I mentioned a 718 a while back and a few acted like they never heard of one, So heres a few pics of one.250 ton rated machine and I think the S/N is like 001 on this one LOL.Its been sitting ever since the economy hit the skids......Sorry this is all the pics I had but I had to get busy.Seems If I stay busy others will follow.While "setting" the house you have to have someone in the middle of the carbody to watch and turn the lock ring and set the lock bar.Then hook the hydraulic swivel. That someone was me this time. LOL
Tracks are around 64,000 lbs Carbody around 45,000 lbs House is close to 111,000 lbs
Ha,I'll show you the dirty side too!! The dirty side pics are while standing in the middle of the carbody when the house is be swung in.FYI V12 Detroit in this one. Thats a 180 ton Demag we used for an assist rig but on one occasion we used at 2900 t to house it.Stayed with in it's chart,Barely.
Dang that's a big Link Belt. Nice.
those old stink belts sure are smooth runners.
Cool pics Tiny.Thats interesting viewing the assembly.Are you guys working on a bridge job?
Not this time ,This is a tilt up job.90,000 lbs panels to set up
Re: Lb 718 Link Belt also made a 818 a 300 ton, 918 a 350 or 400 and a 1018 a 500 ton machine, these cranes had ring attachments that doubled their capacities. These were real cranes, conventionals, friction cranes not the want-a-be fake hydrualic rabbit turtle on one lever up down arrows on the others, a real mans crane.
I was looking for some info on a link belt and came across this http://www.linkbelt.com/lit/archive/archive_home_lbp.htm
Thank you Sir,lotta good info there.
Love the LS 718 Link Belt. Yes you're right about being in the seat when they deck the upper to the carbody. That was a hoot! I ran one of ours for about 5 years, and it was an amazing crawler. My first jobs were in tower, then a few with just a conventional boom, but the most fun was a 4 month power plant project with the Heavy Lift ring attachment. On that job I picked up a 50 ton Link Belt picker at about a 80' radius and went up and over the boilers, swung 180 degrees behind me, and then took it out over a pipe rack to almost 200'. When I get the hang of pic posting I'll add some photos of the sweet running rig that I liked soooo much!
Here's the link to a few shots of that ringer job I did with ours. A great project and some cool people to work with. http://s1029.photobucket.com/albums/y355/gostr8r/My Crane Rental Corp projects/#!cpZZ9QQtppZZ16
Tiny, Hi just joined the site. Great bunch of knowledge here. I know this is an old thread I found through a search for an LS-718. Need help with one if you can. These are some great photos. Looking @ buying one soon to put on a barge headed downeast. Let me know if you can share some of your knowledge. Thanks- Regards Joe
Not sure I can help but whatever I know about them I will share .
I concur that it's a real friction crane and it's by far my favorite of the many crawlers that I have done jobs with. They don't really double in capacity tho, in the Heavy Lift ring attachment, it goes from a 250 to a 360 tonner. The interesting thing is that the 818 uses the same tower and the same HL ring as the 718 does, so they both have similar charts as far as their nominal or 'max' capacities in each. The 818 does have a wider carbody tho, more counterweight, plus extra boom hoist and load hoist reeving, so it can out chart it's little brother, the 718 in basic conventional set ups. Ours was the only one ever built with a barge capable HL ring, that has c/w's on the front too, and the one I ran for 5 years also had the larger fixed elevated cab, not the narrower hydraulically raised cab. An elevated cab is needed for the ring clearance. Great rig but a handful to haul and set up/teardown, with wedge packs on the upper and on the tracks too. I rode up in the cab as they decked our upper for the first time, to be in the seat and rotate the swing pinion just a touch before lowering it all the way down onto the roller path. http://s1029.photobucket.com/albums...Corp projects/?action=view¤t=d628-1.jpg
Thanks for the replies guys, we're looking @ two machines in particular. First one is a 79' W/12V detroit. heavy duty boom , 3rd drum,220' main & 100 jib.Also has carbody counterweights (100K) owner built from Link-Belt drawings. The swing is through a transmission. Didn't seem too smooth though. this machine has done mostly precast/tilt walls ,steel erection. the boom hoist is double drum setup. The second option for us is a 1984 thats sat on a pier on the Connecticutt waterfront doing mostly hook work unloading ships.She's got a Cummins 1150 inline 6, no third drum & only 150' heavy lift boom. Single boom hoist drum, double reduction planetary setup for the swing through a hydraulic motor. This seems like a more simple & reliable system.We're leaning towards the 84' , the shorter boom and no jib is not a detrement for our application. No ring setup needed. My problem lies in the 84' come's with no owner support (long story that we're not even sure of) Needless to say we're on our own W/ teardown - setup. Having a hard time finding someone local thats familar with this animal.Please let me know your oponions/thoughts. We have to drive pile subsurface 100'-150' water depths & set turbines (tidal energy project) Parts availabilty also makes us nervous. Feel free to E-mail me : [email protected] or phone @207-841-7758. Thanks- Regards.
