Choosing an Overhead Crane Light Build or Winch Build

Every overhead crane in this range is offered in two builds at the same nominal capacity. The light double beam build lifts 5 to 100 tons at 0.4 to 16 m/min. The winch double beam build lifts 5 to 360 tons at 0.4 to 20 m/min. Both span 0 to 49 metres and lift 30 or 40 metres. On paper they look like the same crane with a different price.

The Question Is Duty Not Tonnage

The winch build exists for two situations: a hook that runs most of the shift, and a hook that pulls loads horizontally as well as lifting them. If neither applies, the light build is the correct specification and the winch build is money spent on capability you will never use.

This matters because winch duty is specified far more often than it is needed. A machine shop lifting a dozen weldments a day onto a bed is light duty at any tonnage. A steel plant feeding a furnace continuously is winch duty at 20 tons.

Span Is Measured Not Chosen

Girders are cut anywhere inside 0 to 49 metres, so the span follows your measured rail-to-rail centres rather than stepping up to the next catalogue size. Measure it before enquiring, along with the clear height from floor to the underside of the roof steel, because that is what limits achievable hook height rather than the crane's 30 or 40 metre rating.

Why Frequency Converter Drive Matters

Single-speed contactor control makes a load swing every time it stops, and somebody then steadies the hook by hand. A frequency converter ramps the hoist through its speed range so the load settles where it is put. On machine installation and die changes, that is the difference between a crane that positions and a crane that only lifts.

Travel Speed Decides Cycle Time

In a long bay, most of the cycle is spent crossing the building rather than lifting. Long travelling runs to 90 m/min and cross travelling to 40 m/min, and those two figures usually govern throughput more than the lifting speed does. Both are published, so a handling cycle can be timed on paper before the order.

Where the Building Cannot Take a Runway

If the roof steel will not carry a top-running runway, an under-slung EOT crane hangs from the existing structure instead, which often avoids a structural rebuild. If there is no building at all, a gantry crane carries up to 320 tons over spans to 50 metres on its own legs.

Certification to Ask For

CE and ISO are held across the standard range. The EOT crane range additionally holds ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001:2018, which together cover quality, environmental and occupational safety management. Corporate audits usually want all four rather than a CE mark alone, so ask for the certificates at quotation rather than at delivery.

What to Send With an Enquiry

Span, clear height, the heaviest routine lift, lifts per shift, whether loads are pulled horizontally, and your preferred control format. Those six answers produce a crane specification. A tonnage alone produces a price for the wrong crane.