A giant among machines

The idea of ordering a 40-foot-long press brake was no problem for Greiner Industries, Mount Joy, Pa. The real work started when the brake was ready for delivery. The company had to find a way to get the mammoth machine to its shop.

The machine, a 2,750-ton Baykal press brake, ordered through Fab-Line Machinery, St. Charles, Ill., had to be transported to the facility in four pieces: two side frames that weighed 88,000 pounds each, as well as a ram and a bed that each weighed 190,000 lbs. Transportation required a truck with 16 axles under each trailer. Each axle had four tires, so the trailer had 64 tires total.

Greiner specializes in structural steel and heavy plate fabrication. It does work for power plants and the mining industry. In the 33 years the company has been in business, it has done structural steel jobs in an industry where the work always seems to be getting larger and heavier. This installation had to set a new standard, however. The assembled press brake weighs more than 800,000 lbs.

Read the complete article by Michael Bishop at www.thefabricator.com