Our expertise lies in designing low-headroom cranes tailored for factories with limited vertical space, and we have a track record of delivering successful solutions to our valued customers across the globe, such as the Philippines, Pakistan, and Indonesia. Today, we highlight a remarkable crane upgrade project executed for a leading mechanical engineering company in Germany. This upgrade was necessitated by the company’s requirement to handle significantly heavier components, necessitating an enhancement in its overhead lifting capabilities.

Customized low headroom overhead crane

In August 2015, a German engineering firm commissioned a state-of-the-art moving column milling machine, capable of achieving an accuracy of 0.017mm across a 10-meter span. This significant investment enabled the company to machine larger and heavier components, necessitating the introduction of a new crane to accommodate the increased weight and size of the parts. Specifically, the crane had to have a lifting capacity of 16 tonnes, rather than the previous 5 tonnes, while also being compatible with the existing crane runways.

Given these specifications and the limited clearance available, the Crane Company was approached to design and produce a customized low-headroom crane with a unique configuration. The challenge lay in ensuring that the crane, with its limited clearance between the runway and the ceiling, could operate without colliding with the spindle motor of the milling machine. This was especially crucial given the restricted installation conditions and the inability to modify the existing crane runway.

The company responded with a bespoke crane that boasted a clearance of just 943mm from the top of the wire rope hoist to the bottom of the hook. This allowed for lift heights of up to 236mm below the crane runway, even with the limited space above it. The crane’s design incorporated numerous non-standard features that would not be possible with a standard crane. It was equipped with two compact 8-ton wire rope hoists and featured a specially designed crane bridge.

Within this bridge, two modified trolleys operated on tracks, enabling the crane to achieve its compact design. This, combined with adjusting the distance between the bogie end frames, made the crane’s construction possible. The load of the system was distributed evenly across the coupled crane end frames, which boasted a total of eight wheels, ensuring that the maximum load capacity of the crane runway was not exceeded.

The load was suspended from the hook and its weight displayed on the radio remote control’s display. Additionally, the crane was equipped with the necessary safety features for tandem operation, which could be activated via remote control. This allowed for the safe lifting of heavy and long workpieces.

What can we learn from this

We have customers requesting low headroom cranes every year, so we have extensive experience in this area. From this case we can also see some commonalities in our work. For example: The main characteristic of low-clearance overhead cranes is to operate inside lower buildings or in limited spaces. Therefore, special attention should be paid to the overall height of the crane when designing to ensure that it can adapt to the specific low headroom environment. Despite the reduction in headroom, the crane’s structural strength and stability remain at the heart of the design. It is necessary to select high-strength materials and adopt reasonable structural design to ensure the safety of the crane under various working conditions.

If you are interested in low headroom cranes, or have sufficient demand, you can tell us your working conditions information, and our engineers will provide you with design drawings and basic quotations soon.