Industrial History: Building Wind Turbines

(Update: I've learned that these thing are supposed to be called wind turbines instead of windmills. So I fixed the title, but I can't take the time needed to fix all of the text.)

Building windmills with cranes that have a luffer.

It's now cheaper to build a new wind farm than to keep a coal plant running (This is an interesting milestone considering the design life of a wind turbine is only 10 years. (I've seen since 15 years as a desgin life.))

MaritimePhoto posted
The construction of SL5000 wind turbine in China, offshore. 2017
Photo: JOC Marine

In the December 2018 newsletter of Midwest Energy, they describe how they put 18 of their road-side spans underground so that "massive cranes" could drive across the road while building a windfarm. The $562m project is being done in two phases south of Colby Kansas: 105 towers will generate 276mw and 72 towers will generate 198mw. That is 2.6mw/turbine for the first phase and 2.75mw/turbine for the second phase. And it is $1.18m construction expense per 1mw of power. To put the 474mw in perspective, coal powered units of 650mw are being shutdown. At least wind turbine farms are getting into the ballpark of coal fired units. T-mobile has signed up for 160mw, Target Stores is buying another 100mw, and the parent company of Jack Daniels is purchasing 30mw.

One option is to lift each blade separately:

Shawn Douglas posted
2250 doing single blade install

Another is to install the blades on the ground and then...

Shaun Douglas posted
16000 and the little guy is a 2250.
Shaun Douglas This job was in 09 in southern utah

...lift the whole assembly up to the top.

Shawn Douglas posted
18000 in Maui.
Parker Mims How much sticks that got in it? Around 300' or so?
Shaun Douglasx I think 340
Kyle Avinger 0 wind speed @ time of pick?
Shaun Douglas There was always wind. The towers were built with the wind blowing into the face of the tower. The wind always blew the same direction.

Shaun Douglas commented on his posting
All 8 were built facing into the wind.

Update:

Ben Stalvey commented on this post
[He posted a question about the Harley Tip, of which this is an example.]
Harley Smith I was design lead for 16000 in 2004 when the wind market started to grow. We worked with White Construction to define boom clearance and capacity for nacelles at the time. We wanted something that could ship with boom top and not have to assemble, like a fixed jib, hoping it would be simpler to set up and tear down. That is the reason for the folding link that has an offset pin so it would always fold upward and act as a stop if needed. Didn’t have an interesting name for it besides Extended Upper Boom Point, which doesn’t roll off the tongue. So it became the Harley Point. We didn’t know if it would work well or not in practice - lucky for me it wasn’t a complete dud!! Lifts got bigger so a bigger version was designed for the 18000 and carried over to the 16000WA and MLC650. Original design can be found on MLC300. Many people knew my name because of it, but the success is largely due to guys at White Construction that understood the work and worked with us.
And that’s the story...
Gabriel D. Woodbridge that's really interesting info to know as much I've put that thing on and off the 16,000!
Charles Edler I guess I got people's attention when I referred to it as a Harley tip today on my post I know a few people asked why I called it that that's all I've ever called them when I've ran 16's ..18's.. 300's .. and 650's and now I know its named after Harley Smith.

Shaun Douglas posted
Ronald Ritter 1 tower covered by the other.
Shaun Douglas Well I was at the top of a tower 2 towers away and that's the best I could get lol
[I could not figure out what was happening until I saw Ronald's comment. It is interesting that the tops of the three towers are in a straight line.]

In addition to pushing crane technology to erect wind turbines, they push manufacturing technologies. I saw a TV show about how the world's largest airplane was used to carry a large mold from China to Colorado. The mold is used to make the blades. (That plane no longer exists because Russia hit it's hanger early in their 2022 invasion of Ukraine.) This video shows that something as mundane as a bearing needs special equipment to manufacture it because of its size.

1:32 vide @ 0:17

1:24

Sean Jett posted two photos:

Al Easton posted

Bay Crane posted

Yan Duguay posted
Ben Stalvey Big bad 16000

Jason Morgan posted
Another day at the office

Jens Hadel shared
Liebherr LR 11000 with Sennebogen 5500

Screenshot -0:10

A video showing a mobile crane instead of a crawler crane being used to erect the windmill. But it is so big that it needs the help of another another crane and truckloads of stuff to build it up for the job. The video uses a "choppy" style, so it was hard for me to understand how it was built.

