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How to buy crane for your application at good crane price?

21 Dec, 2016

To buy crane, it is necessary to think for the long term. Crane price is not the decisive factory. How to buy crane for your application? Buy overhead crane? Buy gantry crane? Buy jib crane? What to consider to buy cane besides crane price? Dongqi help you to buy crane with CE certificates at good price. Check the tips help you to buy crane at good price.

What type of crane is needed for your application?

On considering to buy crane, crane lifting capacity, lifting height, and the area of hook coverage usually takes top priority. Besides, Dongqi Crane the following questions should also be thought over. No matter what types of the cranes you choose, the following should be considered.

  • What are the loads for the lifting crane?
  • How frequently will the crane be used each shift? How many hours the crane will work on a workday?
  • How long the lifting crane needs to run in the workshop?
  • What is the dimension of the workshop? How long is the width and length of the workshop?
  • Do I need a load attachment? If, yes, which kind of shape should be used
  • How can a lifting crane ensure the loads safety during operation?
  • How can a lifting crane improve my workers' safety in handling the loads?
  • How will the loads need to be transported and located?
  • How much money be invested in in a crane system?

How to buy a crane

How to buy a crane? Beforehand, you have to know the crane buying procedures and your expectations. First, let’s start with contacting with a crane manufacturer, going through crane consultation, quote processes, and to crane installation. After confirming, your business can benefit from a crane system, you will start to buy a crane by study the crane companies, from who you will buy a crane.

A crane is complex and expensive, no matter it is an overhead crane, gantry crane, jib crane, and workstation crane or a monorail crane. Before buying the crane, it is better for you to meet different crane manufacturers and get different crane quotes on crane design and installation. Even if for your exiting cranes, you also can seek suggestions from different experts to evaluate how the crane works in your plant or facility.

Step 1. Contact a crane manufacturer

After your study, we will get into the stage of contacting crane builders. Select several crane builders to design a crane for your facility and quote the crane price. It is very simple, just fill a contact form on the selected crane builder’s web, and you will get reply either by email, by phone or other online chatting tools.
If you filled out a contact form on a manufacturers’ website, then a salesperson will reach out via email or telephone to establish contact, introduce themselves, and learn about the following:
During communication, the following information should be provided;

  • Who are you and what do you do?
  • What is your company about? What does your business do?
  • What industries do you serve?
  • What is your current material handling capacity, problems and experiencing now?

Step 2. Make your material handling condition and requirements understand thoroughly

It is very important to get your current material handling situation be understand thoroughly by the crane builders. It is better to have the crane builders to visit your facility.
To have the crane builders to visit your plant makes the crane manufacturer have a thorough evaluation of the material handling solution in your plant, such as, the conditions of exiting lifting equipment, equipment location, working environment, and the conditions of your building and your requirements, etc.

Some of the necessary information that they’re gathering to provide a quote can include:

If facility visiting is not so convenient, the following information should be provided to crane builders:

  • A description of the lifting application and the environment
  • Existing cranes in facility—quantity, brands, capacities of existing equipment
  • Total number of cranes needing to be installed
  • Crane capacity / max hoist capacity
  • Number of picks, or lifts, per hour
  • What percentage of lifts will be at capacity?
  • Span, or length, of crane and runway system
  • Hook height / total lift height required
  • Power supply (480V, 230V, etc.)
  • Radio controls – yes / no?

More information can be provided, the better understanding to the crane project will be. With the thorough evaluation of the situation, the most suitable crane system will be designed for your application.

Step 3 Get crane quotes and compare them

Due to the different Types of cranes, the time for crane quote also varies affected by the type of crane, complexity of crane design, and crane duty classification, etc.

  • Simpler cranes like jib cranes and workstation cranes usually will take 1-3 business days for the crane manufacturers to quote.
  • A simple modular crane with a base trolley, hoist, and bridge design may take 5-7 business days to produce a quote.
  • A quote for custom-designed process cranes, or cranes with extra engineering built-in, may take 10-14 business days, or even longer, to produce for projects with a large number of cranes or distinct characteristics.
  • What is the content of Crane quote?

What does a quote will include? A crane project quote usually includes the price for the full scope of the project, and the all the costs of each items related, such as, including all costs relating to:

  • Crane project management
  • Engineering and design of the crane system to meet customer specifications and ASME guidelines
  • Sourcing of all crane parts and components
  • Design and manufacturing of new crane runway systems (if crane runways don’t exist or the existing runways do not meet the requirement. )
  • Any disassembly and removal of existing lifting equipment or crane system. Installation of new crane system and load test at time of electrical start-up
  • Timeframe / lead time to complete the crane project
  • Payment terms

What’s important, you have to make it clear that if there is any addition costs that are not included in the crane quote, such as charges related to tax, freight, and any others fees may not be covered in the quote.

Step 4 Choose a crane builder as your supplier

After getting crane quotes, you need to compare them to get the most satisfactory one. On comparing crane quotes, it is better to bear it in mind that crane price is only a part of crane quote, it is the right choice to select the crane equipment which will improve your business’ efficiencies and production flows.

When reviewing overhead crane quotes, consider the following:

  • Make sure the crane builder specific details or requirements that you provided them during your consultation are addressed in the quote.
  • Make sure your crane builder take the time to explain the quote and and you understand and are comfortable with the breakdown of costs.
  • Make sure the crane builder have committed to meet your project’s specific deadline / timeframe.
  • Ask for references and contact them to get their comments on quality of work, project timeline and budget, and overall satisfaction with the crane builder.

Step 5 Crane contact signed

After selecting the crane builder partner, you will review and finalize the scope of the crane project and then an agreement provided by crane builder will be signed. After the singing of contact, the crane production will start according to the approved crane drawing and schedules.

