoist. The top of an entruck includes wheels that ride inside a runway section. The bottom of an endtruck attaches the the bridge. Just remember: runways are to endtrucks as bridges are to trolleys. P.S. Thought that it would be essential that we first establish some crane terminology - Geeze! It wasn't like there was a bibles length worth of terms.

[kundelcranes]

Hello People

Just wanted to start a blog for Kundel Industries. More specifically our crane (overhead workstation) side of the company. I have a few plans for this blog, and after that, we'll see where it takes us. First, I would like to describe our products. Second, I want to address some issues/solutions with current problems in the material handling industry. Finally, I want to answer any questions you (the reader) have about material movement, cranes, jibs, or just life in general. The next post will be a quick overview of our product offerings... But first, here is an even quicker overview: Overhead Workstation Cranes: Snaptrac (1/2ton), KTrac (3ton), TTrac (10ton).

[kundelcranes]

Test... 123

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Internal Electric Bar (how to quote a crane system)

The internal electric bar rides inside the runway and bridge to provide festoon-free (cordless) power to the hoist. The internal electric bar is one of the greatest crane options we offer, so when quoting a crane system always remember to ask "internal electric... yes or no."

As a side note: You can upgrade a festooned system to an internally electrified system anytime you want. So if you want to try festooning and come to find out you hate the "clutter," simply upgrade.

As another side note: The internal electric bar carries power from an external power source, down the runway, across the bridge, and into the hoist. ONLY ONE RUNWAY NEEDS TO HAVE THE INTERNAL ELECTRIC BAR, NOT BOTH. Okay, caps is off so I'm done yelling.

There are two parts to internal electric. The first part is the internal electric bar, and it looks like this:

This is the bar that rides inside ONE runway and down every bridge that you want electrified)

The second part to internal electric is the collector. The collector attaches to the trolley and looks like this:

This is the collector. The yellow lines up with the yellow on the bus bar.

The entire internal electric system together looks like this:

This is the collector, attached the the trolley, and running (like track lighting) inside the bus bar.

The internal electric system works a lot like track lighting systems. It is one of our crane option top sellers - and a word of warning **You will never go back to a festooned system once you use internal electric**

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Center Line of Supports (how to quote a crane system)

The center line of supports simply means the distance between each support. This distance can either be the same for ALL system supports, or if something is preventing a support to go in a specific place you can do... what we call "stagger" the supports. In most cases when we stagger support locations it is because a customer has a very specific floor plan, and need the posts to be positioned in the right place.

The solid posts represent a system having same center line of supports. The ghosted posts represent how you can offset center-lines (say if something were in the way). Note the back left post has been rotated 90*. This is yet another option that you have - however it can only be done with the last post(s) on the runway.

Was this helpful, let me know with a comment.

p.s. thanks for everything steve.

[kundelcranes]

Runway Lenght and Cantilevers (how to quote a crane system)

Finally, some meat and potatoes.

The length of the runway is pretty much the length of the crane system. Longer length runways require more posts, shorter length runways require less posts. We'll get more into this when we talk about center line of supports.

(Heavier crane capacities also require more posts, but this is because as you increase capacity, you have to compensate for the extra weight by moving posts closer together - there is a difference between heavier capacities needing more posts and longer runways needing more posts... be careful)

Sometimes customers want to cantilever the runway. This simply means that they want to have an unsupported extension of the runway off the end of the crane system. See picture below.

This is a runway cantilever and a bad sketch

Sometimes we have customers wanting to cantilever the bridge. Just a word of warning: If the system has posts on the side you want to cantilever on... IT CAN'T BE DONE.

The bridge will run into the posts!

When the cantilever is on the same side as ceiling hangers, then a bridge cantilever WORKS!

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Trolley Height Required (how to quote a crane system)

First let's give you a mental image of a trolley so you know what were talking about.

This is a trolley, the four wheels ride inside a bridge, the bottom sticks out under the bridge. The metal pin at the center bottom is the TROLLEY EYE. The trolley eye is where you hook the trolley to your hoist

As a manufacturer, we need to know what height the trolley eye should be. Knowing this height allows us to back engineer the system and determine what height posts are needed to achieve the needed trolley eye.

Another dimension, in lieu of the trolley eye height, that can be specified is the under girder height. This simply means from the height from bottom of the bridge to the ground. Again, with this height, we can back engineer to determine the height of the posts needed.

And this is why the trolley eye height (or the under girder height) is important.

P.S. The reason we use the trolley eye height or the under girder height and NOT the hoist hook height is because there are a vast amount of different size hoists. In other words we don't know the height of the hoist a customer is going to buy for their system... so we can't back engineer to determine the height of the posts.

If you want me to clarify more, just leave a comment. Thanks.

[kundelcranes]

Number of Bridges (how to quote a crane system)

Crane systems can have more than one bridge. They can have as many bridges they want (for the sake of argument). It is up to the customer as to how many bridges the system will have. The reason customers like to have multiple bridges is because more than one worker can be doing something on the crane system at a time. On the other hand, if you have only one bride, only one person can be lifting/moving something.

The manufacture needs to know how many bridges because they need to have the right size runways to accommodate for the extra weight.

Here I explain Multiple Bridges in more detail (click here)

Here is a system that has more than 1 bridge. See how many people can work at once!