Tadano AC 7.450-1 Performs Double Duty in Wisconsin

A cost-saving and versatile solution was already on site - a Reynolds Crane Tadano AC 7.450-1 being used for the tower crane dismantle.

Major Wisconsin contractor Findorff had a unique opportunity to showcase the versatile performance of a mobile crane recently during the construction of a new 44-story mixed-use building in Milwaukee. 

The new property consists of over 300 apartments, retail space and parking - built primarily with cast-in-place concrete and clad in window wall. The building totals 708 precast panels primarily set by a tower crane. Once the tower crane was dismantled, Findorff needed to set eight precast panels located where the tower crane was tied into the building. A cost-saving and versatile solution was already on site — a Reynolds Crane Tadano AC 7.450-1 being used for the tower crane dismantle.

Findorff Supervisor Kurt Erickson shares his enthusiasm for the AC 7.450-1, "We looked at many different options to setting the panels, most of which would require some kind of modification of interiors or high equipment costs. But since Reynolds had the 500-ton Tadano (454-metric-ton) all-terrain already there, we could extend the timeline by only 1-2 days to set these panels. The crane's automatic boom/luffing angle adjustments to minimize deflection when the weight of the pick changed was perfect for this task due to us needing the hook less than one foot (0.3 meters) away from the structure most of the time. Radius, capacity, and most importantly height was not a concern at all due to the configurations available. And reconfiguring also seemed to take a much smaller crew and went faster.”

The AC 7.450-1 was able to handle the panels without an issue. In fact, the critical pick was the final precast panel, which came in around 7,600 pounds (3,447 kilograms) with rigging at a radius of 135' (41 meters) and a height of around 380' (116 meters).

Reynolds Crane Executive Vice President Nate Reynolds describes how the versatile Tadano crane came through in the clutch, “A jobsite like this showcases exactly why we decided to add this new crane to our fleet. 263 feet (80 meters) of main boom with max tip height of 419 feet (128 meters) is optimal to set tower cranes in the Midwest and then when you look further at the load charts, this crane fits perfectly for customer demand within our daily crane rental fleet. We are always listening to customers and learning how we can best support them. In this case, we were able to communicate with Findorff and planned to use the same mobile crane for multiple uses on the job, which in turn benefits everyone from our customers to the community by operating as efficiently as possible. We greatly appreciate our partnership with Findorff and look forward to many more projects with them and this crane.”

Overall, this impressive project represented a great team effort from a legacy pairing of this general contractor and crane rental & rigging company. Findorff and Reynolds worked seamlessly together, and the versatile AC 7.450-1 was able to tackle multiple tasks. And best of all, the citizens of Milwaukee will benefit with an amazing new building on the skyline. Erickson was very appreciative of Reynolds support, “The resources, staff, and crew with Reynolds are always very helpful in providing me with any information that I need to plan.  Nate has always been willing to meet me on jobsites to look over everything well before the task planning begins. It is always nice to just jump into the work and everyone understands the plan."