Bigger is better- but also more expensive, and cost is a factor. several people suggested a bridge crane of about 3 tons capacity. I have no good idea of the cost, or to what extent and cost the building could be designed for this capacity and have one put up later. It is much easier to get prices on a gantry crane, and this could be obtained later. Any one have any ideas about bridge crane costs/ advantages vs a gantry crane? Other suggestions?
Gantry Cranes – This type of cranes are essentially the same as the regular eot cranes except that the bridge for carrying the trolley is rigidly supported on more legs running on fixed rails or other runway. These “legs” removes the supporting runway and column system and then connect to end trucks which run on a rail either embedded in, or laid on top of, the floor.
lots to think about here..... #1 gantry crane.....puts point loads on the floor so floor will have to be sized accordingly...gantry will require more floor space for wheels and end frame assemblies so a wider building....gantrys can have various levels of motivation systems #2 bridge crane.....to fully utilize building needs to be pre-designed for the crane including straight columns to maximize floor space utilization...the difference in building design on a 3 ton and 5 ton would be minimal so at least design for 5ton..bridge cranes both top running and underhung need a beam/rail support system between columns...the size of those beams can varry greatly depending on the end truck length of the bridge crane...bridge cranes can be fully electrified ..hoist..trolly and bridge and all controled from a pendant making it a good option for a single user... both styles of cranes can be purchased with low/multi/high speed hoists .....low speed is needed especially in a shop application....its all so important to undersand crane hook heights in both cases to make sure your building is actually tall enough to accomodate your crane and still have it do what you need it to do... Just touching the surface of crane issues...hope it helps
Thanks for the suggestions friends...really helpful
I do a lot of work with just one fixed I beam,a trolley and chain fall. A fork lift helps a lot too.
You can find more information about cranes at Gleason crane rental new & used cranes.
Just to make you people jealous where I work we have a bridge crane that is rated for forty, that's right 40 tons! You've heard the Post Office advertisement "If it fits It ships"? well if it fits through the doors of the shop we can lift it! This is an antique crane as it was originally installed in a coal burning power plant down in Pa. Actually have a copy of the original PO from 1929! The only real problem with it is to operate one has to climb a 20 foot ladder to get in the control basket. A few times over the last 40+ years different bosses have looked into remote controls but the price scares that thought away! A couple years back the guy who sold us this crane stopped by the shop and asked if we still used it. When I said still works fine he said if he knew it would last that long he would have charged a lot more for it!
Yeah kshansen , we have a few stone mills in my area that have similar vintage bridge cranes . All riveted construction . First thing I done was build a bridge crane for the shop , had the crane first & concrete floor came later . As mentioned one thing I like about a bridge crane is they don't take up usable shop space & travel the full length & width of the building .
We sourced a used 10 ton bridge crane, than built the shop to fit.
We have some of the biggest bridge cranes around, (don't know the ton capacity, but have heard they are some the biggest in the country) in a big industrial complex built during WW2, built for relining the big 16" naval guns. I'd done work on them, inside the building, lifting down a trolley, the guy I was working with found an antique pack of Lucky Strikes up there. I have a 4" I beam and two 1/2 ton chainfalls on trolleys in my 40' wide framed/wood truss 14' high shop. I hung it in such a way that any loads are spread along the entire 40' length, basically built another truss at a 90 to the regular trusses. I did several similar when I was framing back in the day, no roofs caved in or even ceiling drywall cracks. My limit is 1000 pounds, self imposed, it's been real handy over the years, especially when I was fabbing large solar array racks, I built them upside down, and could then flip them over for installing the panels, and eventually lower them right onto a modded trailer. What made these racks differerent was they were designed to be set with a boom truck, all pre wired, store bought racks have to be assembled piecemeal, usually in a remote area, mine would be slam dunked in as little 30 minutes, assuming the 8" pipe set in concrete was done a couple weeks earlier. It seems the other solar guys didn't have their own boom truck...., I was undercutting them while making more money, easier, as most of the work was done in my air conditioned shop in between the real easy money, crane work! But then the state electrical board started insisting they be something called "engineered" and UL approved, forget the fact I had over 50 of them in 3 states with zero failures, so that was that. The dual 1/2 ton chain falls made it all possible.
Overhead crane hands down all day, every day. Gantry cranes work but such a PITA if you're trying to mate together components. You're also severely limited in the size of machine you can work on. If I were in the market to lease or build a shop there will be an overhead crane or I'm not setting up there.
This morning truss work, saw this jib crane post. For light duty work, one of these can be handy also, though I 'd make my own.