How to Choose a Crane to Enhance Your Operations

When purchasing a quality crane for your manufacturing facility or operation, it’s important to consider not just the price of the equipment but also its capabilities and capacities. There are plenty of overhead cranes available in a fair price range, but the cost alone cannot dictate your decision when choosing the right crane for your application. So, how do you ensure you’re buying the right machine for the right price? Our crane selection guide will walk you through the most critical considerations and provide some tips for ensuring you get the most from your investment.

1. Defining Your Expectations for Quality Cranes

To start, it’s always important to make your expectations clear from the beginning. Whether you are purchasing a crane from a dealer, vendor, or manufacturer, you must define and communicate your expectations to ensure you end up with the best product for your needs. Opting for a crane simply because of price can lead to many adverse outcomes, such as project inefficiencies, hefty upgrade or repair costs, and reduced life spans. 

Whether the crane can’t handle its workload or you’ve received an improper allocation, there are several concerns that can cost you time and money — and a lot of it. 

You can ensure that your crane is running when you need it by doing the following:

1. Outline your application, operation, and facility requirements from the beginning, and be clear about what type of work your crane will have to endure.
2. Communicate the dimensional specifications needed and any other features that will ensure the efficiency of your new overhead crane.
3. Ask about warranties and what activities will maintain or void them.
4. Consider aspects to negotiate, such as transportation expenses, installation services, or delivery times, to make your purchase more cost-effective.
5. Plan a budget ahead of time, including maintenance and operating costs, to avoid monetary shortfalls.

2. Choosing Crane Size and Specifications

Crane size, capacity, and specifications will drive your purchase. Some dimensional specifications and features to consider are as follows:

• Crane capacity
• Span of the bridge or beam
• Overall height — dependent on your facility and any overhead obstructions — and lift height
• Runway lengths and number of bridges
• Steel or aluminum systems — including track and beams
• Any dimensional limitations that might impact the crane’s ability to function properly for your specific operation
• Motorization or manual system
• Festooning, rotation stops, taglines, casters, and any other additional features that will enhance your application — depending on which type of overhead crane you are buying
• Motion speeds, voltage, controls, and other various electronic features 

How to Select Crane Capacity

Your crane’s lifting capacity must match your project needs. A load chart is valuable for evaluating capacities and capabilities. These charts detail how much a crane can lift at various configurations to avoid overextending the machine’s limits. Using this tool requires you to understand several elements, including load weight, boom length, and radius. These measurements will depict how much weight a crane can carry at various distances from its center under perfect conditions.

Factors that impact overall crane lifting capacity include:

• Lifting range: The distance from the load center to the crane’s rotation center impacts capacity.
• Configuration: You can manipulate the lift capacity, depending on how you arrange counterweights and moveable parts.
• Boom angle and length: Longer booms have lower lift capacities, and the horizontal plane’s angle is also an important consideration.
• Operational conditions: Your operational environment, including weather elements like temperature and wind, and ground stability impacts capacities.
• Motion: A crane will have a higher capacity when it’s stationary compared to when it’s in motion because dynamic forces increase when a crane is moving.
• Dimensions and weight: Handling large and heavy materials can result in damage or injuries if the crane cannot safely manage them.

3. Evaluating the CMAA Service Class

A very important part of choosing the right crane for your total operation — and one that buyers often overlook — is the Crane Manufacturers Association of America (CMAA) Service Class that best fits your application. Operating your overhead crane outside its recommended service class is not only dangerous but very destructive to the crane itself. According to the CMAA, there are six service classes to consider:

• Class A — Standby or Infrequent Service: These cranes provide precise handling at slow speeds during installation and maintenance and offer long idle periods between lifts.
• Class B — Light Service: Light assembly operations and repair shops often use this class with light requirements and low speeds with varying load capacities. These cranes offer an average of 10 feet per lift, but you can find a range between two and five hours. 
• Class C: — Moderate Service: Most cranes satisfy Class C service requirements. Moderate service cranes can tackle loads averaging 50% of rated capacities with an average of 15 feet per lift and five to 10 lifts per hour. 
• Class D — Heavy Service: Operations requiring heavy-duty production, such as steel warehouses, foundries, machine shops, and lumber mills, utilize this service class to handle loads near 50% of rated capacities during work periods. You can operate these cranes at high speeds and expect 10 to 20 lifts per hour at around 15 feet per lift.
• Class E — Severe Service: Scrap yards, container handling, fertilizer plants, and cement mills often rely on Class E equipment. These cranes are capable of delivering 20 or more lifts per hour near or at rated capacities.
• Class F — Continuous Severe Service: Electric overhead traveling cranes and top-running bridge cranes are within this class, and they must deliver the highest level of reliability. This class can tackle loads approaching rated capacity throughout its lifetime. 

4. Finding the Right Manufacturer

Although your dealer will help you choose the right manufacturer for your new overhead crane, it doesn’t hurt to check out manufacturers and gauge their reliability and manufacturing standards. Here are some things to look for:

• Is the manufacturer ISO 9001 certified?
• Are all systems designed and stamped by a licensed engineer?
• Does the company offer on-site evaluation of material handling needs, and are they willing to make expert recommendations when needed?
• Do they manufacture pre-engineered and custom-engineered cranes?
• Are they eager to custom engineer systems to fit your specific application demands?
• Do they meet all applicable industry standards?
• Do they conduct finite element analysis and destructive testing on custom-designed systems?
• Do they utilize laser precision manufacturing and AWS-certified welding fabrication?
• Do they provide exceptional packaging and on-time delivery?
• Do they provide ongoing, on-site customer technical support?
• Do they offer a great warranty?

Importance of Preventive Care for Your Crane

Once you purchase and install the right crane for your total operation, it’s also important to implement a periodic inspection and preventive maintenance plan, which a qualified person from a crane service company should perform. It’s smart to plan the work around your production schedule to avoid as much downtime as possible.

If your overhead crane is down for unexpected repair or maintenance or you experience crane deflection, you are indefinitely losing money — the longer you have to wait to get it up and moving, the worse the situation. Consider these possible outcomes:

• Production losses: Production suffers greatly when an overhead crane is out of use due to necessary repairs and maintenance issues.
• Project downtime: Your application can come to a standstill if your crane is out of operation and you don’t have another machine to continue the project. Additionally, other jobs can suffer if workers are waiting to use the space under the non-working crane.
• Increased costs: Repairs can be very costly if you don’t carry a warranty. Check with your dealer or manufacturer to learn more about your warranty, including what it includes, how long it lasts, and what actions can void it.
• Inefficient shipping times: Cranes that are down can impact shipping. Inefficient shipping can hold up truck drivers waiting to load or unload products and cause your customers to wait longer for their products or materials. Longer wait times can lower satisfaction, which can greatly hurt your business and diminish customer loyalty.

In the end, you cannot eliminate downtime occurrences completely, but you can keep them at a manageable level when you buy the right equipment for the job and properly maintain it.

Shop Quality Cranes From Spanco Today

It’s imperative that you buy the system that meets all of your needs — operationally and in regard to your application and facility. Purchasing the right crane for your needs may cost a little more upfront, but the payoff is huge. The right crane will save you lots of money in damages and repairs, unnecessary maintenance, and potential injuries and fatalities.

When you need reliable, cost-effective equipment, turn to the experienced team at Spanco, Inc. Spanco has been providing material handling solutions for over 40 years, and we aggressively invest in op-notch technology so you can access the best possible machines and equipment to enhance your operations. 

Browse our cranes to find a quality model, or contact our team to discuss your material handling solution needs.