Link-Belt Cranes photo

The 85-ton Link-Belt 85|RT rough-terrain crane

The 85-ton Link-Belt 85|RT rough-terrain crane offers smooth controls, excellent jobsite mobility and impressive capacities at radius.

The 85|RT displayed these abilities while assisting in foundation construction work at the Barack Obama Presidential Library in Chicago, Ill.

The 85|RT was purchased by W.E. O'Neil Construction of Chicago from Link-Belt distributor Stevenson Crane, Rigging & Heavy Haul of Bolingbrook, Ill. The 85|RT was selected for the job site because of its capacities and superior maneuverability.

W.E. O'Neil crane operator Keith Gesiakowski said the 85|RT functioned flawlessly both when making required lifts and while navigating the busy job site.

"With the 85|RT, it engages right away," Gesiakowski said. "I can set the controls to the speed that I want thanks to the fine metering controls available through the Pulse 2.0 display."

He added that the crane's controls are the smoothest he's seen in a long time, stating that the crane's "incredible capacities sold themselves immediately while lifting and setting 5,000-pound steel bundles at a radius of 120 feet."

He said the 85|RT's handy variable confined area lifting capacities (V-CALC), which allows the crane to be set up with an asymmetrical outrigger pattern, made it easy to place the crane into tight spaces on the site.

"Being able to preview 360-degree real-time charts on the Pulse computer display was really helpful for setting the crane up to make lifts from confined areas," Gesiakowski said of the 85|RT's V-CALC mode.

He added the 85|RT came to O'Neil packed with a lot of standard features like 142 ft. of full-power grease-free main boom, a 20-degree tilting cab, a multi-view camera system, LED lights all around and, of course, Link-Belt's Pulse 2.0 RCL system, all of which combined to help make the job seamless.

Construction of the library on the 19.3-acre campus is scheduled to be complete and open to the public in the first half of 2026.

This story also appears on Crane Equipment Guide.

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