It was a good presentation of “show and tell” as customers came to Stith Equipment Co. in Forest Park, GA, on Aug. 3 to check out Grove Crane’s “latest and greatest” piece of equipment, the TMS700E series truck mounted crane.

The 15-day, 2,200-plus-mile road tour hit nine total stops, starting in Baltimore and traveling as far south as Florida. The Forest Park stop was the seventh in the line up. About a dozen customers visited Stith Equipment with hopes of seeing the new crane.

Grove officials are calling this truck-mounted crane “the strongest machine in its class.”

According to Brian Peretin, Grove’s Southeast district manager, the crane’s nominal capacity specs are 50 tons (45 t) for TMS750E and 60 tons (54 t) for TMS760E. The crane also features front and rear air ride suspension, a Cummins 400-hp (298 kW) diesel and travel speeds up to 55 mph. The boom is the Grove Megaform design, 35- to 110-ft. (10.7 to 33.5 m), four-section, full power. The standard boom extension is a 33- to 56-ft. (10.1 to 17.1 m) bifold swingaway with other options available. Maximum tip height is 192 ft. (58.5 m) with the addition of the optional 20-ft. (6.1 m) swingaway extension insert.

The superstructure cab is highly visible and all steel with acoustical lining and tinted safety glass throughout which includes a deluxe seat with armrest mounted hydraulic single axis controls. The dash panel incorporates gauges for all engine functions. Other standard features are a sliding side and rear window, hot water heat, electric windshield washers and wipers, circulating air fan, sliding skylight with sunscreen and electric skylight wiper, fire extinguisher and cup holder, according to information supplied by Peretin.

While en route, the crane stands at 11 ft., 9 in. (358.1 cm) high. Its width is 8 ft., 6 in. (259.1 cm) and it is 46 in. (116.8 cm) in length.

Stith Sales Manager Charles Sanders said he was impressed with the new crane. “It is a state-of-the-art piece of equipment,” he said.

Peretin said Grove is taking the machine to several of its heavy equipment distributors as both a road test and as an opportunity for potential customers to see the new machine.

Usually when Grove tests a new crane, it keeps the product within half a day’s drive from the plant. This time the company decided to take the prototype on the road in order to get more mileage on it and expose more customers to it.

“It is a good chance for us to identify and work out the bugs plus get customer feedback on the product,” he said. “It puts miles on it and we are able to test fuel consumption and various technical aspects.”

While many distributors are already taking orders for the new crane, the cranes won’t be delivered until September. “We will sell a number of these,” Peretin said. “We already have several orders and that is a good indication.”

He added customer feedback has been positive. “The air-ride suspension has been received very well,” he added. “We are using a German-design boom shape and many people have commented they like that. It truly is the latest and greatest and people are going to want this crane.”

For more information, visit www.groveworldwide.com.

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