WestRock Solvay Mill goes with Broderson (again)

With a 1999 Broderson IC-80 in their fleet, the team at WestRock Solvay Mill needed more lifting capacity. After looking at other brands, they found that another Broderson would fit the bill in both lifting capacity and footprint.

WestRock’s Cory White provided his technical expertise to the decision-making process to purchase a 2020 Broderson IC-100-3B from local dealer Empire Crane Company.

The crane offers more lifting capacity, reach, and is within the required footprint, according to White. The primary application is for repairing rotating equipment and screens inside the paper mill.

 The Broderson IC-100-3B has a capacity of 10 tons and is designed for in-plant lifting and material handling applications. It features a 49 foot 4 inch sheave height, a 5.6-ton pick and carry capacity and a 360 degree boom rotation. It is 6 feet 6 inches wide and 7 feet 5 inches tall. The crane has fully hydraulice controls for smooth and precise operations, according to Broderson.

WestRock opted to include a 10-foot boom extension, operator guard and the dual fuel (diesel/propane) option.

“This unit will run indoors 99 percent of the time so we run strictly propane,” White said.

 An improvement since their last Broderson purchase is the auto-throttle feature. Operators currently have to run the foot throttle to keep a higher rpm, according to Broderson. With the auto throttle, they can set it to run at 1200 or 1800 rpm, leaving the operator to focus more on the movement of the crane and the safety of his surroundings.

“It’s so loud inside of our mill that you can’t hear the engine running behind you,” White said. ”By setting the auto-throttle, our operators won’t need to listen to gauge the rpm levels”.

Empire Crane CEO and vice president Luke Lonergan said “Broderson cranes have a leading reputation in the carry deck sector because of the quality and reliability. We’ve serviced WestRock’s IC80 for years and years. We’re so happy they’ve been satisfied with the unit and are glad to assist with adding a larger unit to their fleet.”