Star Tech Journal

January 1987 [5)
STAR*TECH Journal
Maintaining And Fine-Tuning
tialour Cranes
\Way Frank "The Crank" Seninsky
Alpha-Qnega Amusements & Sales
Edison, New Jersey
Your responses to last month's article on
CRANE MODIFICA.TIONS were greatly
appreciated. Dozens of operators have
already performed the sirrple "California
MOD'_' to quickly and cheaply co:rrply with
their local authorities and the ·entire
industry is grateful. I find it extremely
rewarding to know that so many operators
have directly benefited.
There are a few steps that crane operators
should take to maximize revenues and
reduce or eliminate annoying service
calls. I take the liberty to pass along my
knowlegde of the BIG CHOICE crane, because
it is the model that Alpha-omega chooses
to operate (for over three years) and
lease/purchase to large clients.
The claw mechanism of the BIG CIDICE is
ral:_he best for me to write about since
'-reveral of the current 23 crane
manufacturers use the 'exact' same one
(copied or parallel imported) !
~=
1) REDUCE CARI' FRICTION - When you put a
new crane on location, the moving cart
rollers, gears and travel rods soould be
oiled after one week of operation and then
again oiled after each year. One drop on
each section with a good grade motor oil
will do the trick.
the original string, even after a few
breaks, but why not eliminate the wear
problem first off? If you have a problem
where the original 6' string doesn't wind
up correctly, reducing the string length
will eliminate this from happening again.
greatly reduce the string wear, there
are a few options:
a) Put a few drops of motor oil on each
claw string after the first 5,000 plays
and then after every 25,000 plays; or
b) replace the free floating washer that
goes between the top of the claw and the
spring (up-stop absorber) with a 1/4" long
x 3/8" Dia. plastic spacer. You can just
take a standard plastic pen case and cut
(and smooth the edges) a 1/4" long hollow
section. By replacing the washer with the
pen section, you don't have to keep oiling
the string; or
c) go to a fishing supply store and buy
the best nylon fishing reel wire, of the
same thickness as the original string, and
use this.
To
My suggestion: Of all the options you have
to reduce string wear, the first one 'a)'
works the best.
PREVEHl'IVE
Think of your crane as you would your car
(you probably paid MORE for your crane!) • .
Both require lubrication periodically. The
BIG CHOICE claw mech is engineered for
350,000 trouble-free plays, and if
maintained properly, can go another
350,000 plays before any replacement parts
are needed.
CRANE MERCHANDISE
prfzes,
DIFFERENT • UNIQUE • EXCITING
IMMEDIATE DELIVERY
2) REDUCE CLAW STRING WEAR AND BRFAKINGS -
r.t>st of the service calls I receive on the
BIG CHOICE crane are due to the claw
a5tring wearing out and breaking.
Note: Only about 3 feet of string is
required, but the crane comes with alrrost
6 feet of string attached to the claw. You
can usually find a 3' length remaining of
Call Toll Free:
(800) 992-2388, (800) 992-6577 (in California)
1590 Sunland Lane, Costa Mesa, CA 92626