Lanna N Eric posted, cropped
Two years ago in Iowa [2015]
Brian Schenck Hurry up base mid. Top-off coming in
[This implies the little crane is used to start the tower and probably add the blades to the hub and then the big crane finishes the tower and then adds the nacelle and blade assembly. Moving that big crane from one tower to another would require a very firm, level road. A slight tilt of that long boom would move the high center of gravity too far to the side.]

Kran & Schwerlast Bremerhaven posted
[Scroll down on the linked page because they have other postings for installing the nacelle and the other two blades.]

I don't like the choppy editing, but I do like the time-lapse scene showing two cranes raising the hub and blades assembly.

Screenshot from Crane Operators of the World 2 posting

"Assembly of a wind turbine on open sea" I don't like the editing because it is too "choppy." And you can mute it without loosing any information. But it is still interesting. From what I can tell, they take the tower pieces and nacelle in one trip and the pre-assembled hub+blades in another trip.

Screenshot at -0:11

ENERCON E-126 IS THE WORLD’S MOST POWERFUL WIND TURBINE! Enercon E-126 was manufactured by a German company named Enercon and is the most powerful wind turbine in the world. This model has a rotor diameter of 126 m, a a hub height of 135 m, and a height of 198 m. With this, the Enercon E-126 is capable of generating up to 7.58 megawatts of power per turbine. Since its technical revision in 2009, the power output is 7 MW instead of 6 MW.

There are no interior shots, so, after a while, skip to scale comparisons.

Screenshot, unlike American farms, the blades don't turn in phase.

Bay Crane posted

Mick Salvator posted
Finishing up the wind turbine!
Ben Stalvey Mega wing big bad GMK 7550
Ben Stalvey Guess it's a good alternative to setting up a 16000
Nick Salvatore Only had 160' of luff in it
Ben Stalvey Odd why Grove has not gone bigger yet. I have seen several 7550 very popular for erection of towercranes too.

Nick Salvatore posted
Here's another shot.

Bob Costine posted
[Evidently the yellow boom crane has just finished helping the lattice boom crane tip the blades and hub. The yellow boom crane will be unhooked and the taller crane will complete the lift.]

Tom Nugent posted
18000 compared to a 10000. A few years back in Edgewood, Iowa,
Jake Steinfeldt Half the size of the backmast!

😂 we have a 10,000 i always thought it was tiny next to a 1600 with just main boom. Gotta love them big cranes!
Michael Best 360' of main plus the tip. Looks like 100 meter Gamesa towers.

Posted

Robert Pickel posted some pictures showing a tower being built. Ben Stalvey indicated the big crane was a Manitowoc 16000. It looks like they were racing an incoming storm.

Mike Nelson posted
Gotta love wind farms
Ed Johns Good ole 18

HeavyLiftNews
Boom collapse at Swedish windfarm
["The crane operator was able to jump clear of the crane and suffered only minor injuries to his leg." I just noticed how high the cab is on that crane. Jumping out to the ground below, which is covered with "stuff," would be tricky.]

Screenshot (source)
Jamie Bryant Largest crawler rig in the world.
[Note the man near the left. The crawler track is taller! The nacelle this thing is lifting looks pretty big also.]

Stuart Andrews posted
William Platou How long does it take once pad is prepared, to complete the lifting phase, tower to the blades??
Kenneth Ohl 2 or 3 on a good day.
[Unfortunately there was no answer to the question of how much boom. That is a big pile of counterweights on the rear end of the crane for lifts that can be kept at a short radius.]

Phillippe Dumas posted six photos with the comment: "GMK 6300L & GMK 6400 Altead tandem lift on

🇫🇷 windmill job site."

Mike Nelson commented on a posting
[18000]

Josh Neudorf posted, cropped
And we sit!! Like father like son best cranes out there.
Brian McBride Getting ready to head to Iowa and do a repower job. I believe they are 1.5 ge towers, don't have specs of what mw replacement is going to be.
[Unfortunately, none of the comments indicated the model numbers for the cranes. Usually someone chimes in with that info. Also Brian reminds us that the wind may be free, but the maintenance is expensive. ]

Mike Nelson posted
Big red getting it done
Frank Keeney How much boom you got Mike?Mike Nelson That's norm. He has 350'
[A problem with expert groups is that they don't include basic info like the crane model.]

