You would be at a loss to miss a crane in most construction sites.  A crane is a massive piece of machinery with a tower fitted with cables and pulleys for lifting and lowering construction materials. Apart from their use at construction sites, manufacturers of heavy equipment also use cranes. Construction cranes are temporary structures mounted on a purposely-built vehicle or fixed on the ground.

Crane operators control the crane from a cab either by radio type controls or with a push button control station. In the excavating and construction business cranes are necessary for moving equipment and machinery down steep hills or into trenches. The following are the different types of cranes.

Tower Crane

This is a modern kind of crane. Tower cranes provide the best combination of lift capacity and height. Tower cranes are commonly found in construction sites. Fixed on the ground, this type of crane is essential in the construct of tall buildings and skyscrapers. There are various types of tower cranes:

• Self-supporting static
• Supporting static
• Traveling or rail mounted

Mobile Cranes

This type of crane has a telescopic tower mounted on a mobile platform like a truck or a rail car. It uses hydraulic cylinders and cables to raise and lower the telescopic boom.

Telescopic Crane

Telescopic cranes offer a boom, which consists of a number of tubes fitted one inside another. The raising and lowering of the boom is possible by the use of a hydraulic system.

Truck Mounted Crane

A truck with rubber tires serves as the mount for the crane. The truck-mounted crane offers you great mobility. The truck has outriggers that extend outwards vertically or horizontally which are used to level and stabilize the crane when performing hoisting activities.

Rough Terrain Crane

An undercarriage suitable for off road terrain acts as the mount for this crane. No different from cranes fitted on a truck, the rough terrain has outriggers that extend horizontally and vertically to provide extra stability to the crane when performing hoisting duties.

The rough terrain crane uses a single engine to power the undercarriage as well as the telescopic boom.

Overhead Crane

Suspended crane is the other name given to this type of crane. Commonly found in manufacturing factories, overhead cranes lift heavy loads. This crane hoist is on a movable trolley that moves in one direction along a beam or a set of poles. The crane moves at angles in one direction along elevated tracks or tracks fixed on the ground. The sides of the assembly line area act as mounts for the overhead crane.

Loader Crane

Cranes cannot work without hydraulic systems. Fitted on a trailer is a loader crane that has a hydraulic powered and articulated arm. As the name suggests, this crane loads equipment and other heavy items onto a trailer or truck. The crane has various tubes fitted into one another and the hydraulic system extends and decreases the length of the boom. For extra stability, the loader crane has outriggers that extend vertically and horizontally.

Personnel in the construction sector, engineers and manufacturing can accomplish very little without cranes. In the building of bridges, buildings, and overpasses, cranes are beneficial. Every type of work will call for a particular kind of crane visit pro trainers to find out more about our Crane Training programmes.