If your company has cab operated cranes, chances are you have hydraulic brakes for at least the bridge motion. Because of the line of sight for a cab operator, and in some cases the type of load, a cab operated crane is the only way to go for some cranes. The operator looking for that “seat of the pants” feel from the crane control scheme and crane braking, often mandated a contactor stepped or Static Stepless control with a hydraulic foot operated brake. This gives the operator plugging control, and/or hydraulic brake deceleration using a cab mounted foot pedal. (Improvements in cab operated cranes discussed here)

Do you have this set-up?



A rear view of the leaky hydraulic foot pedal valve.



The above old bridge brake was a Wagner Brake system.

Magnetek and Mondel have a standard product to replace these aging leaky systems called “Braketronic”. Braketronic uses a Magnetek G+ Series 3 drive as the heart of a control to regulate the Thruster module on a Mondel MST brake. A static output mill duty foot pedal replaces the nasty hydraulic foot pedal, and provides an infinite signal to the drive regulating the Thruster module and therefore the torque (force) applied to the brake wheel.

And for those of you with old air over hydraulic systems, the Braketronic is a complete replacement for those systems as we can program the drive for stopping points. That means that Braketronic is an excellent choice with cab, cab/radio, or straight radio control cranes!

New Braketronic panel installed in the cab.
(Thanks Dane and Tim!)

   Mill Duty Foot Pedal



New Mondel Brake installed and ready for service!



A: Drop-in mounting duplicates old Wagner foot print
B: Custom “adjustment” to wire tray to squeeze in the brake
C: Auto-adjust feature
D: External torque spring



When your brake has to work in this environment, it better say “Mondel” on the side of it!

Braketronic is a better brake system that will complete the same tasks, provide a more ergonomic friendly interface with the operator, eliminate hydraulic fluid leaks, and provide better emergency crane braking.

Contact the Crane Doctor today and find out how Braketronic can help your crane operator and maintenance!  ebrown@engineeredlifting.com  or 866-756-1200.

Download our Benefits of Upgrading Existing Cranes white paper in PDF and learn more about Magnetek’s complete range of systems for improving the performance and reliability of your cranes.