Philippe Dumas posted two photos with the comment: "GMK 6400 in Denmark,"

Larry Poush posted
What's better than one 16000 ? Having 4 on a project.
[The comments indicate Arcadia, Iowa.]

AJ Treu posted
2250

Scott Erickson commented on the above posting
I've done some time on that rig.

Terex Cranes posted
A picturesque job backdrop. Thanks to Ahmet K. for sharing!

Richie Tannock posted three photos with the comment: "Came across a GTK last year at the wind farm next to where I live, GMK 7450 on a tower, brilliant concept, shame it never took off."
[The comments indicated that the axle weight was too high for most states in the USA. It is remote controlled from a little cab on tracks.]

Richie Tannock commented on his posting

Manitowoc Crane Enthusiasts posted
[No comment offered the model of the crane.]
William Oldani What an Angle!
With as many wind turbines that are erected I saw a photo of a Crane that was mounted on a tubular Base the same height as the gear box with an elaborate undercarriage! Pretty neat! “Outside the Box”!

Matthew Whebell commented on the above comment
You mean like this? Its a gtk1100.
Ben Davis I thought the gtk1100 was never put into production?
David Whitehead Several made.

Here is one mounted on "red legs" to get even more height.

Peter Jovanovic shared
Mike Cline It worked well when introduced. Worked well for about 2 years.
The wind turbine towers increased in height and turbine a little heavier. Last couple they added counterweight.
Manitowoc had interest in the states. Almost all the components were to heavy to transport.
Some one why not a lattice.
Components broke down to 7 or 8 loads. So fewer loads.
Shows 2 support cranes. Really you only need 1 200 mt class to assemble.

Tony Strain This contraption would would be on the ground with any side winds while flying a rotor.

J.P. Duffy This “contraption” was designed specifically for erecting wind turbines.

JJ Novak posted
Grove crane for building wind turbines.
Shawn Ferguson Too heavy, impossible to move in the states.Nicholas Matlak It looks like it has a travel height of 23'7" lol

(new window)

Bill Johns Jr posted
9000e gettin er done. 142 + 88. What a great crane for Manbasket work. Love how smooth these cranes are.
Brian Peterson That must take a day to get used to being in the bucket.
Graham Turner They're great. Until you gotta climb you ass into the boom to fix something. Fat boy don't fit well.
Bill Johns Jr Yeah been there done that. Had to have someone grab my feet and pull me out backwards. Not cool
[I assume they are doing an inspection. If he's doing just "meat on the hook" work, that is a light load. Since he can keep the boom up, I'm guessing with the light load and small radius that they don't have to add many counterweights, if any. That would significantly speeds up the setup time for the crane. This has to beat climbing the tower and then stringing ropes to hang from to check the blades.]

Guillaume Plante posted
65 t wind turbine generator.
Grove RT890E & Manitowoc 16000
Adrian Sellers AW Leil
[If that is part of the nacelle, I can't image how big the whole thing is.]

(new window) An example of building the rotor on the ground and lifting the entire assembly.

An example of building the rotor in the air balde-by-blade. (You probably want to move the video slider forward to skip some of the lift.
(new window)

I had to set through more talking heads than I like, but the part about edge erosion because of rain was interesting. And I learned that the design life of a windmill is 20 years. The blade is 88.4 or 390 feet.
(new window)

Lucas B Sustrich posted two photos with the comment: "Convoy time."
Brad Gann How tall does she sit in that configuration?
Lucas B Sustrich 17'6" with leveled suspension, we can squat it down and pull the hand rails if need be, that gets us to 16'
[Unfortunately, no one bothered the mention the make and model of the crane.]

Guillaurne Plante posted four photos with the comment: "Groove RT890E & Manitowoc16000
Cap Pelé, New-Brunswick Canada."

Tracy Trinwood commented on Joseph's posting
Tracy Trinwood Yup, 16000.

Guillaume Plante posted
65 t wind turbine generator.
Grove RT890E & Manitowoc 16000
Dennis DeBruler Guillaume Plante Where can I find more info on the turbine? If that is just part of the nacelle, I can't image how big the whole windmill is.
Guillaume PlanteGuillaume and 241 others joined Manitowoc Crane Enthusiasts within the last two weeks. Give them a warm welcome into your community! https://www.enercon.de/en/products/ep-2/e-92/
Guillaume PlanteGuillaume and 241 others joined Manitowoc Crane Enthusiasts within the last two weeks. Give them a warm welcome into your community! http://cappelewind.ca/

I think Guillaume Plante did not post his two photos in chronological order.
Ben StalveyBen and 4 others manage the membership, moderators, settings, and posts for Manitowoc Crane Enthusiasts. 440 ton Manitowoc 16000

Tim Freitag posted
18,000 sisters hard at work.

