All About Crane Trucks: What Crane Trucks Are And Why People Hire Them
Today we’re putting down our hard hats and picking up our (metaphorical) textbooks to tell you all about crane trucks.
What are truck-mounted cranes? What are crane trucks used for? How tall is a crane truck?
We’ll be answering all these questions and more in our educational blog post. So strap in and let’s get into it!
All about crane trucks
What is a crane truck?
The best place to begin when talking all about crane trucks is the basics, don’t you think?
So let’s dive into a trusty definition.
A crane truck, or a vehicle loading crane, is a vehicle that is designed to lift, lower and carry loads (you can thank Law Insider for that definition of a crane truck, and you can thank us for the nifty alliteration).
Crane trucks are able to lift and lower loads all thanks to (you guessed it) a crane that’s mounted on it.
What’s great about crane trucks is their versatility. Not only can they lift and lower heavy items, but they can transport them too.
This mobility is incredibly handy as it avoids needing a stationary crane and a truck to deliver and install one item. It’s a ‘two birds, one stone’ situation, saving you time and money.
What is a truck-mounted crane?
A truck-mounted crane is just another term used to refer to a crane truck!
While there are plenty of other types of cranes out there, like mobile cranes, truck-mounted cranes are the ones you see zipping around on the roads.
Generally, the crane is either mounted on the back of the driver’s cab or at the back of the truck tray.
Both crane positions come with their own advantages. For example, a crane positioned behind the driver’s cab allows for longer lengths to be carried on the truck bed.
But, a crane positioned at the back of a truck tray, like ours, provides more range as the crane doesn’t have to reach across the tray to lift and lower.
How does a truck-mounted crane work?
Great question.
Truck-mounted cranes are powered by hydraulics and controlled by a remote or by manual controls at the base of the crane.
Remote-controlled truck-mounted cranes, like ours at Cope Crane Trucks, allow the crane truck operator to have full control as they can keep a hand on the load while operating their remote control, and they can keep their crane and load in sight during the lift.
Manually operated crane models require the crane truck operator to remain at the base of the crane. When they don’t have a full view of their load, they may require a licensed dogman to guide them during the lift.
To avoid the truck toppling over as the weight of the crane and load shifts, stabiliser legs are used to steady the crane truck in place.
In saying that, crane truck operators do need to work within safe reach even with the stabiliser legs down.
Tadano provides a great educational video explaining this if you’d like to learn more.
What is the capacity of a crane truck?
Since we’re talking all about crane trucks, we can’t skip over capacity. When people talk about the capacity of a crane truck, they’re usually referring to three things:
The weight a crane truck can carry on its tray
The weight a crane can lift, and
The distance or height a crane can reach.
Generally speaking, crane trucks vary in capacity depending on the make and model of the truck and crane.
So what might be an easy job for one crane truck operator may be outside the scope of work for another, and vice versa.
That’s why it’s so important to discuss all the variables of your job or project with your crane truck operator before they rock up on site.
This gives your crane truck operator a good idea of whether or not their crane truck’s capacity aligns with your job.
How tall is a crane truck?
The rule of thumb with crane trucks is that the bigger the crane, the taller the truck will be.
Our crane truck is 3.6 metres tall when our crane is packed up. With that type of height, we plan our routes wisely in order to avoid any low bridges.
You’ll never catch us attempting to drive under the infamous Montague Street bridge in South Melbourne that claims countless trucks each year!
How wide is a crane truck?
Unlike height and capacity, the width of truck-mounted cranes is pretty standard, ranging 2.5 metres or less.
Do you need a licence to operate a crane truck?
We can’t talk all about crane trucks and not mention licences.
To operate a crane truck that lifts 10 tonnes or more per metre, you’ll need to have a Vehicle Loading Crane Licence (also called a CV licence).
While crane work may look like lifting and lowering items, there are a lot of factors that go into operating a crane safely.
From ground conditions to the type of slings being used and all the way to what material the load is made of, a crane truck operator has to factor in every variable when operating a crane to make sure they’re working within their crane’s capacity.
Being a crane truck operator is not for the mathematically challenged!
A CV Licence not only allows a crane truck operator to operate their crane but also allows them to sling and dog their own loads.
If you aren’t familiar with these terms, we’ll make sure to unpack them in our next blog post.
If you want to learn more about CV Licences, Easy Train in Dandenong discuss it in more detail.
All about crane truck hire
What is truck-with-crane hire?
Now that we’ve talked all about crane trucks, it’s time to talk all about crane truck hire.
Again, let’s begin with the basics: what is crane truck hire?
The answer is quite intuitive, and the term ‘crane truck hire’ itself does a pretty good job of breaking it down.
Crane truck hire, or truck-with-crane hire, is a lifting and transportation service used for heavy, bulky and awkward items.
What are crane trucks used for?
Crane trucks are hired out both by businesses and everyday households.
Businesses use crane trucks to deliver and install their goods. For example, we delivered a tiny home to Nelipot Flower Farm on behalf of Container Domes and Shelters.
But we’ve also delivered and installed items like air conditioners, spas, road plates and machines.
You might be thinking, if a business needs to use a crane truck often, wouldn’t they just buy one themselves?
Great question, but you might be surprised to find out that’s not the case.
Crane trucks can be notoriously expensive to buy, run and maintain. And they’re not a small vehicle you can just park on the side of the road either – you’ll need plenty of space to park a crane truck and store all your slings, hooks and equipment.
So, many businesses opt for hiring a crane truck instead. It means they only pay for a crane truck when they need one and they don’t have one sitting around, collecting dust when they don’t. Plus, they never have to worry about upkeep!
Crane truck hire is just as useful around the home, too. Ever wondered how your neighbour got that huge hydro pool in the backyard? They didn’t carry it across their shoulders, that’s for sure!
Crane trucks are the safest way to install sculptures, playgrounds, spas and sheds in your backyard. They’re even great for hauling furniture onto second or third stories.
What’s the cost of crane hire?
We can’t talk all about crane trucks and ignore the question you’re probably most eager to find an answer for.
So let’s talk costs.
Unfortunately, you won’t find a hard and fast crane hire rate here – or anywhere! Like almost everything in the crane truck hire industry, there are plenty of variables that impact what your total invoice will come to.
Things like the service you’re after, the size and weight of your item, and how crane-truck-friendly your location is will all impact the cost of crane hire.
We talk more about the factors that go into crane truck hire prices in our blog post ‘Crane Truck Hire Rates Melbourne’, where you’ll find some general figures and examples.
All about crane trucks, wrapped up.
So, did we answer all your questions about crane trucks? Hopefully, we did!
To recap all about crane trucks:
A crane truck is a vehicle that lifts, lowers and carries heavy or bulky items
A truck-mounted crane is a type of crane truck
For the most part, crane trucks vary in capacity, height and width
And yes, you do need a Vehicle Loading Crane Licence (a CV Licence) to operate a crane truck.
To recap all about crane truck hire:
Crane truck hire is a service businesses and families use to lift, lower and carry their heavy or bulky items
Crane trucks are used for a bunch of reasons, like installing spas, delivering road plates or lifting your hefty couch on the second storey of your home
The cost of crane hire varies from job to job and operator to operator.
If you found this blog post insightful, you might want to check out our other blog posts which you can find on our news page.