As for crane installation, it should be cared before crane agreement is signed. If crane installation is provided by the crane builder, the schedule of installation should be covered in the contact. If crane installation is provided by the third-party, it is important to make the installation team can view the location place of the crane , get the special equipment for crane installation prepared, and familiarize themselves with your facility to make sure the smoothness of crane installation.

Buy crane from Dongqi Crane

How to buy a crane? Dongqi Hoist and Crane will evaluation of your lifting needs and design a select a suitable crane for your factory, according to your lifting requirements, your budget, and long term effectiveness, etc.Below Dongqi Crane provides basic information needs to buy crane, such as, how to buy overhead crane, gantry crane, jib crane, and monorail crane, etc., however, professional consultation on crane buying will be given by our crane engineers.

How to buy overhead crane?

Overhead crane runs on an elevated runway system along the length of a factory or workshop, with three axes of hook motion available. Both single girder bridge design and double girder bridge designs are provided with great flexibility, which allows the hook to be positioned very precisely and for loads to be placed very gently and softly.

How to select and buy overhead crane for your application? Here are some questions for you to select and buy overhead crane from the various types of overhead cranes:

  • How long has the manufacture or provider of the overhead crane been in business?
  • Do they have direct industry experience in providing overhead cranes for competitors?
  • What types of overhead cranes they can offer?
  • What’s their overhead crane manufacturing procedures and quality control process?
  • Are their overhead crane ISO certificated? See our overhead crane certifications.
  • Specify your overhead crane specifications, such as, lifting capacity, size, span, etc.
  • How often your overhead crane will be used, once a week, once or twice a day, or constantly?
  • How will the overhead crane move? (Up or down, left or right, forward or back?)

If you still do not how to buy overhead crane, please consult our overhead crane engineer, who will teach you to buy crane step by step. Conntact to buy overhead crane now. 

Types of overhead cranes - How to buy crane series

1. single girder overhead crane. 2. Double girderoverhead crane. 
2. Single girder under running overhead crane. 4. Double girder under running overhead crane
5. Box girder top running overhead crane

How to buy gantry crane

Gantry crane is quite similar to the overhead crane except that gantry crane runs on a track at the floor level. The bridge (which carries the hoist and trolley) is supported by a pair of rigid steel legs which, in turn, are carried by a pair of end trucks along the floor-level runway.

How to select and buy gantry crane

How to buy gantry crane for your application? On gantry crane selection, there are several factors that needs to be considered to buy crane.

Usually for 50 ton or lighter capacity, span is within 35m, no other special function, single girder gantry crane is suitable and enough. If working condition require wider leg clearance space and higher working speed, and often to lift heavy and big object, double girder is much better to choose.

  • Span and cantilever length

The span of gantry crane is important factor affecting the quality of the gantry crane. When you choose gantry crane type, if it can meet the equipment using and in standard span conditions, you’d better to reduce the span.

  • Gantry crane span size

During work, there should be a safe space between gantry crane’s external size and cargo and vehicle path, so that enough space for loading &unloading work. If truck is working in span, it should far from gantry crane leg about 0.7m away. When gantry crane don't work, the hook should be 0.5m higher to vehicles; cargo is 0.5m away from legs when it is though out from legs.

  • Principle of determining wheel track
  1. Meet crane’s traveling stability along rail direction.
  2. Object’s max out dimension can through the leg clearance.
  3. Pay attention to make the wheel base has a definite proportional relationship with span, its formal is B=(1/4-1/6)

If you still do not how to buy gantry crane, please consult our gantry crane engineer, who will teach you to buy crane step by step. Contact to buy gantry crane now. 

Buy gantry crane - How to buy crane series

How to buy jib crane

Jib crane usually consists of a pivoting head and boom assembly, which carries a electric hoist and electric trolley unit. The pivoting head is supported either by a floor-mounted mast providing 360°-boom rotation or by an existing building column, which provides 180° of boom rotation. The jib crane can also be motorized to provide precise spotting of loads, however, the hook location is along a radial path rather than a simple X-Y arrangement.A suitable jib crane can improve the efficiency of material handling and work flow production. How to buy jib crane for your application? Dongqi Crane gives you the follow suggestion for your reference to buy crane. On buy jib crane, the following should be considered:

Lifting capacity

To buy crane, the lifting capacity is important. The maximum weight of your application must not equal or exceed the weight of your jib crane. When defining your lifting capacity of your jib crane, it should be accounted in the following way:

  • +15% for the weight of the electric hoist and trolley
  • +15% for the deflection of electric hoist and trolley
  • +25% capacity allowance for impact

Degree of Rotation,To buy crane, the degree of rotation should be considered when buying jib crane. Usually, the two types are offered: 1) pillar jib crane offers up to 360 degree rotation. 2) wall mounted jib crane offers up to 180 degree rotation.

Outreach Range,The outreach range of jib crane refers to the distance from the boom tip to the crane hook, which also is the working area needed. The outreach range should be designed properly before buying the jib crane.

Crane Height,The height of jib crane has the attachments such as electrical entries included.

Under Boom Height,The under boom height refers to the distance from the floor to the underside of the boom, which will determine the type of hoist required.

Installation,Location of crane will decide the type of crane as the pillar jib crane needs concrete foundations which may cost more than the jib crane sometimes. Crane installation is also highly decisive to buy crane.
If you still do not how to buy jib crane, please consult our jib crane engineer, who will teach you to buy crane step by step.

Buy jib crane- How to buy crane series

When buy a crane, the professional crane consultation is a must. If you have any question or needs on overhead crane, gantry crane, jib crane, and other custom lifting crane, please feel free to contact us. Dongqi help you to buy crane with CE certificates at good price.

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