Manitowoc Crane Group

Manitowoc Cranes introduced its newest National Crane boom truck – the NBT 50 Series – at the International Construction and Utility Equipment Expo in Louisville, Ky.

Brian Peretin, vice president of sales, National Crane, said this new crane line optimizes performance. “The NBT50 represents the pinnacle of machine performance,” he said. “It combines the latest in both hydraulic and electronic machine control. It is also our new flagship series with greater capacities to meet customer needs.” The NBT 50 – with updated nomenclature and a new color scheme – is the highest capacity crane series in the National Crane product line. There are two models in the series, the NBT 55, with a 55 USt capacity, and the NBT 50, with a 50 USt capacity. The NBT 55 was on Manitowoc’s booth at ICUEE.

Both cranes in the series boast fully integrated machine control and LMI, a first for the boom truck market. This system increases operator flexibility and improves maintenance troubleshooting. Also new on these cranes are electric-over-hydraulic controls that allow users to have precise control when lifting loads and enable easy tuning of controls to accommodate operator preferences.
The National Crane NBT 50 series is equipped with the new Manitowoc standard cab, which is now installed on a number of National Crane, Grove and Manitowoc cranes. This cab not only provides improved visibility and ergonomics, but also allows easier transition from crane to crane if operating several Manitowoc brands within a fleet. The new boom truck features two-stage, 24 ft span H-style outriggers with rated load charts at three positions: retracted, mid-span and full. Outrigger position sensors are also new on this model and alert operators when the outriggers are not in the correct position.

National Crane will offer 102 ft and 128 ft boom options. In addition a 25 ft – 45 ft telescoping boom extension will also be available for additional reach and tip height. A 31 ft offsetable boom extension is available as an option with the 102 ft boom option. One of the more dramatic areas of manufacturing flow improvement is in the boom assembly area. Larry Weyers explained that as a result of adding space and re-thinking how booms were being assembled, significant savings have been achieved.

“By implementing lean manufacturing practices we were able to reduce manufacturing times in that area from 45 days to 5 days,” he said. “There has also been a positive impact in the drum manufacturing area. By bringing all drum fabrication in house, into one consolidated area, manufacturing times have been reduced from 13 weeks to 3 weeks.” “It’s all part of our drive to continually improve our products and processes so we can better serve our customers.”