Third Shuttlelift DB 30 Double-Beam Mobile Gantry Crane for Sabre

Sabre Industries Inc. has taken delivery of a third Shuttlelift DB 30 double-beam mobile gantry crane, which it has added to its operation in Sioux City, Iowa. The new DB 30 joins two sister DB 30s, which were delivered in November 2012—one to Sioux City and the other to Alvarado, Texas.

Sabre Industries provides highly engineered structures used for electric transmission and distribution, wireless communications, renewable energy and government and defense infrastructure. Its 423,000-square-foot industrial complex in Alvarado is dedicated to designing and manufacturing tubular steel poles.

Darwin Gamm, director of special projects for Sabre Industries’ towers and poles division, said: “Dan Reinholtz [Shuttlelift sales manager] came out and worked with us to really understand what our needs are. His team did an excellent job—their competitors didn’t do that. We originally were planning to order one crane, but once we saw the fruits of its labor at our start-up site in Iowa, we ordered the second crane very quickly for Texas.”

To manufacture towers and poles, Sabre Industries must be able to move plate steel that will be bent into an octagonal, tapered shape. Those plates are 60 feet long and 8 feet wide. Prior to the company’s purchase of the Shuttlelift cranes, it was using two forklifts for material handling. As Gamm put it, it was like trying to “pick up wet string”.

The DB 30 double-beam mobile gantry crane was a safer, more efficient way to move the plate steel. One major advantage being that Sabre could minimize its aisle size, since the gantry crane needs just seven feet to maneuver.

The new crane will allow Sabre Industries to continue to grow—and move different types of materials. To move large pole and tower sections, for example, the company can simply take the magnetic spreader bar off.

With hoists mounted to the lower side beam, the operator can easily see the reeving of the wire rope and can perform maintenance without the requirement of a manlift.

The magnetic spreader bar was an important part of Sabre Industries’ decision to partner with Shuttlelift. The Shuttlelift team was willing to work with an existing Sabre Industries supplier, Walker Magnetics, to provide the magnetic package for the new DB 30s. The package is tailor-made for the company’s operations.

“The machines absolutely have met expectations,” Gamm said. “They’ve done everything we’ve asked them to do. If we needed more machines at some point, we definitely wouldn’t shop anywhere else.”