Storm Brakes

Outdoor rail-mounted equipment — container cranes, ship-to-shore cranes, stacker reclaimers, and gantries — faces a risk that indoor equipment doesn’t: high winds pushing an unsecured machine along its rails. Storm brakes exist to prevent exactly that, clamping directly onto the rail head to hold the equipment stationary whenever it’s not in active use.

Johnson’s rail clamps are available across a wide range of holding capacities, from 1,000 to 150,000 lb (4.4 kN to 667 kN), in truck-end, sill-beam, and flange-mounted designs. Control systems are available in hydraulic or electric versions, with power units offered separately or integrated into the rail clamp enclosure — it’s typical to have a control system on each side of the crane to avoid long hydraulic hose runs. Options include custom mountings, coatings and materials, match-drilled mating flanges, dust-tight or custom enclosures, and hand pumps for manual release.