Towman’s Market

Transformer

Founded by Robert Leipziger in 1983, Rob’s Automotive & Collision Center, Inc. in Bristol, Pennsylvania, is a full service automotive and collision facility as well as a complete heavy truck and body facility offering 24-hour towing and recovery service. They also offer trailer repair, mobile repair and roadside service, equipment hauling, fleet service, Enterprise® rental service, and rotator (crane) service.

With their fleet of over 60 pieces of equipment, they can handle towing or transport from one-ton to 100-tons. They also offer Landoll and detachable trailer services for any kind of equipment moves.

In 1982 working alone, Rob began repairing vehicles for money in the family driveway. In 1983 he moved into a one bay facility in Levittown, Pennsylvania, bought his first tow truck and had two employees. He has come a long way since those early days. He now has 155 employees and 66 pieces of equipment in his evergrowing fleet, including the massive beauty featured here.

This is Rob’s Jerr-Dan HRD 70/85ton heavy-duty rotator. He calls it Transformer. Rob informed, “The inspiration for the paint job and its name is that the truck ‘transforms’ into a crane and my two boys loved the Transformer movie.”

The rotator is mounted on a 2007 Peterbuilt 378, powered by a 550 HP CAT mated to an 18-speed Eaton transmission.

Transformer is equipped with two 55-ton and three 35-ton Ramsey winches.

Special equipment on this rig includes; spreader bars, snatch blocks, recovery straps, numerous D-rings & cables, and overhead lift cables.

Rob said, “With a reach of 42-feet in the air, fully extended it’s capable of retrieving 80,000-pounds and rotates 180-degrees. This rotator is self-efficient –no counter weights needed. We just arrive and it's ready to go! It is the perfect piece of equipment for tight working areas such as low ceilings and clearances. For example, at a 25 foot extension it is capable of lifting 120,000

by Jim “Buck” Sorrenti

pounds and still rotate.” He added, “It’s great for inside a warehouse, a ship, or setting chillers, air conditioners and generators on a pad site or even loading equipment onto tractors and trailers.”

This rotator features a boom that rotates a full 360 degrees, rated at 120,000-pounds while the boom is retracted and can handle a side pull of more than 68,000-pounds. Extreme stability is provided by a wide double outrigger spread of 112” x 264”.

Rob’s Automotive & Collision Center crew painted the rig, with Dave Wyeth laying on the amazing artwork and graphics. The paint job took almost three months.

Rob shared, “One of the most memorable jobs we had was a fully loaded tractor-trailer that rolled over on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, which contained all hanging beef. Anyone in the business knows that hanging beef is critical to upright. We air bagged the unit up and used the two main winches to lift it as well as the two 35-ton auxiliary winches to lower the unit down safely so it didn’t rollback onto us or our equipment. There was no noise, as it lowered, no creaking. Just beautifully smooth. The safety behind this truck is amazing.”

Rob explained, “A good portion of our business is moving generators, chillers and equipment for our customers. While our tractors and trailers are so very important in assisting our customers, the rotator is a piece of the puzzle that just fits perfectly. The crane service is available to help out in any emergency situation.”

Transformer took 2nd Place in its class at the 2008 American Towman Exposition and 3rd Place at the 2009 American Towman Exposition.

Rob's will be relocating select facilities for efficiency reasons and plans to open a car museum in the near future.

Tech Highlights

Chassis: 2007 Peterbilt 378 Body: Jerr-Dan HRD 70/85 Engine: 550 HP CAT Trans: 18-Speed Eaton Winches: Two 55-ton & three 35-ton Ramsey’s Built by: Jerr-Dan Corp. Truck’s Name: Transformer Special Equipment: Spreader bars, snatch blocks, recovery straps, numerous D-rings, cables, overhead lift cables. Paint by: Rob’s Automotive & Collision Center Artwork & Graphics by: Dave Wyeth

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