Ace World Companies of the US has launched a new built-up hoist, the Terminator.

The Terminator succeeds the Eliminator, launched in 1999, the company’s first attempt at bringing a standardised built up hoist to the market to compete with the double-reeved packaged hoist competitors. Most of Ace’s hoists are custom-built.

Before the Eliminator, “we were not a player in the 20t and below market,” said company founder and president Ace Ghanemi. “We were mainly 20 ton and above. 80% of market is below 20 ton.”

The twin-reeved Terminator is available in lifting capacities of 5, 7.5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 US tons in CMAA Class ‘D’ service – 10 to 20 lifts per hour averaging 15 feet (4.5m), not over 65% of the lifts at rated capacity.

“We built a product that we can offer to the market roughly 10%-20% cheaper than the Eliminator,” said Camron Ghanemi, Ace World marketing director.

Ace has decided not to offer any wound-rotor control options on either hoist or trolley motors. “Lots of clients are buying two-speed hoists because they are cheaper, then abusing the hell out of them,” Ghanemi said.

It only offers a choice between variable frequency and flux-vector drives. Flux-vector drives can control the speed of the load movement independent of its weight – unlike variable-frequency drives, said Kevin McKewn, Ace’s Toshiba product leader. Baldor provides hoist motors with power ranges from 5-30HP.

With all the drive technology, no load brake is fitted as standard.

Hoist speeds range between 9f/m to 82f/m (2.7m/m to 25m/m), trolley speeds from 80f/m to 120f/m (36.6m/m).

Because the company only manufactures one type of Terminator rope drum to streamline manufacturing, the hoist uses more and more parts of 3/8in (9.5mm)-diameter line as capacities increase. The 5 US ton capacity is a two-part double, rising to a seven-part double on the 25 US ton model. Having 14 falls of rope limits lifting height on the largest model to 38 ft (11.6m).

The Terminator can fit any gauge between 6-10ft (1.8m-3m), unlike the Eliminator, which only had three gauges. Headroom is 21 in (533mm) on all models.

And the Terminator is lighter: the 10 US-ton capacity model weighs 2 US tons; the Eliminator 2.65 US tons. The Terminator goes without the Eliminator’s operator deck. It also does without the foot brake.

The company manufactures most of the hoist in-house, including the gears, sheaves, drum and load block. “We have invested in manufacturing machinery so that we can control our destiny,” Ace Ghanemi said.