Southeast Crane Installs R&M Cranes, Hoists at Foundry

Southeast Crane & Hoist, LLC has installed four overhead cranes at Tyler Union Foundry’s new facility in Anniston, Alabama.

Tyler Union is part of the McWane organization which has multiple foundries across the U.S. Tyler Union has two facilities in Anniston; the main plant contains the foundry, and the other plant is used for milling and coating of castings from the production line.

Southeast Crane & Hoist installed four overhead cranes at Tyler Union Foundry’s new facility in Anniston, Alabama.

Application

Southeast Crane & Hoist installed the overhead lifting equipment in the new no-bake foundry, where casting takes place using chemical binders to bond molding sand. The cranes are used for various material handling operations related to side floor molding for lower volume and large castings. Southeast Crane & Hoist is the only overhead lifting company that has installed overhead lifting equipment in Tyler Union Foundry’s operation.

Justin Glass, Territory Sales Manager at Southeast Crane & Hoist, LLC, said: “We have a good relationship with the end user. The application is centered on supply of cranes of varying capacities, each for a different type of side floor molding process.”

A single 15-ton capacity crane was installed.

Challenge

Dustin Baird, Senior Project / Facilities Engineer at Tyler Union Foundry, said: “The cranes were required for an expansion. Tyler Union has seen growth in the process and decided to get ahead of the curve.”

Southeast Crane & Hoist’s Glass pointed to the challenges involved with installing cranes in a new building, especially where there is a requirement to move product throughout a busy plant area. “We had to figure out how much room we had in the foundry to meet the customer’s requirements,” he said.

The hoists have approximate heights of lift between 28 ft. and 29 ft.

Another challenge was that the end user required radio remote controls because of the height of the cranes and the resulting difficulties that would have been associated with use of pendants.

Solution

Two 25-ton capacity cranes, in addition to 15-ton and 5-ton models, were installed, all manufactured by R&M Materials Handling, Inc. All four cranes have a span of 76.5 ft. and approximate heights of lift between 28 ft. and 29 ft.

All four cranes have a span of 76.5 ft.

Tyler’s Baird, who oversees all capital projects as well as facilities for the plant, said: “We have used SEC [Southeast Crane & Hoist] for years and have developed a great working relationship with them. They are a great asset to our process. We knew the sizes of the mold and cores in the area and sized the cranes for the area. The 5-ton crane will be used to load our electric melt furnace.”

The spans and trolley coverage were also calculated in line with the size of the building. Baird explained that the company only wanted a middle row of columns throughout the facility and wanted to keep forklifts out of the plant as much as possible. Trolley cars were added to carry everything from one crane bay to the next.

The cranes are used for various material handling operations.

Results

The successful installation took place from June to September 2024.

Baird said: “SEC was on time and within budget. As it was an expansion, it did not interfere with production. We have only used the cranes for setting equipment, but they have performed great so far. They run very quiet and smooth.”

He added: “We’ve have had a great year and continue to build a backlog that the new expansion will help with tremendously.”

Glass added: “The installation was very successful and concluded with safety training on each of the cranes. We will continue to support Dustin [Baird] and the team with all existing material handling technologies, and any future installations they need to support a growing business.”

Radio remote control has already proven to be a major safety advantage.