Spanning the Towpath Trail

Mon January 27, 2020 - National Edition
Craig Mongeau - CEG Editor in Chief

Responsible growth — that's Schaedler Enterprises Inc.'s (SEI) philosophy.

The Toledo, Ohio-based contractor's services are in high demand throughout the Northern Ohio, Southeastern Michigan, and Eastern Indiana market area served by the company.

While SEI owner, Matt Schaedler welcomes the volume of business opportunities, he's also cautious about maintaining a manageable workload to ensure complete customer satisfaction and on-time job completion of the work his company takes on. Schaedler's focus on customer satisfaction consists of three equal factors:

First, Schaedler Enterprises has gained a strong reputation for timely, cost effective work. Second is a staff, which includes an experienced team of operators, millwrights and iron workers that are OSHA-compliant and NCCO, MSHAW, MOST, MUST, TWIC, and eRailSafe certified. And third is equipping his team with the best equipment available to achieve the best possible outcomes for the customer and Schaedler Enterprises.

Schaedler started his business in 1995 with a used crane to perform work in Southeast Michigan and as the company grew, the business was relocated to Toledo, Ohio, to be more centrally located within its expanding market area. The company's services now range from rigging, pile driving and caisson drilling, to moving machinery and heavy equipment hauling.

On a recent job in Cleveland, Ohio, all three of Schaedler Enterprises; success factors came into play. Norwalk, Ohio-based Mark Haynes Construction hired SEI as a subcontractor to work on a pedestrian bridge project for the Cleveland Metroparks. The pedestrian bridge, located in the Tremont neighborhood of Cleveland over West 7th Street, just north of Quigley Road, is part of the 101-mi. Towpath Trail, which follows the historic route of the Ohio & Erie Canal.

The 130-ft. long by 14-ft. wide modular design steel truss bridge, weighing 40 tons, required delicate maneuvering to place. SEI's role on the project included pile driving for the foundation and setting the bridge, which was constructed in two pieces and bolted together on the ground before being placed. SEI used its Grove TMS 875 for pile driving and then brought in its Grove GMK5250L 300-ton all-terrain crane for the bridge placement.

The Grove GMK5250L is easy to permit and easy to transport — getting the crane to the job site in Cleveland from the company's home base in Toledo was simply a matter of driving the crane to the job. The challenging part, however, occurred after arriving at the job site, the crane was up to the task

"With the conditions we were working under, our Grove GMK5250L provided the perfect combination of features and capabilities for the work," said Schaedler. "The all-terrain aspect of the crane and the ability to perform in confined spaces came into play because, to avoid disrupting traffic, the crane had to be positioned well off the road on a steep incline. The GMK5250L's five outrigger positions provided the leveling we needed in the confined space to stabilize its position for lifting and setting the bridge while the 300-ton capacity and 230-ft. seven section main boom provided ample reach. In all, the job took two days with the first day employed in setting up the pedestrian bridge and setting up the overlook on the second day."

Schaedler's purchase of the Grove GMK5250L in 2016 was a first in Ohio for that particular model, which was introduced by Grove that year. Schaedler is a fan of the Grove brand based on what he perceives as "the company's record of outstanding design and reliability in the cranes they manufacture."

He also advocates for Ohio's authorized Grove dealer, Cleveland Crane & Shovel. Schaedler began doing business with the dealership around the time of the company's founding and over the years, he's developed a strong bond with the company's employees for "their excellent service and a regard for their customers," he said, which matches his own philosophy toward customer satisfaction. As is common with most first-year model introductions, Schaedler's Grove GMK5250 required updates to be performed and because of the level of service provided by Cleveland Crane & Shovel, he never experienced downtime, he said.

Since his purchase of the Grove GMK5250L, Schaedler has continued to rely of Cleveland Crane & Shovel, as well as Andrew Forepaugh's 38 years of experience in the crane industry, to build his fleet, recently purchasing two Grove RT's from the dealer as well as a 45-ton National boom truck.

Key specs of the Grove GMK5250L include:

Capacity: 300 tons (250 t)
Main boom: 44-ft. to 230-ft. (13.3 m to 70 m) main boom
Maximum jib: 121 ft. (37 m)
Maximum tip height: 361 ft. (110 m)
VIAB turbo clutch enables wear-free starting and braking.

Key Features of the Grove GMK5250L include:

MEGATRAK, which is an independent suspension and all-wheel steer system with a ground clearance up to 23.6 in. (600 mm) and suspension that can be raised 6.5 in. (170 mm) or lowered to 5 in. (130 mm) while the driveline remains aligned at all times.
Steer-by-wire, which is a hydraulic-electronic steering system in which axles 4 and 5 are steer-by-wire based on machine speed during highway operation and in off-highway operation — an independent rocker switch can be engaged for coordinated, crab and independent steering. Tire wear is reduced by optimized steering angles.
TWIN-LOCK, which is a fully hydraulic pinning system with electronic controls. The single telescopic cylinder uses two horizontally mounted pins to move a boom section into the required position while allowing the boom to operate in a neutral zone. The systems weight savings allow the weight to be deployed elsewhere for strengthening the crane and increase lifting capacity.
Produced using the latest laser hybrid technology, the seven-section MEGAFORM boom employs an "Egg" shaped cross-section design for a natural cradling position combined with large easy-access wear pads to deliver superior boom alignment and excellent transition of weights between sections when telescoping. Additional weight savings without loss of capacity are gained because no stiffeners are required in the base section. With less weight and larger cross sections used, greater lifting capacity is gained at all radii.
The crane is powered by a six-cylinder Mercedes OM471LA Tier IV final engine matched up with a Mercedes G280 transmission, and new VIAB turbo clutch for smooth and powerful operation.
The hydraulic swing-away extension stows on the side of the base boom for easy transport and consists of a 39-ft. to 69-ft. bi-fold lattice swing-away extension, hydraulically off-settable and luffing under load, 5 to 50 degrees with a maximum tip height of 361 ft. with 26-ft. boom extensions and 26 ft. (2 x 8 m) jib inserts.
Grove's Man Machine Interface (MMI) offers greater jobsite flexibility by allowing for control of the MEGATRAK suspension system from both sides of the carrier, as well as ground clearance adjustments independent of the outriggers and includes active suspension control and the outrigger pressure monitoring system. CQ

This story also appears on Crane Equipment Guide.

Craig Mongeau

Craig Mongeau has been Construction Equipment Guide’s editor in chief for the past 21-plus years. He directly manages CEG’s Northeast and Southeast editions (which includes New England, Georgia and Alabama state supplements); Superintendent’s Profile; Crane Guide; Northeast and Southeast-based anniversary magazines; and special event publications. He also oversees CEG’s Midwest and Western Editions as well as all CEG website content.

A Hofstra University graduate, Craig began his publishing career as a staff writer for local Southeast Pennsylvania newspapers. He then became an associate editor and book editor of Springhouse Corporation, a Pennsylvania-based medical publishing house and then worked as a managing editor of Rockhill Communications, based in Bala Cynwyd, Pa., where he created and managed content for a national Voluntary Hospital Association website.

Originally from Pittsfield, Mass., Craig has lived in North Wales, Pa., for the past 27 years. He has been married to his wife, Hillary, whom he met in college, since 1998 and together, they have two daughters, Jolie and Aubrie.