- not smooth

-plastic coated cables

-plastic flakes off is it an issue

-cheaper cable verses more expensive cables

- plastic coated cable reduces wear

- cable dressings saves hoist drum wear

- contaminants do damage cables and hoist drums

- high profile verses low profile

anti-collision systems

After these topics were brought up, and since the following videos dealt with some of the above issues they were viewed with respect to the operation and maintenance of portal cranes as follows:

- Weyerhaeuser Canada Ltd. At Prince Albert Saskatchewan, Canada

- Alberta Pacific at Athabasca, Alberta Canada

- Alberta Pacific fire in the log pile May 16, 1997

After viewing these videos there was discussion about the uniqueness of the ladder used on the crane in Prince Albert, Sask. Also discussed were the techniques used to extinguish the fire at Alpac.

Ken Landry then canvassed the users and by a show of hands the following topics were decided to be discussed at the Round Tables.

The round table discussions concerned all the fore mentioned topics. The discussions included mill personnel only.

The following are comments resulting from the Round Table discussions.

Ergonomics

- sheared and worn pins

- leaks

- brake disc slick from the leaking oil

Trolley wear/ Assembly

- three types of rail being used, square, 60 lb. And Gantrex rail system

- discussion about what to do if they wear out -

- safety stops are they being damaged

- how do you do a trolley wheel alignment?

Guide rollers

Trolley Rail ( square bars)

- square bar part of integral structure and therefore if modified main beam will lose strength

- black liquor and ash worse then ice

- axle breaks (why)

- discussion on rail wear out and replacement

- safety catches installation

- premature cable wear

- number of wraps left on the hoist drum

- grapples

- pin and bushing replacement, what to avoid and what to specify ( longer pins)

After Round Table topics were discussed the issue of fire, rescue and safety was brought up by the floor. It was suggested that at least twice a year an exercise of bringing a person down should be done.

Session ended for the day.

Ken Landry called the meeting to order. Tom Maron gave the TAPPI/CPPA anti-trust rules. He reminded everyone that the price of any items cannot be discussed.

Ken Landry reminded everyone that any breach of these rules presentation would be stopped one presenter would not be allowed to continue.

Vendor Presentations

Wire Rope Industries

Tony Onno

In summation:

Wire rope consists of three basic components

- individual wires that are twisted to form strands

- strands that are helically wound around a core

- the core

- high carbon steel wire is the most commonly used wire in wire ropes

uncoated steel wire (brite) can be specified in a variety of grades, relating to the tensile strength, usually expressed in pounds per square inch.

- strands are fabricated with two or more wires laid around an inner core in a variety of diameters and geometric patterns

- the core is the foundation of the rope and can be fabricated from a variety of materials that are capable of providing support for the outer strands under normal bending and loading conditions

- fiber cores can be fabricated using either natural fibers or synthetic fibers

- an independent wire rope core is a small diameter rope, usually consisting of six outer strands each with six wires wound around a center wire, the six strands are helically wound around a center strand which is also fabricated with six wires wound around a center wire

- wire strand cores are fabricated for a single strand with multiple wires wound around a center wire, this type of core is typically used in small diameter ropes (3/8 and smaller)

- wire rope is identified by the way in which the wires have been laid in strands and by the way the strands have been laid around the core

- most prominent twist pattern is a Right Lay, in which the wires in the strand are twisted in the left direction and the strands in the rope are twisted in the right direction

- in the Regular Lay construction, the outer wires line up with the rope axis ( can be fabricated in the left direction as well )

- Langs Lay ropes are fabricated with the wires in the strands and the strands in the rope both twisted in the same direction - in this construction the outer wires run across the rope axis at a slightly larger angle than the strands themselves

- in a Langs Lay rope the valley to valley length of the outer wire is approximately 30% longer than the valley to valley in a Regular Lay rope of the same diameter and same number of outer strands

- the increased length results in less axial bending of the wire and more torsional bending

- Regular Lay ropes provide less outer wire crown contact surfaces when running in sheaves or hoist drums.

