Hydraulic Reactor System Design National Engineering Laboratories

$250,000 rig handles 50-ton job

When the job requires moving 50 tons by remote control, a quarter million dollar one-of-a-kind machine has to be developed.

That's what Argone National Laboratories, contractors with the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, found out when a project was designed where an experiment weighing 50 tons is to be lifted from a 10-degree angle to a 90-degree angle.

A $250 thousand dollar trailer was developed. The 65-foot trailer has 20 wheels and five axles. Lifting of the cradle and experiment and locking procedures are done by a remote control hydraulic system.

When the machine arrived in Eastern Idaho, the hydraulic system would not work properly. Gary L. Kranz, then owner of G.T. Hydraulics, now owner of Western Dynamics, Inc, was called in to redesign the hydraulics and convince Idaho National Engineering Laboratories it could be 99% reliable.

The redesign complete, the experiment went on as scheduled and the hydraulics performed perfectly.




		Right, experiment at 10-degree angle in reactor area. Below, experiment at 90-degree angle.

Above picture showing experiment being transported.
	$250,000 rig handles 50-ton job When the job requires moving 50 tons by remote control, a quarter million dollar one-of-a-kind machine has to be developed. That's what Argone National Laboratories, contractors with the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, found out when a project was designed where an experiment weighing 50 tons is to be lifted from a 10-degree angle to a 90-degree angle. A $250 thousand dollar trailer was developed. The 65-foot trailer has 20 wheels and five axles. Lifting of the cradle and experiment and locking procedures are done by a remote control hydraulic system. When the machine arrived in Eastern Idaho, the hydraulic system would not work properly. Gary L. Kranz, then owner of G.T. Hydraulics, now owner of Western Dynamics, Inc, was called in to redesign the hydraulics and convince Idaho National Engineering Laboratories it could be 99% reliable. The redesign complete, the experiment went on as scheduled and the hydraulics performed perfectly.