Bill Cunningham posted
Bryon Moorhead Is that a 100 meter turbine?
[Most of the comments have been deleted. But I remember that this is a Manitowoc 18000. Obviously, this contractor assembles the rotating parts on the ground and then uses a hydro crane as the tail crane while a big crane lifts the whole assembly up to the nacelle.]

Rune Rikstad posted
Soon ready for the next turbine in the north of Sweden.
Jordan Eric Dworaczyk How much boom?
Rune Rikstad 138+12m [492']

Dave Unsworth commented on a pos
ting
These are the 137m we are doing now.
Ryan Abbott Wow! That’s a big tower! What was the gen size if you might know?
Dave Unsworth i cant give you the measurements but it was about the size of a school bus lol weighed 172000 without the drivetrain installed.
Ryan Abbott I was wondering about the output in megawatts. I’ve done some 3.2’s but they were on 100 meter towers. 137 meters is crazy high! Pretty cool!

John W. Coke posted
Vestas Wind Systems, turbine.
[Speaking of "about the size of a school bus."]

Eddie Pasek posted three photos with the comment:

A few pics from last year's wind farm job in Michigan. 2 18000 Manitowocs. A 12000 set the first 2 tubes, then the 18000 with the luffer set the last tube, generator and then the hub, then the 18000 with the straight boom followed setting the blades.

There are a lot of interesting comments on this post. Too many to copy. But one photo shows an 18000 "catting" across a road. The comments indicate they placed three feet of sand, steel plates, and crane mats on the road before crossing.

Dan Morre posted

Michael Richlie posted
My buddy from high school working at this wind farm Live Oak, Eldorado Texas

Brandon Wayne posted
[This is the first time I have seen a tandem lift of a blade. And how do you see what you are doing if the clouds are below the hub?]

Screenshot @ -9:54
[The first part of this video of the worlds largest crawler crane is putting a nacelle on a tower. It has to be expensive to build those towers because that crane has to be expensive to rent.]

Martin Antinao posted

Yannick Couture posted
Manitowoc 16000 séries 5 brs at Wind Turbines ( Quebec Canada )
Rigo Rivera That was one of the acciona wind turbines.
Homer Pena It looks like he's almost maxxed out.
Damian Crowley What’s the boom length?
Yannick Couture total 370’ [This got a couple of "Wows."]

Yannick commented on his post
Another view !!

Manitowoc MLC cranes

MLC650 building 4.0 MW units, includes a video. It looks like it is on mats.

Sean Jett posted two photos with the comment: "MLC 650."
David Waller That thing just looks funny! Judging by the pictures it just looks like the turntable is the weak link. But I'm sure it's not!! Give me house rollers and hook rollers all day long.
[Comments indicate they are putting up wind towers. It looks like they pre-assemble the hub and blades on the ground.]

Sean Jett posted two photos:

Stuart Andrews posted
Paul B. Anderson Wow! Would love to watch it come to life from here. I mean, I've never seen one boom up from the ground before.
Ben Stalvey Mlc 650 715 tonTj Belcher 772 with vpc max
Glenn Mansfield How much stick is that?
Oliver DeJong Would love to know as well. Looks about 400 - 410 comparing to some drawings.
Shonny Prichard So they went with the stubby boom
John Scarcella Thats a lot of stick over the side [I assume "over the side" means the 90-degree angle with the crawler tracks.]

Ben Stalvey shared Karl Bardoff's posting, Screenshot @ -9.21
One quick way to relocate a MLC 300. With a big bad Oshkosh HET
Dustin Lehman Windfarm In Everly Iowa

Jaime A Saldana posted
Allen,Nebraska
Ben StalveyBen and 4 others manage the membership, moderators, settings, and posts for Manitowoc Crane Enthusiasts. Nice shot wow another MLC 650
Darryl Blowers My buddy is there 100% matt everywhere
Tom Wojak After the Bigge one went over?
Darryl Blowers yes sir

Manitowoc

The first customer for a MLC300 FPC crane was a contractor that builds windmills. FPC is Fixed Position Counterweight. Evidently some customers don't want to pay extra for all of that VPC (Variable Position Counterweight) equipment. This 330 USt crane was used for building the first two segments of the windmill towers.