Mine was an '80 or there abouts, but we had two 718's, the other was just like the one in the pics on this thread stater. Both had more than a few replacements of the torque converters and master clutches in the 12 to 15 years we had them.
Think the companies machine is serial 002 LOL.... Double boom hoist drums , No 3rd line drum . With this machine there are no 40' sections of boom 20 ' 30' and 50' . Six wedge pack on the front of the house and 3 in the back . I will loosen the front wedge packs with the counterweights on . Once the weights are off the fronts packs become a nightmare if they are still tight . This I know for a fact . Tray weight (you can call it bottom or slab) is 45,000 . Next ones are 35,000 each ,then two 12,000 pounders ...last are two odd shaped 7,500 lbs ones . The catwalks are a pain to deal with , Not heavy but finding a place to haul them . They are big and bulky ..nice when the machine is together . When we used to take the mast out to haul it you could stack them on top of it . With the mast and boom cable out we could use a tri axle lowboy and a light tri truck and be legal with a 132,000 lb permit (Going by Missouri weight laws) . IIRC the house was just under 90,000 , 111,000 with the mast
Morning, The maintainance records on these machines would kinda indicate the 718's are hard on tourqe con/ master clutches also. Mabey its a factor of the type of work they have done. Especially the 84' worked real hard the first 5 years of its life, constant booming & swinging unloading ships. The 79' has the wedge pack setups on the turntable but the 84' does not ? Is this later setup a better arrangement? Also to pick the upper couldn't quite see the sling attachment points. With the master clutch engaged on the 84 the draw works do not turn @ idle even with a funtion toggled in untill you get on the throttle. Is this normal or an indication of conv. problem? The pressure seems fine on the gauge.The 84' has a 3 piece CWT. setup while the 79' has the multi as Tiny described on his companys. Are the changes on the 84' ( swing,no-wedge packs on table,single boom hoist drum,ect..) considered to be desireable improvements ? We need to make a move pretty quick or secure a rental as our permitted work window is counting down.(N.O.O.A. !!! ) Its all about the Whales & other marine life ! Can't make to much noise or anything or they wont mate properly L.O.L ???. The newer machine seems more mechanic friendly/ cleaner inside with more work room because the swing transmission setup on the 79 really cluttered up the back of the house with all the extra hydraulic components. Hate to be long winded & wish we could just buy the Manitowac 2250 we rented a while back but thats not happening any time soon $$$$. Thanks for the help guys. Joe
I haven't been around the newer 718s , just the one we have . I would say if they changed it to get away from the wedge packs on the house ....Whoo Hoo !!! With that being said , If this is a long term deal instead of moved often like the company does , I don't think it would bother me near as much .
Nice, Beautiful photos!!! I snapped a picture of two in the same area at rest from workin' on the shore of a river channel. One was red and black like the older ones, and one was like the one in the photos. I am not an operator. I am only in high school, but I know quite a bit. These machines were excellent in their days.