How to Choose the Right Crane for Your Needs

How to Choose the Right Crane for Your Needs

Crane is a modern economic construction tool designed to improve material handling conditions, achieve automation of the production process, enable mechanization, and improve labor productivity. It is an indispensable piece of logistics and transportation equipment.

In the crane family, there are many types, and each type has its own suitable place of use. 

When enterprises purchase lifting machinery, they must first consider comprehensively the scope of use of the enterprise, the frequency of work, the utilization rate, the rated lifting capacity, and other factors. Only by doing so can they select the appropriate unit that meets the work level requirements for the crane.

Crane manufacturers are numerous, with varying production quality. Choosing a good crane manufacturer means not only obtaining a crane with high quality and low failure rate, but more importantly, reducing the likelihood of safety accidents.

So, when a unit or enterprise needs to choose a crane, how should they choose the right one?

Choose the Crane Type Based on Site Conditions

The type of crane you choose should match your site’s structure, working environment, and operational needs.

Common options include:

• Overhead cranes (bridge cranes) — Ideal for indoor facilities with runway beams or building structures that can support the crane. They provide high precision, efficient load handling, and keep floor space clear. Variants include top-running, underhung, and free-standing designs.

• Gantry cranes — Supported by legs running on ground rails, making them suitable for outdoor yards, construction sites, or areas without building support. Options include full gantry, semi-gantry, and portable gantries for flexible use.

Quick guideline:

• Indoor + strong building support → overhead crane.

• Outdoor or no runway structure → gantry crane.

• Mixed conditions or mobility needs → semi-gantry, portable gantry, or mobile crane.

This decision is the first step in crane selection and will influence later choices on model, capacity, and span.

How to Select the Crane Model and Tonnage

Each crane model is designed based on lifting tonnage, functionality, and load-handling requirements. Examples include:

• Single girder overhead gantry crane

• Double girder overhead gantry crane

• European-type overhead gantry crane

When deciding on lifting capacity:

• Too small — The crane may easily become overloaded.

• Too large — Procurement costs may increase unnecessarily.

Therefore, determining the correct tonnage is critical to balancing safety and cost efficiency.

How to Define the Key Crane Parameters

When specifying a crane, the following parameters must be determined:

• Span — The distance between the two outriggers.

• Lifting height — The maximum height to which the load must be lifted.

• Lifting capacity — The maximum allowable load weight.

• Operating mode — Most gantry cranes and overhead cranes can be operated from an operator’s cabin, from the ground, or via remote control.

In addition, while the crane’s performance and form must meet operational requirements, they must also satisfy safety standards. Other key considerations include:

• Load quality, specifications, and characteristics.

• Working speed, operating radius, span, lifting height, and working area.

• Overall working level, structural component working level, and mechanism working level.

• Expected service life for permanent installations or total working hours for mobile cranes.

• Site and environmental conditions (temperature, humidity, altitude, corrosive atmosphere, flammable/explosive hazards, etc.), and potential obstacles from existing structures.

• Space requirements for access, installation, operation, and dismantling.
• Any special operational needs or mandatory regulations.

Ensuring Safe Operation: Crane Inspection and Maintenance

In order to ensure the safe operation of lifting machinery, units using lifting machinery should frequently inspect and maintain their equipment, and develop a regular inspection management system. This includes daily, weekly, monthly, and annual inspections for dynamic monitoring. Any abnormalities found should be addressed in a timely manner to eliminate potential hazards.

Daily Inspection

Daily inspection is the responsibility of the driver. It includes routine maintenance projects such as:

• Cleanliness and hygiene.

• Lubricating the transmission parts.

• Adjustment and fastening work.

• Testing the sensitivity and reliability of safety devices through operation.

• Listening for any abnormal sounds during operation.

Weekly Inspection

Weekly inspection is jointly carried out by the maintenance workers and drivers.

In addition to the daily inspection items, it includes:

• Appearance inspection.

• Checking the safety status of hooks, lifting devices, wire ropes, etc.

• Testing the sensitivity and reliability of brakes, clutches, and emergency alarms.

• Observing the transmission parts during operation for abnormal sounds and overheating phenomena.

Monthly Inspection

Monthly inspection is organized by the equipment safety management department, together with the relevant usage department.

In addition to the weekly inspection content, it mainly involves:

• Testing the power system of the lifting machinery.

• Checking the lifting mechanism, slewing mechanism, operating mechanism, and hydraulic system status.

• Replacing worn, deformed, cracked, or corroded parts and components.

• Checking the electrical control system, including feeder devices, controllers, overload protection, and safety protection devices for reliability.

• Through test runs, checking for leakage, pressure, temperature, vibration, noise, and other signs of failure.

• Observing the crane structure, support, and transmission parts to determine the source of anomalies and understand the technical status of the crane.

Annual Inspection

Annual inspection is organized by the unit leader, led by the equipment safety management department, and conducted with relevant departments.

In addition to the monthly inspection items, it focuses on:

• Testing the technical parameters of the main lifting machinery.

• Reliability testing through instruments.

• Checking the wear and tear of moving parts of the working mechanism.

• Inspecting the welds of the metal structure using flaw detection.

• Testing the safety devices and components.

• Evaluating the operational technical status of the lifting equipment.
• If necessary, arranging for overhaul, renovation, or renewal programs.

Conclusion

Whether choosing a gantry crane for outdoor use or an overhead crane for indoor operations, the selection process must take into account the type, model, tonnage, technical parameters, and environmental conditions, while also committing to rigorous inspection and maintenance. Only with this comprehensive approach can enterprises ensure efficiency, safety, and long-term reliability in their lifting operations.