Controls for the 50-ton boom are readily at hand.
A diagram (right) with load ratings for the 50-ton boom provide the tow operator with a visual reference when raising and/or retracting the boom.
boxes and make sure it is user friendly and loaded out with every piece of equipment we would need,” he says. “This unit was ordered with $25,000 in rigging. DFW Truck & Equipment put all the stuff on the truck where we thought we wanted it, and then when we took delivery we ended up changing around four of the compartments, customizing the rigging and also the layout of the truck.” Hanging equipment in the right location is obviously important. “We make sure to put the majority of our towing equipment on the passenger side to try and keep our employees as safe as possible on the side of the road,” he points out. In addition, “The remote system on this particular unit is one of the Work the non-traffic side - Stay Safe!
Snatch blocks, tow chains and slings are all clean and neatly laid out for quick access.
The remote system on this particular unit is one of the
most advanced pieces of equipment we have owned and operated.
most advanced pieces of equipment we have owned and operated,” Adrien notes. Elite has used the remote to handle everything from uprighting a concrete mixer to
lifting and loading a container onto a trailer. “It’s really good to know the weight you are actually lifting, compared to estimating the weight,” Adrien points out. He admits that operating the boom remotely instead of being next to the truck takes some time to get accustomed to, but it allows him to get a full view of the recovery. For instance, a recent one involved an extended reach for a forklift that rolled over on a job site. “It was a 12K-reach lift with the boom ¾ of the way out, and lift in the air around 30 feet,” Adrien recalls. There’s another new piece of equipment that makes jobs a bit safer and easier. This rotator is Elite’s first one fitted with high-
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AmericanTowman.com | January 2022 • 47