Sizing An Overhead Crane For Your Workshop

Measure The Building Not The Drawing

Span is the distance between rail centres, not between columns, and the two are rarely the same once the building is finished. Hook height is measured from the floor to the highest position the hook must reach, with the load attached. Both figures should come from the building as built.

Single Girder Or Double Girder

Single girder cranes are lighter, cheaper and put less load into the structure, and they suit lower capacities and moderate spans. Double girder cranes give more hook height under the same roof, carry heavier loads and accept a trolley that can run the full span. Above roughly twenty tons, or on long spans, double girder is normally the practical answer.

Duty Class Is About How Hard It Works

A crane lifting near its rated load all shift is a completely different machine from one lifting occasionally for maintenance, even at the same tonnage. Tell the supplier how many lifts per hour, what proportion of rated load, and how many shifts. Undersizing duty class is the most common cause of early hoist wear.

Do Not Use The Bay Crane For Workstation Lifting

Every time the main crane is called to load a machine, the whole bay stops. A pillar or wall mounted jib crane at the machine costs a fraction of the bay crane's hourly value and frees it for the work it was bought for.

What To Send Us

Rated capacity, span between rail centres, required hook height, lifts per hour, power supply, and whether the runway already exists. Photographs of the bay help more than most people expect.