A gantry crane carries its own runway: the bridge runs on legs that travel on rails laid on your yard, so you do not need a building to hang a crane from. That makes it the standard machine for outdoor storage, precast beds, aggregate yards and container handling — and, for many sites in Vietnam and Southeast Asia, the only practical way to get powered lifting over an open yard that will never have a roof.
Full gantry — two legs, two rails, one bridge. Everything is independent of the buildings around it, which is why it is the default for open yards and for sites that will be expanded later. The rails are ordinary crane rails on a concrete or sleeper foundation, with end stops and rail clamps.
Semi-gantry — one leg travels on a rail on the ground, the other end runs on a runway beam fixed to an existing building column. This halves the civil work and the footprint, but it loads that building column, so the column has to be strong enough and we need its drawing. Very common in precast yards and workshops where one wall already exists.
Cantilever gantry — one or both sides of the bridge overhang beyond the legs, so you can lift material that sits outside the rails. It is the standard solution for storing long material beside a road or for serving two rows of stock with one crane. Tell us what has to be reachable on each side and we will size the cantilever.
A crane in the open air is a different specification exercise from one indoors, and this is where cheap quotes quietly go wrong:
| Capacity | 3 t, 5 t, 10 t, 16 t, 20 t, 32 t, 50 t, 75 t, 100 t |
|---|---|
| Span / rail gauge | 12 m – 35 m typical; cantilever and wider spans engineered to order |
| Lifting height | 6 m – 18 m to hook (higher on request) |
| Duty classification | A5–A6 typical; A7 for grab and continuous duty |
| Girder arrangement | Single girder or double girder; full gantry, semi-gantry or cantilever |
| Hoisting arrangement | Wire rope hoist or open winch trolley, hook / grab / magnet / C-hook / spreader |
| Travel speeds | Bridge 20–40 m·min⁻¹, trolley 20–30 m·min⁻¹, hoist 0.5–8 m·min⁻¹ with VFD |
| Power supply | 380 V / 50 Hz 3-phase standard; cable reel, festoon or conductor busbar |
| Control | Cabin, radio remote, or pendant; dual control available |
| Outdoor protection | IP55 or higher, drainage, rain covers, galvanized or heavy epoxy paint |
| Wind securing | Rail clamps standard; anemometer and wind-speed interlock optional |
The table shows the range we normally supply. Your offer states the exact capacity, span, lifting height, duty class and voltage for your site — and where a figure in this table differs from the offer, the offer prevails. Send us your requirement and we will confirm each line in writing before you order.
If you have a building with columns that can carry a runway, an overhead crane is usually cheaper and does not take up yard space. If you are working outdoors, if the yard will be reorganised, if there is no suitable building, or if the span is wide and the roof low, a gantry crane is the practical answer. Plenty of sites use both: an overhead crane inside the workshop and a gantry crane over the storage yard alongside it.
Capacity, span (rail centre to rail distance), lifting height, the material you handle, how many hours a day the crane runs, the site location for wind and corrosion, and the power supply available. A sketch of the yard with the rails marked, and a photo of the site, removes most of the guesswork. If the crane has to work with a grab, tell us the material density — it changes the bucket size and therefore the crane rating.
The rail foundation — concrete beams, sleepers, or a steel rail on a plinth — is built locally to our drawing. We supply the crane, rail clips, end stops and clamps, and we tell you the required rail section, the track gauge tolerance, the level tolerance along the track, and the wheel loads so your contractor can size the foundation. Getting the two rails parallel and level is the difference between a crane that runs true for years and one that eats wheel flanges.
Yes, and it is one of the most common configurations we supply. Grab duty is heavy duty: the crane is normally specified at A6 or A7, with a heavier structure, bigger motors, and a grab matched to the material's bulk density. Tell us the material (sand, coal, clinker, scrap, waste), its bulk density, and the required tonnes per hour, and we will size the grab, the duty class and the crane together.
Workshops, warehouses, assembly and maintenance bays. Light structure, low wheel load, quick to install.
1–20 t · span to 30 mHeavy duty and long spans: steel fabrication, precast yards, smelters, heavy machining shops.
5–100 t · custom spanLaunching gantries and bridge erection machines for road and rail viaduct projects.
Project-engineeredSend capacity, span and lifting height and we will reply with a specification and a price within 24 hours.
We quote from 4–5 long-term partner factories in Changyuan, Henan. You will know which one is building your crane, our inspectors test it before shipment, and the drawings, test report and manuals travel with the machine. More about how we work →
Crane type, capacity (t), span (m) and lifting height (m) is usually enough for us to quote. Send a photo of your workshop if you are not sure.
