Howell's GMK6400 breezes through windy project

Howell Crane and Rigging was tasked with lifting several HVAC units, as well as structural steel, onto the top of the Methodist Hospital in San Antonio, TX. Strong winds blew through the job site throughout the project, but Howell was able to complete the work on time and on budget with a pair of Grove cranes.

The San Antonio-based company employed a Grove GMK6400 all-terrain crane and a Grove TMS800E truck-mounted crane for the hospital project lifts. The GMK6400, one of Grove’s newest, handled most of the heavy lifting, raising 8 ton HVAC units to heights of up to 200 feet.

Audie John Howell, Sr., president of the company, said he chose the GMK6400 for its reach and capacity, and that it was a great tool on the job site.

“The Grove cranes did just fine in the strong winds,” said Audie John Howell, Sr., president, Howell Crane and Rigging. “The GMK6400 is my largest crane and we paired it with the Mega Wing Lift and a luffing jib for even more reach and capacity. The whole project went off without a hitch.”

The GMK6400 features a 197-foot boom. When rigged with the luffing jib that extends from 82 feet to 259 feet, the maximum tip height reaches 438 feet. With this setup, the crane can perform lifts no other six-axle, or even seven-axle crane, can currently achieve. The self-rigging Mega Wing Lift attachment used by Howell can boost the cranes’ capacity by 70 percent.

The company used the TMS800E to install the luffing jib on the GMK6400, as well as lifting structural steel pieces that each weighed approximately 1 ton onto the hospital’s roof. The compact footprint of the TMS800E enabled it to move easily through the hospital’s parking lot.

The Grove TMS800E has a 80-ton capacity and a 128-foot four-section, full power Megaform boom. A bi-fold lattice swingaway extension is also available for the truck-mounted crane that manually offsets at 0°, 20°, and 40° that reaches from 33 feet to 56 feet.