Joseph Hudspeth posted
Everly, Iowa
Ben StalveyBen and 4 others manage the membership, moderators, settings, and posts for Manitowoc Crane Enthusiasts. Nice Mlc 650
Joseph HudspethJoseph and 183 others joined Manitowoc Crane Enthusiasts within the last two weeks. Give them a warm welcome into your community! These are GE towers
Ben StalveyBen and 4 others manage the membership, moderators, settings, and posts for Manitowoc Crane Enthusiasts. MLC 650 are impressive crane. I had mentioned several years about making a machine without a rear mast. Able to pickup more then a 18000 could. In just heavy lift mode with just a main boom. So came along the MLC 650
[90m tower]

Chad Rogers posted
Tallest in New England!
Chad RogersChad and 6 others are consistently creating meaningful discussions with their posts. 999 in the background.
Ben StalveyBen and 4 others manage the membership, moderators, settings, and posts for Manitowoc Crane Enthusiasts. Must be the tailing crane
[The comments indicate this is an MLC 650 and it is not working on the tallest in New England. The tallest in North America is 137 meters (450') tub height.]

Chad Rogers posted
Hancock wind project. Maine.
Ben StalveyBen and 4 others manage the membership, moderators, settings, and posts for Manitowoc Crane Enthusiasts. Nice MLC 650
Mike WeaverMike and 4 others manage the membership, moderators, settings, and posts for Manitowoc Crane Enthusiasts. Nice Kickstand.
Richard Coraine Where in Maine?
Chad RogersChad and 6 others are consistently creating meaningful discussions with their posts. Over near Calais.
Broc Marquis Thats a couple years old...
Jeff Egan Looks like the crane that was at the 4 river bridge project in Weymouth MA

Jim Kratzer posted
Maybe one of the eagle eye members can figure out which model this is. I only know that we’re north of Eldorado Texas, and it’s a Manitowoc.
Louis Hadley MLC 300 with windmill tip.

Cody Printz posted
MLC300. JMS Crane & Rigging. Idaho
Dennis DeBruler I wonder what kind of maintenance work needs a crane after just six years of operation. https://www.thewindpower.net/windfarm_en_15218_horse...
Cody Printz Dennis DeBruler we had a gear box basically blow up?J
amie Shields Cody Printz is JMS previously Mullens Crane?
Cody Printz Jamie Shields yes

Gary Braasch posted, cropped
My son is working harvest in the fields of Indiana and snapped this photo. Central Rent-a-Crane
Lee Maynard 16000 with wind attachmentArnold Roepke Picking lower mid

Zach Hoefner commented on Gary's posting
Same one?

Joe Wallin commented on Gary's posting
Ben StalveyBen and 4 others manage the membership, moderators, settings, and posts for Manitowoc Crane Enthusiasts. 16000
Dennis DeBruler I see it is travelling between towers because it is climbing up on some mats. This demonstrates that they travel with the boom lowered. This was my expectation because it lowers the center of gravity and helps balance the full load of counterweights that are on the crane.

Tim Mohr posted
The Necel has been hanging for 2 days today will be 3, haven’t heard what’s wrong just that the crane is broke down.
Tj Keefe What crane is it ?
Had to happen to us with the 16,000 before, except the nacelle was over the top section.
Tim Mohr Lot of big wigs running around so I haven’t gone up there.

[At least this crane failed while the load was still relatively low so it has a lower center of gravity and winds picking up while it is setting dead are not as dangerous. It appears from the photo that a smaller crane builds the hub and blade assembly and then this crane comes in to lift the top tower segment, nacelle, and hub+blades.]

