A gantry crane can pick up some of the heaviest objects around, like the engines of ships or cars. You will often see shipyard workers using gantry cranes to shift heavy containers to and from ships. Gantry cranes have a supporting framework that can open up to a full yard. The rail track attached underneath the sides of the cranes makes it easy to pick heavy objects without too much effort.
There are primarily four types of gantry cranes: portable gantry cranes, full gantry cranes, semi-gantry cranes, and adjustable gantry cranes. Although full gantry cranes can lift the most weight, they are not as flexible as their portable counterparts. Here are a few reasons why it’s better to invest in a portable gantry crane than the other models.
Understanding portable gantry cranes
This type of crane is smaller than a full gantry crane or semi-gantry crane. Portable gantry cranes run on rubber wheels and casters. This ensures that the bottom of the crane doesn’t experience much wear and tear even if you use the crane for hours every day. Most importantly, the wheels allow you to move the crane to your desired place whenever you want. You just need to push it slowly when it’s empty. This makes portable gantry cranes space savers, unlike some of their counterparts.
The only drawback with portable gantry cranes is that they can’t lift the weights that a full gantry or semi-gantry crane can lift. It is suitable for lifting lighter objects like small containers, rocks, or heavy metal slabs.
Flexibility of portable gantry cranes
One of the reasons why portable gantry cranes edge ahead of other models is that you can move them to any place you want. A full gantry crane won’t move easily once you install it. Its rail track works on a fixed path, and its unique design allows forklifts, trucks, carts, and scissor lifts to roll over the lifting area easily. Although it is ideal for picking up heavy objects, you can’t move it if you need to pick up items from a different place.
You can take portable gantry cranes anywhere you want. It’s not just a suitable crane in the shipyard but also at construction sites. A portable gantry crane can lift heavy rocks without requiring human labor. Moreover, you can unload the crane once you finish working and keep it under a shade. This keeps the crane safe from extreme weather conditions. Some of the parts of a full gantry crane or semi-gantry crane may develop rust since you can’t move them anywhere.
Many people think that portable gantry cranes are similar to jib cranes. Well, the former has more benefits than jib cranes as they can lift heavier objects and move from one place to another. Jib cranes have a concrete foundation, making them a permanent structure.
You should search for an advanced portable gantry crane that comes with heavy-duty rail tracks and forklifts. They would help you lift objects that most semi-gantry cranes can lift easily. For more details of gantry cranes, you can check here ellsencranes.com/.