Do you have a bridge crane drive problem?

There is a lot to consider when looking at a bridge crane drive problem. We look at the location of the drive wheels for starters and if they are pulling the crane or pushing the crane. Pulling a load is easier for the drives than pushing the load. Did you know that when a bridge is heading north with front wheel drive, it moves effectively under this condition. In other words, the pulling effect of the leading wheels pulls the crane thru if mismatched wheels exist. When the rear wheel drive of a crane is heading south , it will bind and misalign. The wheels will bumper around the sides of the rails under similar mismatched wheel conditions. The results can be the spreading of the plates holding the wheels. I call this the wedging effect. Our technicians spotted this recently prior to failure on one of the bridge cranes we were inspecting here in Barrie, Ontario. The solution was to change the wheels and axles and correct the misalignment – thereby repairing the crane for safe operation. Each situation has to be considered upon what the service condition looks like. In this case the structure had settled. This was related to the loading of the crane and how it was being used. This is why at Crane Tech we save you money. In this scenario, we caught this service before the crane would have been out of commission, or even further, before someone got hurt.  At Crane Tech, we keep your workers safe. If you are in the Barrie, Newmarket, Huntsville, Peterborough and Toronto areas give us a call. We inspect cranes, auto hoists, elevating lift platforms, bridge cranes to name but a few. Remember that the Crane Tech Inspection team can conveniently inspect all of your lifting equipment at the same time. One call for all of your lifting equipment!