Tim Mohr I was informed that it’s a “Machine head” cause it’s all steel and not fiberglass. Weighs 218,000
Wayland Reece Ledford Probably a DEF issue. It’s stupid to program any machine to go limp or inoperable because of the EPA. Just my thoughts.
Eric Thomas Im surprised cranes don’t have an emergency hydraulic ports for functions in case of engine failure to be plugged into an emergency power unit or some sort where hydraulics can be supplied to release brakes and work functions I’m sure some have a way to do this but I’m not familiar. Anyone know ?
Brian Schenck They do... but it involves bringing in pumps and hoses ,that most places dont have easy access to. Faster to take a few days and get fixed. Had the exact same thing happen a few years back...
AJay White You are not supposed to leave your crane with a load on hook has someone been manning it this whole time.
Ron SantosRon and 224 others joined Manitowoc Crane Enthusiasts within the last two weeks. Give them a warm welcome into your community! Ultimately, you don't want to leave a load on the hook, but if something takes more than a day to bolt up, you don't disconnect. Big picks can take days, even weeks to bolt up. Happens all the time.
Brian Preisinger Going on day 3 swinging in the breeze something don’t make since.
Phillip Greenwood I hope they’re waiting on parts. There’s no way it would take 3 days to figure it out!
David Pendery Jr. Heater is out🤣

Johnny Harvey Hell don’t even joke David Pendery Jr. I remember when Delbert shut the 278 down on a set up job because the license plate bulb was out!

Tim commented on his posting

John Campaner posted some photos.
Maxime Launier Single blade with an 18000 maxer??
John Campaner Yeah they have three cranes putting up towers usually its the 2250 with maxer doin the blades tho.
Chad Mckenney If that is a V-136 tower I believe the necel’s weight close to 380k lbs if not more. That may explain the maxer.
Jason Dick Do any nacelles weigh that much? That kind of weight is goldhoffer and dual lane hauling weight range.
Chad Mckenney Jason Dick when they are shipped into the job they are minus the drive gear and cooling tower. The tops are removed and the sides are extended up two feet.
Chad Mckenney Jason Dick oh and the hubs are flown separate.
John Campaner Lucas B Sustrich the towers are 426' or 130m and the blades are 236' or 72m long
Lucas B Sustrich Where are these at, we usually only work on 80 and 90 meter turbines. How heavy is the nacelle going up at?
John Campaner Lucas B Sustrich henvey inlet wind farm and no clue i blast rock lol ill look into that tho.

Brandon Wayne posted
[This is the first time I have seen a tandem lift of a blade. And how do you see what you are doing if the clouds are below the hub?]

ALL Erection and Crane Rental posted
2250 with MAX-ER in Ontario, Canada.
Ben Stalvey

That's a 2250 with maxer. Good for 500 tons.
[The comments have photos of an 18000 with Maxer. And the comments debate why not use a 16000 because it can do 440 tons without a Maxer.]

George N Annie Lane posted
16000 doing wind turbines ! Set up series 5.
Don Little Wish I could see a close up of that pendant Midway support/attachment. I have only see straps before.
Ted Fortier Don that is the floating midpoint, its a frame that moves as the pendants are taken up. I think its the newer style with the heavy boom system?
Eric Thomas Harley Head is for wind turbine work. Cable up to hub bolt elevation and walk forward.

Daniel Williams commented on George's post

Ben Stalvey posted
[18000]

Ben commented on his post

Clayton Korzekwa posted
Ben Stalvey

18000
Clayton Korzekwa Ben Stalvey Blattner Energy, New Mexico
[Note the hub and blades are already assembled so that the tall (expensive) 18000 can quickly raise the remaining tower segments, the nacelle, and the blades and then move on to the next tower. They want to maximize the utilization of the big crane.]

Bay Crane posted

(new window)

A contractor that lifts the hub and blades separately

A time lapse video of raising a hub+blades assembly from Rob Freestone.

Ben Stalvey shared
2250 hard at work
Barnhart's video

MLC300 and MLC650

Manitowoc

Joseph Hudspeth posted
Everly, Iowa
Ben StalveyBen and 4 others manage the membership, moderators, settings, and posts for Manitowoc Crane Enthusiasts. Nice Mlc 650Joseph HudspethJoseph and 183 others joined Manitowoc Crane Enthusiasts within the last two weeks. Give them a warm welcome into your community! These are GE towers
Ben StalveyBen and 4 others manage the membership, moderators, settings, and posts for Manitowoc Crane Enthusiasts. MLC 650 are impressive crane. I had mentioned several years about making a machine without a rear mast. Able to pickup more then a 18000 could. In just heavy lift mode with just a main boom. So came along the MLC 650
[90m tower]

Chad Rogers posted

Tallest in New England!

Chad RogersChad and 6 others are consistently creating meaningful discussions with their posts. 999 in the background.

