Masonry Magazine August 1989 Page. 11
HOIST-A Real Profit Maker
Recently a project was completed in upstate New York utilizing a new concept in equipment and methods. The results were amazing. Colony Masonry Corporation of Albany was awarded the contract to mount limestone panels on a twelve-story hospital building. Colony specializes in this type of work and company President Tom Murray was comfortable with the bid, but knew his profit would be increased by controlling material handling and labor costs. Some of the aspects about the job that posed a problem were:
1. How to reduce rental time on a 200 foot boom crane? The cost of the equipment, operator, and oiler would exceed $1200 per day, plus overtime. Controlling or eliminating this equipment on this six month project, would definitely reflect on the bottom line.
2. How to safely and efficiently "fish" the stone panels between the scaffolding and the building face? The 200 foot boom crane would lift a 1200 lb panel to the top and lower it through a narrow gap using signal men at the top and bottom to communicate with a crane operator.
3. How to automate the process and maximize productivity?
Two weeks before the project started, Tom approached All-Lifts of Albany, a specialty hoist & crane rigging house. He was looking for any possible alternatives to the expensive crane. American Beta Portable Hoist systems were presented and seemed to fit the criteria of cost reduction. Tom gave his hesitant approval.
Monorail mounting tracks for the hoist were available, but a custom modular rigged track was quickly and easily built. During dry run trials, another factor came into play. The Beta portable hoists are very high speed-80 feet per minute. Tom wanted a "soft-set", jog-into-place feature to set the stone panels. Steve and Patrick Dewey of All-Lifts worked closely with American Beta and suggestions were made on how to reduce the speed. All-Lifts was able to build a special electrical control panel that reduced hoist speed to 10% of normal and featured a "jog" mode. The system consisted of two American Beta Portable hoists-Leo Model with 2000 lb capacity, modular sections of monorail mounting track (100 feet), and the special control panel. The illustration shows how the track was mounted at the top of the building.
The project was bid assuming an installation pace of seven panels per day. Colony averaged a pace of sixteen panels per day (some days exceeding twenty-two per day), by using the American Beta Portable Hoist and mounting and the control panel supplied by All-Lifts of Albany, New York. Tom estimates that he reduced crane cost rental by 35% to 40%. The hoists paid for themselves in one job and gave him a return on his investment.
The job was a success and here are some of the results.
1. Rental of the 200 foot boom crane was limited to 140 days.
2. Hoisting the stone panels from the bottom and fishing up between the scaffolding was remarkably more efficient and easy.
3. Safety improved considerably. The hoist operator used cable remote control of the hoist and was able to control the load within close visual proximity. No need for relaying signals to a crane operator.
4. Tasks associated with the mounting of the limestone panels were scheduled more efficiently and production increased dramatically.
Colony Masonry now owns the equipment and Tom Murray is certain he will be very competitive on future jobs. Tom said, "The people from All-Lifts and American Beta were very cooperative and displayed tremendous ingenuity from the start. I was apprehensive at times and just wanted to make a good business decision. (about the unique solution) It turned out to be a great one."