Baden Davis offer ‘Try Before You Buy’ TIDD P&C hire policy

This article originally appeared in Cranes & Lifting Magazine

The Baden Davis Crane Connection, NSW distributor for TRT’s TIDD pick and carry range, is offering customers the opportunity to get up close and personal to a TIDD PC28 by hiring it on a short-term basis.

If the customer is impressed with the TIDD’s performance and purchases one, the cost of the hire will be deducted from the sale price. Anthony Davis from The Baden Davis Crane Connection explains more.

“We’ve been working with TRT and the TIDD product for 10 years and customers that have purchased a TIDD have had nothing but positive things to say about their performance. We are seeing customers return to buy their second, third and fourth cranes and some are upgrading their PC25 to the PC28 which is always a positive sign.

“We want more customers to understand why the TIDD is the safest pick and carry crane on the market, and we thought by offering this ‘try before you buy’ hire opportunity, we would enable customers to have the ‘TIDD PC28 experience’ before committing to the purchase of the crane,” said Davis.

“We’ll rent the crane to customers at a reduced rate for a couple of weeks which enables the operators to get a feel for the controls and capabilities of the crane. If the customer then goes onto purchase a unit, we’ll take the hire cost off the purchase price.

“For us, it’s about getting bums on seats. TIDD customers are extremely happy with the crane and we need to introduce more crane businesses to the capabilities of the TIDD. We think this is a good way to achieve this,” he said.

The Baden Davis Crane Connection want more customers to understand why TIDD is one of the safest pick and carry cranes on the market.

The TIDD PC28 boasts improved features designed to help operators work more efficiently and comfortably on construction sites and on the road. Increased lift capacity and greater manoeuvrability in tight work areas, are the key benefits of the new crane. The TIDD PC28 is constructed using the highest quality components with safety a major focus in every element of its design.

Safety features include Dynamic LMI with deadlock switch inside the cabin with LMI bridging switch outside the cabin. Slew Safe is a key safety feature and exclusive to the TIDD PC28.

TRT has developed a significant new safety feature called Slew Safe. It is designed to prevent rollovers and works with several features including audible alarms and LMI warnings while power steering is restricted to 15 per cent to prevent further precarious slewing.

The TIDD PC28 is the only pick and carry crane with this level of safety, with Slew Safe able to be retro fitted to all existing TIDD PC25s.

Slew Safe is an effective system to keep the driver from operating off the chart – restricting steering in the unsafe direction when overloaded. With audible and visual alarms, Slew Safe cannot be over-ridden and will operate normally when moved in the safe direction.

The TIDD PC28 has also been designed with operator comfort in mind.

The ergonomically designed forward mounted ROPS cabin, with two-door configuration and ducted air conditioning, has 150kg rated air suspension seats and 3-point safety belts – providing comfort over long hours and helping to reduce operator fatigue.

Many of the key features have been designed on industry feedback and include:

• European standard automotive finish.

• 75 per cent stationary lift chart

• Shortest forward projection in its class.

• An outstanding turning radius, articulating 44 degrees either side.

• 2.3t roadable, front and rear counterweight.

• Mercedes Benz DM906 six-cylinder, turbo charged intercooled 205kW diesel engine.

• 6.12-18.64 high tensile steel boom with four telescopic sections.

• 28t capacity on fixed tug (stationary) 27.6t capacity on running rope.

• Allison 3000 series automatic transmission, 6 speeds forward.

• Kessler high-speed planetary axles with diff lock on front axle.

• Meritor transfer case.

• Two stage engine and exhaust brake.

• 410l tank with locking cap.

• Automatically hydraulically activated emergency steering.

• Dual line airbrakes on all wheels with ABS.

• Pneumatically released spring applied emergency/park brake on all wheels.

The new 18.64m high tensile full power boom features a 75 per cent stationary chart for the heavy lifts and 66 per cent pick and carry chart. The boom’s telescope Sections 1 and 2 are fully synchronised and provide hook compensation. Telescope Section 3 and 4 are independently operated with its own hydraulic cylinder.

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The TIDD PC28 features a 28t maximum lift lug and 27.6t on the hook block, delivering lifting capacities for improved efficiency, while its greater lift options in turn set a new benchmark within the industry.

Moving from the stationary chart to the pick and carry chart is as simple as turning off the holding brake.

The Crane Connections’ TIDD is also being retrofitted with the latest PC28-2 software.

With the TIDD PC28-2 Pick and Carry Crane upgrade, the Robway TIDD Crane operating software has been upgraded with improved function, enabling faster processing and greater control responsiveness for the TIDD PC28-2 operator.

Anthony thinks the ‘try before you buy’ hire opportunity will provide customers with the necessary TIDD PC28 experience needed to convince them to purchase. — Davis thinks the ‘try before you buy’ hire opportunity will provide customers with the necessary TIDD PC28 experience needed to convince them to purchase.

Leading from the front, TRT continues to enhance the overall TIDD Crane operator experience and performance. The upgrades to the newly named TIDD PC28-2, are driven through TRT’s focus on continuous improvement, with consideration of industry and operator feedback.

There are four key areas of improvement in the upgraded TIDD PC28-2. It features more powerful front suspension cylinders. This new system offers a greater lift capacity when articulated and improving lift capacity by up to 17 per cent when working on side slopes.

New steps have also been added to improve lift control. An additional three steps on the TIDD PC28-2 load chart delivers significant improvement when the crane is articulating. For the operator this means that as the crane articulates, it reduces the rate of the load chart decrease.

TRT has always focused on the people when considering advances in technology for the TIDD Crane. With operator and dogman comfort central to the design of the TIDD Crane, the new model also features a re-engineered ROPS cabin. This has been tested with a measured reduction in cabin noise levels by 8dBa at 80km/h when on the road.

As well as these considerable upgrades, TRT has been focused on ensuring that TIDD customers and operators are fully supported for the life of the crane, from onboarding of operators to parts and service support across Australia and New Zealand.

TRT has recently launched a new TIDD Crane Operator Familiarisation Program, including a video designed for experienced pick and carry crane operators to quickly and easily transition to TIDD Crane operations – giving 24/7 access to the functions and features of the crane.

“We are actually retrofitting the recently released PC28-2 software to the crane,” said Davis, “so customers hiring the TIDD will have the improved operator experience, increased lifting charts and ergonomically improved user-friendly cab.

“As I have said, the feed-back from our TIDD customers has been very positive. All Over Rigging (AOR) were the first in NSW to take delivery of the PC28, it was number four off the production line, and they have been extremely impressed by the crane’s performance and it’s utilisation.

“The roadability and drivability of the TIDD is continually mentioned in customer feedback and that’s in part due to the fact that it’s only 2.5m wide, meaning you don’t have to run the GPS tracking system.

“The SlewSafe system makes it the safest pick and carry on the market, we are seeing some of the larger construction sites and major builders encouraging crane hire businesses to examine additional safety features and practices to help prevent accidents. The TIDD will help in this area,” Davis said.

“We received the TIDD at the end of May and gave it a good service and then put the word out that we were offering this package. Almost immediately, we had a customer take the crane for two weeks and we’ve got several other customers interested, so it will be interesting to monitor their feedback.”