A precast yard lifts the same three things all day — formwork, reinforcement cages and finished elements — and each one has a different demand. Formwork has to be placed precisely in a bed; cages are floppy and need slow, steady movement; finished beams and piles are heavy, long and often handled outdoors. Most precast plants end up with a gantry crane over the casting beds rather than an overhead crane, because the beds are outdoors or under a shed without a building strong enough to carry a runway.
A plan of the yard with the rails marked is worth more than a page of description, and a photo of a typical element on the bed tells us how it is picked up.
| Crane type | Rail-mounted gantry crane (MG/MH series); semi-gantry option |
|---|---|
| Capacity | 10 t, 16 t, 20 t, 32 t, 50 t — with or without a second hook |
| Span / rail gauge | 20 m – 35 m over the casting beds |
| Lifting height | 6 m – 12 m to the hook |
| Duty classification | A5–A6 for production yards |
| Hoisting speed | 0.5–2 m/min fine speed with VFD; faster travel speed for the long axis |
| Lifting arrangement | Single hook, two synchronised hooks, or spreader beam |
| Outdoor protection | Galvanized or heavy epoxy, IP55, drainage, rain covers |
| Wind securing | Rail clamps standard; anemometer and wind interlock for exposed sites |
This is the range we normally supply for this industry. Your offer states the exact capacity, span, lifting height, duty class and voltage for your site — and where a figure here differs from the offer, the offer prevails.
If the beds are inside a building whose columns can carry a runway, an overhead crane is usually cheaper and does not take up yard space on the ground. If the beds are outdoors or under a light shed, a rail-mounted gantry crane is the practical answer, and if one side of the yard already has a suitable wall or column line, a semi-gantry crane halves the civil work. Send us the yard layout and we will tell you which one we would quote.
The two hooks hoist together through a single control sequence, with position feedback so they stay level within a set tolerance; if the deviation exceeds it, the crane alarms and stops. It is what you need for long beams and piles that must be picked up at two points. Tell us the lifting point spacing and the maximum element length, because that decides the hook spacing and the girder length.
Because the job is placing, not transporting. Lowering formwork into a bed or a cage onto spacers is a slow, controlled operation, and a fast hook simply cannot be controlled finely enough. We normally specify a low fine speed for hoisting and a much faster travel speed for moving along the beds — the two motions do different jobs.
Hot-dip galvanizing or a multi-coat epoxy system with a stated dry film thickness, IP55 motors and panels, drainage in the girder sections, sealed bearings and a rain cover over the hoist. For coastal or very humid sites we also specify stainless fasteners. This is the part where cheap quotes quietly save money by leaving it out; ask what paint system and IP rating are included.
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 spanOutdoor stockyards, precast beds, container and aggregate handling. Hook, grab or C-hook.
3–100 t · rail or tyreTell us the material, the heaviest piece, how many hours a day the crane runs and whether it works indoors or out — we reply within 24 hours.
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.
