IN FOCUS / BEN BADEN SERVICES
WRITE OFF WRECK TO WORLD CLASS FINISH Ben Baden and his crew at Ben Baden Services recently completed a major refurbishment of a ‘written off’ Franna AT40. It is the first time Baden and his team have been able to get this deeply involved with the latest model Franna.
BEN BADEN TALKS ABOUT THE PROJECT and what his team has learned. “We purchased the wreck machine as it was an economical write off, meaning the insurance company made a financial decision not to repair it. We do this from time to time as a way of sustaining the workload in our workshop as well as treating it as a bit of a training exercise,” he explained. “In this instance, the machine was quite badly damaged, so we set it up in the workshop and the first task was to fully strip the machine. The repairs included a new cabin and the majority of cosmetics including panelling and fibreglass finishes were required. We inspected the engine, gearbox, and transfer case, and they were all good. “However, the boom required structural repairs to be carried out, which meant it needed to be removed. We found there was quite a lot of misalignment on significant points like the boom pivots and the centre articulation, and all of these items needed to be attended to and repaired. “We have our own in-house line borer/machinist who is set up in a mobile truck. We service a lot of the earthmoving industry with this mobile truck, including the Caterpillar dealership, but it is a really handy trade to have on our books,” said Baden. All of the work was conducted inwww.cranesandlifting.com.au
The AT40 was an economical write off.
house with hydraulic cylinders being the only elements outsourced for repair. “The repair was completed over a period of 12 months. It took this amount of time because the workshop has been very busy and there were delays in receiving parts due to Covid and related supply chain issues. “Obviously this is the first AT40 to go through this kind of repair process.
In fact, it is the first 40-tonne Franna I’ve had in my workshop. One of the reasons to undertake the project was the educational opportunity it provided our team. “Because we had to work on every aspect of a machine we hadn’t worked on before, the project provided the opportunity to learn about the machine ‘our way’. There were elements of the crane which we hadn’t March/April 2022 CAL / 27
