Crane required for new workshop

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robertlaurenson

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Hi Everyone
I'm currently in the process of building a new 15m x 10m x 4.5m workshop for wood and metal working.
With that in mind i am going to need a crane so when i was digging out the foundations i put down an extra deep part in the slab in the center of one side of the building where i can fit a crane pedestal.
I am thinking whatever it is it will need to reach the other side of the workshop and get a tonne at that point or pretty close. i have been looking at the swing jib cranes from the various UK manufacturers and then i had an idea.
The Hiab style cranes which are fitted to trucks and boats, has anyone ever heard of one of these being fitted inside a workshop? with the telescopic boom etc it would be nearly ideal and would reach all areas and corners. just wondered if anyone had ever seen this before.
Thanks
 
That's going to take up quite a bit of space.
What don't you like about an overhead/gantry crane?
 
Getting one ton on a 10m reach will be an enormous Hiab crane. To reach 15m it would need to be a monster. The concrete bed alone will likely cost a packet and have to be properly engineered for the particular crane. Thats assuming health and safety would even allow it. As samhay said why not an overhead gantry or just a forklift.
Regards
John
 
You would have to have a very tall workshop for a hiab that size get close in to to mention a very thick slab
If its in the centre assume that maximum reach will be 7,5 meters in any direction
Therefore you would be looking at I would expect an 18 tonne meter crane
For an 18 tonne meter crane on an 8 wheeler to pick up a tonne at 7.5 meters you would expect to need the legs extended a meter and the lorry to weigh 12-15 tonnes
Having looked recently there is nothing on eBay this big
You would also need 5 meters to the eaves to let the crane lift close to itself assuming it's bolted to the floor nor a plinth
A gantry crane is far better suited
Or as above a forklift or they make little electric pick and carry cranes

https://hird.co.uk/products/valla/20e/
 
As an alternative to a Mobile Gantry Crane: https://www.materialshandling.com.au/pr ... try-crane/

I'd consider something like these (but you'd need a structural engineer to design the supporting structure for the parallel beams):

https://www.hoistuk.com/products/indust ... -trolleys/
https://www.hoistuk.com/products/indust ... -trolleys/

Or perhaps simply a steel beam with a 'gider/beam trolley' and with a block & tackle attached to that :
e.g. https://www.materialshandling.com.au/pr ... leys-push/
 
Knuckleboom cranes like Hiabs are almost always hydraulically powered.
Hydraulic cranes WILL leak. Hoses WILL burst. Do you want that in a workshop?
Maintenance will be more complex and costly than for the equivalent electric gantry.
From HSE viewpoint, such cranes need a skilled operator to avoid assorted obstacles and people in the confined space of a workshop. Loads swinging on the end of a jib can be surprisingly hard to control unless moving very slowly and carefully.
As others have pointed out, it would be a pretty sizeable crane to reach 10m, and picking up close to the crane pedestal would require quite a lot of height - which you may have of course.
Duncan
 
We use knuckle cranes a fair bit - my last boat had a Palfinger which was capable of 2 tons at full extension of 5m. It was physically massive, cost 35k and had a 7.5kw power pack. Thats to say nothing of the underlying structure. Is this the only way of achieving your ends?

A simple floor mounted jib such as this - https://cranedepot.com/products/1-ton-m ... -jib-crane - lifting onto a dolly or scissor lift table would be pretty silly person proof and a lot cheaper.
 
A few years back i bought a secondhand Tangye engine crane, it is a substantial bit of kit far stronger than the far eastern engine cranes on the market. Rated at One Ton with the jib right in it could probably lift two. Although it gets in the way sometimes It makes lifting heavy things easy. Harrison 140 lathe, boats, cars anything you can get up close to is childs play.
 
I would love a shop big enough for a full overhead gantry crane. They really aren't that expensive, you just have to move them....
I have the parts for a swinging jib crane I need to build at work - its a 4m boom with a 250kg demag hoist - mainly I need it to swap the heads and tables on the milling machines as they're not really manageable with manpower. Search jib cranes on ebay - there's plenty out there.
 
So you've put in a concrete base for a crane you've not yet specified...

Not wishing to sound too troll-like, but I don't think you've thought this through too well.

1-ton isn't very much, but at a long reach it can be. What do you actually want to do? Currently I suspect you will end up with one of two scenarios, either a very expensive and innefective solution, or a very expensive and very dangerous situation.

Either way, I'd stop for a long think about now.

Aidan
 
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