Limitations of Langs Lay ropes

Specialized rope construction consists of:

INNER TORQUE + OUTER TORQUE = MINIMAL TORQUE

Drum Conditions to Consider

1 Ensure drum flanges are straight

2 Maintain proper fleet angles between drum and sheaves

3 Maintain proper sheave alignment

4 Do not weld or braze old rope to new

5 Anchor the rope to the correct side of the drum relative to the natural roll of the wire rope when under tension

6 Avoid severe rope knuckle at the drum anchor point

7 Install the first layer tightly (butt up the rope wraps)

Sheave Conditions to Consider

1 Avoid excessively small diameters

2 The sheave groove must be properly sized to provide maximum rope support without pinching the rope approx. 7% over nominal rope diameter

3 Sheaves should be devoid of flat spots

4 Check to ensure that sheaves have not been excessively worn

Lubrication Considerations

Selection criteria for the lubricant:

1 resistance to pressure break down

2 resistance to wash off

3 steel affinity

4 corrosion protection

5 water displacement

6 resistance to flaking

7 plastic coating

8 chemical neutrality

9 temperature stability

Re-lube Considerations

1 Field dressing must be compatible with original rope lubricant to avoid flaking or leeching

2 Rope must not be wet

3 Ropes must be clean

4 Select pressure applicator to ensure penetration into rope

Wire Rope Wear & Failure Modes

1 Triple nicking at interface is an indication that outer fatigue failures can be expected at this location

2 Excessive pressure on rope and mechanical hammering

3 Formation of a brittle martensitic layer on the wire crown

4 Heavy external abrasive wear

5 Severe mechanical shearing damage

6 Dragging rope over sharp object

7 Drum crushing of a rope

8 Rope that has climbed out of the sheave

9 Shock loading

10 Excessive load

11 Loss in breaking strength

A question period followed this session

Gantrex Corporation

Pittsburgh, PA

Paul Kit

Hydraulic Bumper Protection for Woodyard Portal Cranes

Impact Damage from Collision against the end stops:

1 high travel speed

2 high wind gusts

3 poor visibility

4 loss of operator awareness

Methods for Managing Control

1 slow down switches

2 emergency braking systems

3 global positioning systems

4 safe operating practices

5 hydraulic bumpers

Safety Codes

1 CMAA spec.#70 40% of rated speed

2 OSHA 40% of rated speed

3 AISE Tech. Rep. #6 100%of rated speed (70% between cranes)

Existing Cranes

1 hydraulic bumpers?

2 what % of rated speed did manufacturer rate the bumpers?

3 monthly inspections?

When Buying a New Crane

1 specify hydraulic bumpers

2 must meet AISE Tech. Report #6 as a minimum

3 bumpers shall have kinetic capacity for 100% of full rated speed

4 do you need to exceed 450 feet per minute ?

Conclusions

1 can reduce or eliminate damage from collisions

2 can specify 100% speed protection

3 existing cranes can be evaluated

A question period followed this presentation

Gantrex Corporation

Pittsburgh, PA

Mike Warren

A presentation on video was made of a Gantrex Thermite Weld at Weyerhaeuser Prince Albert Sask. Canada.

Different types of welding was discussed:

- splice bars

- puddle arc - stick welding

- thermite welding

- flash butt welding (only one company in North America does this type of welding, they are from Chicago Illinois.

There was a question period that followed this presentation the issues brought forth in the round table was discussed at this point.

Mike Bachnick came to the floor and spoke about the tour to Alpac at Athabasca Alberta

The video of the fire at Alpac, Athabasca was viewed once again.

Andritz Konewood

Rory Scatterly

Basic Concerns

1 inspection reports on a consistent basis: daily, weekly, quarterly , monthly & yearly.

2 training on identification and maintenance of various components

3 make sure everyone knows the name of the components on the portal crane

4 unplanned downtime affects everyone

Tolko High Prairie fire destroyed the crane; viewed the video.

Comments

- fire suppression system should be in place

There was a question period that followed this presentation the issues brought forth in the round table was discussed at this point.

P&H Cranes

Chuck Stoneman

- Mr. Stoneman gave a presentation of the reorganization of the company, now affiliated with Morris out of Great Britain.

- new logo: Morris Material Handling - P&H

- Janine Neumann was introduced as head of Portal Parts

- Jim Caldwell from Kaverit was introduced

- he spoke about manufacturing and service of Portal Cranes through the Kaverit division

- he stated that they have 39 technical people in the city of Edmonton

- Chuck Stoneman then gave a video presentation utilizing the sill beam of a Portal Crane to transport tree length logs.

- he believes that this would improve the efficiency of Portal Cranes on long runways.

There was a question period that followed this presentation some issues brought forth in the round table was discussed at this point.

After this presentation, Ken Landry took the floor and spoke about the users Web site. Our web site was sold to a different company and the web site was moved to Sask tel. There is a new web site in the process of being set up. It was discussed if everyone was still in favor of using the web site and the vote was affirmative.

Election of 1998 - 1999 Officers

The nominations were opened and Tom Maron volunteered to be treasurer on the U.S. side of the committee.

Next Mike Bachnick was nominated and approved for treasurer on the Canadian side.

