• The Potain Hup M 28-22 is erecting a large apartment complex in Reno, Nevada, helping the contractor stay on schedule — and even ahead of it.
• One of the many benefits is the up-and-over reach of the crane and that it can be placed between two home construction sites, vastly increasing efficiency in their building process.
• Davis Company says the self-erecting crane has decreased labor needs from 10 to only six workers on the project, allowing the contractor to save in labor costs from the value of the crane.

Displayed at CONEXPO 2020 earlier this year, a Potain Hup M 28-22 self-erecting tower crane is now busy at work helping erect a 192-unit apartment complex in northwest Reno, Nevada. The crane belongs to Davis Company, a local general contractor, and is the first Hup M 28-22 model to be deployed in North America.

The crane is proving to be a valuable tool for Davis Company. It is supporting several of the tasks performed at the apartment complex site, eliminating the need for other equipment such as forklifts, and also reducing labor costs.

“This is a prefab job and the crane is very useful to set walls, floor modules, and trusses, among many other tasks,” said Jim Smith, job foreman at Davis Company. “All of these jobs would be much harder without a self-erecting tower crane. The number one advantage the crane offers is placing the prefab components right where they go. It saves us time and money to be able to fabricate components offsite and just lift them directly off the truck to their location on the construction site.”

Another great benefit to self-erecting tower cranes on multi-unit housing construction sites is the crane’s mobility, reach and ability to perform many different tasks throughout the working day. Contractors can deploy a self-erecting crane between two home construction sites, for example, and reap the advantages of a much more efficient building process.

“Whereas a job with any of our other cranes would require an eight to 10-man crew to get the job done, the Hup M 28-22 enables us to require only a six-man crew,” said Dennis Davis, founder and owner of Davis Company. “This saves us time by allowing us to utilize our crew in other areas of the job at the same time if needed, and if not, it saves us money in labor costs.”

As for why Dennis Davis chose the crane over more conventional equipment such as telehandlers and mobile cranes, the answer is simple: “The Hup M 28-22's reach and tip capacity is much greater,” he said.

The crane should remain at the site until early 2021, when the development is scheduled for completion.

Certified Potain dealer Compass Equipment, based in nearby Gilbert, Arizona, supplied the crane to Davis Company, and is certain the crane will continue to catch the attention of other homebuilders interested in building more efficiently.

To see how self-erecting cranes can help homebuilders save time and money in their projects, visit the Potain Build Better website.

CONTACT
Amy Marten
Manitowoc
T +1 920 683 6345
amy.marten@manitowoc.com