M100 Mega Tator in Action

by Jim “Buck” Sorrenti Keeping with the spirit of the season, this is a Christmas story. It started in October 2019 when Miller Industries unveiled the world’s first-ever 100-ton Rolling Rotator named the Century M100. The crew at Miller Industries stated, “Thanks again to Ed Petroff of Petroff Towing for placing your trust in us with the design and development of the new Century M100! Enjoy your new Christmas toy 2019.” Well here we are approaching Christmas 2020 and Ed’s Century M100 mega tator is keeping busy. On November 6, 2020 the City of Highland called Petroff Towing to assist in moving a large transformer in Highland, Illinois, 25 miles away from Petroff’s shop. Company owner Ed Petroff explained, “The city called because they had a new transformer of the same size being shipped in and set. Their quote was for a cleared pad so we had to remove the old unit, load it on a trailer, and go across town to unload it. The transformer was just over 84,000-pound plus an additional 5,000-pound of radiators that were left on it for a total lift of 89,300-pounds.” Ed responded with his 2020 Kenworth W900 with a Century M100 mega ‘tator. The Century M100 is world's largest rotator. This 100-ton tator has a working area of more than 8,200 square feet, a maximum boom height over 53-feet, with an outrigger stance of over 25-feet and a turret travel length of over 12-feet. It comes with dual 65,000-pound main recovery winches and two 30,000-pound turret auxiliary winches and the option of two additional 30,000-pound drag winches mounted on the underside of the unit. Plenty of lifting power to handle this transformer. Ed staged to do the 84,000-pound lift off of the rear of the massive M100. He rigged the transformer using 7/8-inch DyPac cable; Crosby 15-ton snatch blocks; and 2 5/8-inch, grade 100, two-leg bridles. “We lifted the unit off of the pad, set it onto a trailer, and then unloaded it at another city-owned facility across town,” said Ed. “As you can see by the last few photos, they came to set the new unit (same size and spec) with a 350-ton crane.” ………………………………………….. Thomas G. Petroff started a small towing company in metropolitan Saint Louis in 1948. He ran the company for twenty years until undertaking new endeavors in 1968. From 1968 until 1975 the business was dormant until Edward and Debra Petroff breathed life into the new Petroff Towing. The Petroffs’ chose to specialize in emergency services and heavy-duty work and became known as “The Heavy-Duty and Recovery Specialists of the Metro Saint Louis Area.” Petroff Towing, Inc. has five locations servicing Southern Illinois and the St. Louis Metro area. They have four satellite locations in addition to their state-of-the-art headquarters, located in Caseyville, Illinois, which houses a substantial portion of their heavy-duty fleet and all specialized services such as various trailers, dock facilities and air cushion/HazMat recovery, as well as a dispatch center, billing department and offices. They also have a covered, climate-controlled dock facility that is equipped with forklifts, pallet jacks, stretch wrapping machines and all other necessary materials to rework loads on-site. The company celebrated its 45th anniversary in 2020. Show Yours @ TIWDo you have a recovery to share with TIW readers? Send some pics and info to our Field Editor Jim “Buck” Sorrenti at jimchaos69@yahoo.com; your story may even be selected for print in American Towman magazine!