Ben StalveyBen and 4 others manage the membership, moderators, settings, and posts for Manitowoc Crane Enthusiasts. Must be the tailing crane

[The comments indicate this is an MLC 650 and it is not working on the tallest in New England. The tallest in North America is 137 meters (450') tub height.]

TerrynJenn Tubbs posted several photos of a MLC650 building a windmill.

Comment by Julio Martinez

Kansas Department of Transportation - North Central Kansas posted
UPDATED DUE TO WIND: U.S. 56 to K-4 on K-15 is planned to close TONIGHT from 12am-4am on 11/22 to allow a large crane used in the wind farm construction to cross K-15. Traffic will be detoured on U.S. 56 to U.S. 77, U.S. 77 to K-4, and K-4 to K-15. Visit http://kandrive.org for the most up to date info.
Joel Ackerman It'll probably be a MLC 650 it'll walk fairly quickly across the road. 15-20 mins tops and the crews will remove any matting or sand out of the way

Two comments by Dustin Lehman on a posting:

Julian Javier Ochoa commented on a posting

Memo Munoz posted
MLC650 getting it done.

Charles Edler commented on a posting

Donald Vickers commented on a posting
John Maxwell You double matting or Triple matting? Where is this at?
Mason Korb Single layer, south texas
John Maxwell Wow must be some good clay over there! Great pictures stay safe!
Donald Vickers Kooper Ott unfortunately yes sir it is. Lol

Donald Vickers commented on a posting

Greg Jensen posted
I’m just a truck driver, but I always enjoy everyone’s pictures on here.. Here’s a shot I got yesterday waiting on my part of what I believe is a 650.
TerrynJenn Tubbs This is Allen Nebraska next to last mlc 650 being broke down.
Evan Schnoll Gearbox or generator change out?
TerrynJenn Tubbs New towers

Clayton Korzekwa posted
In route to last tower.
Ben Stalvey Sweet nice 18000
Steve Worley Whose 18 ?
Clayton Korzekwa Blattner’s
Josh Needham Blattner had a horrific accident last year in Iowa. Safe crawls
Tim Denning Josh Needham they had one also in 2014 in Bismarck ND. Flipped that 1250 liebherr backward. Buckner crane and operator.
[It doesn't look like they put any mats on the farmer's field.]

George N Annie Lane posted
Two 18000 doing som wind turbines !
Mike Weaver Nice, first time I've seen twins in this application.

George N Annie Lane The one on the left getting ready to set tower sections and top out ,the one on the right is tracking down to the next pad site !

Wilfred Brouwer posted five photos with the comment: "#liebherr lifthing power LR 11350 BMS."

LM Wind Power
The 107-meter blade has completed the molding process at our factory in Cherbourg, France....The 107-meter [351'] blade is set to capture the wind for GE’s Haliade-X 12 MW offshore wind turbine, the world’s most powerful wind turbine to date.
[It is the first blade past 100 meters. Is the factory port side so that they can load it directly on a ship?]

Brad Gareston posted
Ben Stalvey

Sweet MLC 650 say goodbye to the 18000
[It looks like they lift a complete hub assembly.]

Giant floating crane for wind farm work

Tim Freitag posted, cropped
18.000 Lufter moving on wind farm.
[I cropped it because it was a profile photo of a very horizontal subject.]

John Dwayne Dufree posted
Allen Collier It was Conception, just talked to the site manager. Had a nacelle hooked up at the time. We changed policies after this.

Ted Mohler commented on John's post
Ted Mohler Crappy pic but that was one of the last ones that went up.
[They have a rotor assembled in the background, so they must lift the whole rotor.]

Charles Edler posted
Reaching out 227 ft to grab a blade its gonna be a good day Tater ! Okay to all you people who think the crane is not lined up correctly and is under boomed ... it is not ... it is an optical illusion ... all 3 blades were picked correctly and installed !

Ben Stalvey posted nine photos with the comment: "These great pictures are from Bill Schultz. Of a Manitowoc 440 ton Manitowoc 16000 crawler crane. Owned by Lampson Crane in Fond Du Lac WI back in 2008 setting up a wind farm..."

Screenshot
Installing the V150-4.2MW

(new window)

(new window) The growth of wind turbines is pushing the heights of cranes, e.g. the Liebherr LTM 1750.

A video passing by 12 of the trucks delivering a MLC650. Since I see a crane by a wind turbine in the background, they are probably building this crane to help build the wind turbine farm.

