Blog » A simple starting guide to renting or hiring a crane
Posted by Jack Stull on 21 July 2011 | 0 Comments
This article is for the many people who need to rent a mobile crane with an operator from time to time but are unfamiliar with the process and feel uncomfortable doing so. (a mobile crane is any crane that can drive down the road; boom truck, truck crane, all terrain crane, etc)
We have many customers who use a crane a few times per year or less and that’s perfectly ok. In the taxi crane rental business we lift a myriad of different things for a wide array of companies and people. It’s what we do; we’re here to make the process easy for you.
First of all, we’re always happy to look at your project at no charge. For many projects this is necessary, but for smaller and simpler projects the scope and crane size can often be determined over the phone or by email.
When you contact us to hire/rent a crane there are a few basic things we need to know:
1. What is the object (load) we’re lifting?
2. What is the total combined weight of the load to be lifted?
3. What is the horizontal distance or radius in feet from the center of the load to the center of the crane or edge of the crane? This radius must be measured in two directions; from center of crane to center of load when lifting the load initially, as well as the radius for setting the load in its new position. (Depending on the layout and dimensions of the crane setup area, these measurements may be affected by crane size.)
4. What are the conditions and dimensions of the crane setup area? This area should be relatively level, must be solid (no fill), and must be large enough for the crane.
5. Are there any wires or other obstructions overhead or in the vicinity that may interfere with the crane or load?
6. Will the load be lifted or placed over top of an obstruction or back on the roof of a building? If so, we need to know the height of the obstruction/building, the distance from the edge of the obstruction/building to the center of the load and the distance from the edge of the obstruction/building to the center of the crane.
At first glance it may seem like a lot of questions but it’s really quite simple.
Again, we’re here to help, from the dispatcher to the operator our goal is to make lifting easy.