Next John Peak was nominated and approved to be Chairman on the U.S. side.

Next Ken Landry was selected to be Co-Chair from the Canadian side.

Thank You to last years committee and welcome to the new committee.

There was a discussion about the next site for the annual meeting. It was decided that Chattanooga Tennessee would be the next meeting destination. This would be looked into further. No alternate site was picked or approved.

Review of Videos

1 Blue Ridge Lumber Company Alberta Canada

2 Alpac presentation, Kranco Crane Athabasca Alberta Canada

Meeting was then adjourned for the day.

The meeting was called to order by Ken Landry. He informed the users that it appeared that three presentations were not going to be done as they had not registered and it was unlikely that they would now show up. There was no explanations give by each of these three companies.

Rob Brashear from Wampfler obliged to give a short talk on having a proper festoon system in place.

- different quality of wires

- different quality of carriers

- different quality of installations

- size of the festoon system

- speed of the trolley

- rubberized wheels verses steel wheels

- the need to install a quality system will give 10 + years of trouble free service

A special thanks to Rob for the short notice fill in and an excellent job.

After this talk, Ken Landry and Tom Maron gave an overview of the financial status of the Portal Crane Users Group.

Ken Landry said the January 31, 1997 bank balance CDN. Was $409.33. There were some deposits made bringing he mid year total to $1,679.29. Expenses consisted of computer programs at about $573.00, Internet at $77.00 per month, $500.00 deposit to the Delta Edmonton and miscellaneous expenses for photocopying, mailing, etc. bringing the balance to $3,083.94 at the end of April 1998.

Tom Maron said at the end of February 1998 the bank balance U.S. was $376.09 U.S. Current U.S. funds were $376.09, deposits from this years conference brought the U.S. total to $901.09 U.S.

It was then put on the floor "suggestions " for the 1999 convention. The following topics were suggested.

1 Radio controlling of cranes

2 Another presentation by a wire rope company

3 Changes in camera technology

4 Mack Grapples

5 Brush expert

6 Fire protection on portal cranes

7 Cabs (seats and controls)

8 Ergonomics

9 Log piling inventory

10 Trolley rails

11 Gear box rep ( S.M Cyclo)

12 Facts and figures on the Alpac experience of operating a crane at 900 fpm

13 Wheel manufacture

14 More details on alignments (laser)

15 Lightning arresters

16 Elevators that work year round

17 Gantry rail maintenance

It was brought up that there are portal cranes 24 miles on each side of Chattanooga and it was decided that if possible both sites could be viewed.

It was also decided that next year there would be round tables for the round table discussions not rectangular tables as was the case this year.

Next presentation was by Tim Harding from Challenger Surveys.

Challenger Surveys

Global Positioning Systems

- can accurately determines the location of mobile equipment

- data communications and processing components provide user with the information necessary to optimize productivity while strictly maintaining operational safety.

- in operational areas of high congestion, destructive threats can be controlled automatically.

- this threat removal frees the operators and allows them to concentrate on additional guidance information pertaining to productivity.

Challengers suite of machinery guidance systems for the forest industry can be divided into four sub-systems.

Machine Navigation

- provides onboard positional information

- allows operator to very accurately maneuver his machine while avoiding fixed onsite structures as well as other integrated moving machinery.

- very large operating theaters (4 to 6 mile ) with accuracy of < meter to +/-5 meters, are available.

Collision Avoidance

-used in applications where larger, limited mobile machinery is involved

-security level is specifically mated to the dynamics of the machine

-can be implemented with the Machine Navigation system

Alignment Control

-moving machinery requiring very strict structural alignment during normal operations can be accommodated

Inventory Control

-using the positional knowledge of the GPS system and mating this with either passive or active measuring sensors, inventory requirements are successfully measured.

Where applicable, off the shelf sub-systems are integrated and minimizes the cost of components. Also Challenger manufactures "single unit" integrated systems

.

GPS is satellite based. It is funded and controlled by the U.S. Department of Defense. GPS signals are freely provided. GPS navigates in three dimensions, and is capable of operating in all weather conditions, 24 hours per day.

A number of slides were showing the dynamics of GPS.

This was an extremely interesting presentation.

Following Tim's question and answer, the Users toured Quality 's shop and viewed fabrication of crane trucks. Andritz Konewood.

The group boarded two buses sponsored by Alpac and Anixler. They then toured the Alpac facility and were treated to a steak and trimmings barbeque courtesy Alpac . The Alpac crane was set up for very informative tours.

This brought this years meeting to a close thanks to all who participated and hope to see you next year in Chattanooga Tennessee!!