Including the comments, this post has a few photos showing the entire hub assembly being raised into position.

A 2250 lifting a complete rotor assembly

An 18000 lifting just a hub The comments indicate that when the blades are too long, e.g. 240', they have to build the rotor in the air because the blades are not strong enough to withstand the forces of using a tailing crane to lift a rotor.

Some screenshots below that includes the building of the foundaton. I never realized that building the foundation alone would be so expensive. But if I think about the lateral forces that would be placed on the foundation, I should not be that surprised. The CO2 emissions of the cement, rebar, and diesel fuel needed to build that foundation would be significant. I assume the expected life span of the foundation far exceeds the expected life span of just 25 years for the wind turbine itself. That is, I hope they can simply bolt the replacement wind turbine to the existing foundation.
A comment indicates that the pay back period can be as low as 3 years and that the cost of wind energy is now below that of coal energy.

Screenshot @ -6:25

Screenshot @ -4:00

Another video starting with the foundation work.

Screenshot @ -4:38

0:54 timelapse video of building a foundation At least they should not have to replace the foundation when they have to replace the turbine after 20 or 25 years.

Er. Govind Singh posted
wind mill foundation reinforcement work

Matt Mohd Ji posted
This is awesome. This is something we asian dont get to see moving huge crane in 1 pieces.
Ryan Babjak I’ve never seen that before. Is there a issue with road width something on site or a very long move? I know Mammoet doesn’t allow their cranes to crawl without mats at least they didn’t last job I was on with them. So I guess that is a alternative. Great Picture !!
Riley Anderson Ryan Babjak I read the article a while back when this came out, I think it was on a wind power project and they were using this setup to move between locations quickly. It also allows them to work as soon as they arrive and not have to unload the crane from the transporter.
John Suckoe Anything to cost the customer more money .
David Whitehead John Suckoe probably saved $$ in the long run by saving hours of tearing down and setting up multiple times vs 1 time charges for engineering and fabrication. Not worth it for just a few turbines, but for a farm with several, I can see the time and money savings.
[Some comments call it two Goldhoffer trailers. Others call it a SPMT. The key is the jacks at the end of each outrigger. They leave the crane mounted, but jacked up, to do a wind turbine. The many rubber tires would have less soil pressure than the crawler tracks. But the high center of gravity over a narrow transport would still require a very level road. I'd think a boom buggy would be a cheaper and safer way to spread the load.]

Jelco Stouthandel Photography posted
Not 1, but 2 massive LR 1700-1.0 crawler cranes!
2x Liebherr LR1700-1.0 HSL9AZDFB/BV 165+15m from the dutch based company BKV Kraanverhuur installing windturbine blades at a massive height of around 165 meters near Biddinghuizen (NL).
Kevin Wilson: Once the figure out how to produce energy efficiently with these devices, they might be viable. Ontario hydro has lots of these things and they just caused the power to go up in price because of the huge subsidies the get. Often they have too much on the grid and have to sell it at a massive discount south of the border.
[Several comments contain additional lift photos.]

Inno Man commented on Jelco's post
And this thing is on the way coming there. But there is a traffic here.
[There is plenty of room on this side of the blade. It looks like the tractor should have turned sooner and the trailer should have eased over into the left lane.]

Heavy Lift Productions posted
Moving matts, slow crawl to the next tower.
[Is this a LR13000?]

Tonito Barboza commented on the above post
That’s Wanzek’s crane now. Here is a photo of it now in Mississippi.
Not 100% sure but it’s all she’s good for 415,000 at 70’ radius. Lifting up 450’.
To get the boom off the ground it’s 290T of counterweight or a LTR 1220 and 100T of counterweight.

If you unmute the video, there is a lot of wind noise. Evidently, there was too much wind.

Facebook reel of a crane falling over

(new window) As they push wind turbine technology, they also push crane technology. These turbines were 135 meters high.

(new window) These are 165m hub height with 131m rotor.

(new window) A crane that climbs up the tower.

As we have seen, transporting a crane across farm fields causes a lot of accidents. So Mammoet uses a couple of their SPMTs to better spread the load across the field. And they are faster. The crane is a Manitowoc 18000.

(new window, 2:27) (source) Craig Nicholson: I think it moves fully built between 0.9 mph and 1.3 mph . The spmt transports will run about 3mph and 5mph.