At under $3,000 (Euros 2,460) for a complete floor-supported crane, the SnapTrac enclosed-track monorail crane kit is certainly one of the cheapest cranes ever sold.
A 12ft (3.6m) by 12ft gantry crane kit complete with floor-standing pillars costs just $2,046, or $600 more with powered long and cross travel. A simple 12ft hanging monorail costs $349 without power, though additional sections can be bought to extend the running length of the system. Hoists are sold separately.
“The product has not changed, but getting it noticed in the industry is tough even if you have the best thing since sliced bread,” said Robert Kundel Jr., of the Kundel Industries crane division.
He reckons the product will change the way lifting and material handling is approached. “It is not your typical large slow overhead shop crane. This unit is all about a cost effective solution to moving material. People look at this system and think that it is unaffordable, but that is where they are wrong. Just because it is affordable does not mean it is a cheap product.”
Sealy, for example, the mattress producer, recently purchased 12 units for its shops around the States. “They used to man handle 100lbs bolts of material. Since they have installed the SnapTrac units the production has gone up so much and things have been so much easier the guys in the shop have asked for larger bolts of material,” said Kundel.
The crane has a 12ft (3.6m) bridge and can lift 1,000 lbs (900kg). The components are mass-produced by Kundel in Ohio, USA, and packed into boxes in the factory. “That’s the only way to reduce cost in the system,” said Kundel.
Kundel also makes enclosed track systems sold by Konecranes to the industrial market in the USA. “The industrial line is three to four times that price, because of the increased labour. The customer takes the components and bolts them together.”
Kundel is not concerned about the risks of a crane being put up by unskilled workers. “Our instruction manual is very well detailed, telling them how to fasten the components together, with what torque requirements and with thread locking solution,” he said. “If you follow the manufacturers’ specification, there should be no problems.”
He added that in case of an overload, the crane has been designed to jam rather than drop a load. The company proof-tested the crane to 10,000lbs (4,500kg) before a trolley wheel cracked. It rates the crane at a CMAA duty class of “C/D,” moderate to heavy use.
Konecranes Inc is selling them through its Crane Pro Services distributor network, and Kundel also has some catalogue shops signed up. The crane is now CE-marked.
The posts need to sit on 4in (100mm) of concrete. They come in heights of 10, 12, 14 and 16ft. The crane itself has two feet of headroom down to the bridge eye; users would then need to subtract the headroom of the hoist.
The conductor rail is supplied by Vahle. The rail units come as a separate kit and slide into the enclosed rail profile.
snaptrac 1 snaptrac 2 snaptrac 3 snaptrac 4 snaptrac 5 snaptrac 6
