Cantilever Overhead Cranes

A cantilever overhead crane looks like a typical overhead crane supported by a beam. The usual difference between a typical overhead crane and a cantilever crane is that the cantilever crane is usually held by its own frame or gantry. Most overhead cranes on the other hand are supported by the building or its roof.

Overhead cantilever cranes generally work best in buildings where the roof or ceiling isn’t strong enough to support a traditional overhead crane. They are also often used in structures that are too high for an overhead crane mechanism.

Advantages of Overhead Cantilever Cranes

1. The biggest advantage to cantilever overhead cranes is that they are often mobile. The cantilever structure supporting the crane can be placed on wheels. This can allow workers to move it around the factory floor or other facility.
2. Another advantage to cantilevers is that they can be made portable. This means they can be broken down and moved from building to building. This means that overhead cantilever cranes would be a perfection lifting solution for a firm that is planning to move to a new building soon or from building to building.
3. Overhead cantilever cranes can also be taken outside and used in the yard and other work areas. This means that they are perfect for a large facility that needs a mobile overhead lifting solution.
4. Like other kinds of overhead cranes, overhead cantilevers can be purchased as monorail or traveling cranes. This makes them more versatile and particularly useful in manufacturing processes.
5. Another advantage to an overhead cantilever crane is that it can be used to lift items up and transport them around the facility. This makes them useful for moving items like engines and other potential heavy pieces of equipment.

Disadvantages to Overhead Cantilever Cranes

1. The biggest disadvantage to overhead cantilever cranes is that the frame work to such cranes takes up space on the factory floor. The frame work may block work ways and take up space that could be filled by workers and equipment. It can also be harder to move through the factory floor and in some cases could present a safety hazard.
2. In smaller facilities a monorail crane or other more traditional crane such as a built in bridge crane could be more useful. A traveling crane could fill the same purposes without taking up any space on the factory floor.
3. The lifting capacity of smaller overhead cantilever cranes can also be quite limited. They may not be able to the move the loads needed over the distances needed.
4. Another problem with overhead cantilever cranes is that they might be able to fit through doors and entranceways. This could limit their use particularly in older facilities and smaller facilities. In some cases a cantilever crane may have to be broken down in order to be moved around. This could cost time and money that could be better spent elsewhere.

In some cases a jib crane can be handier because it is smaller and more versatile.