Installing your Overhead Crane
Or: The Toughest and Riskiest Part of the Project
Overview:• A job for the pros. • Meet the checklist or negotiate differences beforehand. • Get a rail survey 2+ weeks before installation. Installing an overhead crane is a tough job best suited to professionals unless the crane is small and simple. Any crane over five tons or with all motions powered is likely a good idea to have installed professionally, whether by your approved seller or by a local machinery mover or rigging house. |
 Step One: rigging the girders to the mobile crane units. |
 Step Two: Lifting the girder to the runway. |
When the crane is being installed, it’s important
to remember to have certain conditions ready for the
installers. It is standard to charge you extra if work
cannot proceed according to these boilerplate conditions.
The building must have power and light. Electrical service
to the overhead crane runway must be ready. A fused
disconnect must be installed, with conduit climbing up a
column to a junction box at runway level. Typically a
ten-foot pigtail hanging from the junction box is also
appropriate. Your approved overhead crane seller shall tell
you what size of fused disconnect to use, but 60 amp is
usually safe for estimating purposes. No interfering trades
may be occupying the area set aside for crane installation,
and the floor must be clear enough to move a semi truck, two
scissor lifts, and at least one mobile crane into place at
one time. Further, if the building is still under
construction, it’s usually much cheaper and easier to leave
a section of roofing off until the crane is installed. If
you as a buyer do not feel you can meet any of these
conditions, notify your approved seller before the purchase
contract for the overhead crane is signed. If the contract
has been signed, it’s likely you are in breach and shall
notify the seller as soon as possible to avoid disputes over
the billed amount. |
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When the crane runway was built by the building contractor or a party other than the overhead crane builder, the building owner or crane buyer is very wise to have a runway survey done at least two weeks before crane installation date. If the crane runway is out of specification, delays, storage charges, and more importantly, crane damage can occur fast and snowball. An overhead crane installed on a runway with poor tolerances will void the warranty and cost thousands in down-time due to wheel replacement, rail replacement, and loss of production. A poorly toleranced runway is a severe problem. |
 Careful coordination is required to avoid damage to a crane. It's not easy to move a crane weighing 10,000 pounds, and it won't stop on a dime. |
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