Jib Crane Outlet » Floor Mount Jib Cranes

Why aren’t the rotation motion and traverse motion powered usually?

Tad Dunville — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 21:07:08 +0000

It’s common to see the hoist motion powered on a jib crane. However, it is rare to find the traverse(trolley) and rotation motions powered. Many times the jib crane is purchased as a cost-effective tool to cover a small workstation. IN that workstation, parts are lifted by the jib crane and mounted into machines and also bolted on to larger assemblies. The finished piece is then transported to the next workstation by the overhead crane in the same building. In other words, for movements of more than five to ten feet, the overhead crane is used. Many times buyers do not feel the jib crane also needs to be motorized, that the operator can gently push the load to nearby machines and workbenches. For buyers that do want a motorized jib crane, both rotation and traverse(trolley) motions are available as powered motions at extra cost.

What Rotation options are available on a Jib Crane?

Tad Dunville — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 20:38:30 +0000

The idea of a jib crane is to cover an area by rotating instead of travelling. Most customers prefer to have as much area covered by the rotation of one jib as is possible. However, some customers may prefer to limit the rotation of a jib crane. For a small additional sum, rotation stops can be installed on most floor-mounted jib cranes. For example, the customer in a machine shop with a million dollar computerized machining center next to a jib crane does not want his jib crane to be able to rotate into the neighboring CNC machine. Also, some customers will require different electrification options such as a “top entry collector” or “bottom entry collector” depending on the rotation types. This decision will be made by the crane engineer because each option has a more appropriate application. Collectors of this nature help make jibs more flexible because these collectors allow unlimited rotation in one direction. Simple tag electrification is like a dog’s leash – eventually if the dog walks around a post enough, the leash will become wrapped around the post and the dog will not be able to move any more in that direction. Finally, the boom can be motorized itself. This option is expensive and is usually used in heavy duty or high-capacity applications. Pipe pit-casting applications typically see powered rotation jibs – in fact, the first overhead crane in the world was a motorized pit-cast jib crane in Birmingham, Alabama.

What Holds a Jib Crane to the Floor?

Tad Dunville — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 20:16:08 +0000

A jib crane is anchored to the foundation or wall with anchors that can be ordered with the jib crane or purchased by the customer at a local bolt or supply house. It is important that the jib crane be anchored to a proper concrete footing or properly engineered wall or building column. Bolts alone cannot anchor most jib cranes into industry standard 6” reinforced concrete floor. The floor will buckle, the crane will collapse, loads and/or people will be hurt. If you have any questions, please call our office first or reference your owners’ manual supplied with every jib crane. A jib crane is easy to install provided the directions are followed carefully. Most customers prefer to install their own jib cranes but installation is available through Jib Crane Outlet installation field crews.

How Big Can a Jib Crane Be?

Tad Dunville — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 20:03:30 +0000

In theory, one could order an enormous jib crane of any capacity or reach. In fact, the principles of the jib crane are employed on oil rigs and in harbors on what is commonly known as a “whirly crane” (pictured), a crane that rotates as a jib crane but travels as a bridge or gantry crane would.

But there is a practical limit to the industrial jib crane. After all, most factories and warehouses where jib cranes are installed do not have the same space configurations as a harbor. A harbor has little land to mount a bridge or gantry crane on, but lots of air space to let the top of a jib crane swing around. A factory has little air space because of the roof, but the entire factory has a floor underneath it to mount a crane.

The jib crane then is available up to fifteen tons rated capacity and twenty feet reach. Many times we find the jib crane is really only practical up to five tons rated capacity and twenty feet reach, but that is a game-time decision. If your project manager notices the design of a crane is approaching the threshold for design effectiveness, he or she will mention such an issue and make suggestions.

Wall mounted jib cranes are available to twenty feet reach in the cantilever format, and thirty feet reach in the tie-rod format. Again, it’s important to ask your project manager what solution is best when approaching the limits of the design.

How Does a Jib Crane Work?

Tad Dunville — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:00:49 +0000

Whether wall-mounted or floor-mounted, all jib cranes have two important characteristics. A jib crane will always rotate and a jib crane will always lift or support a load. Most jib cranes will also have a third motion, that of traverse: The load will be able to traverse the beam from the center of the circle to the edge of the circle created by the jib as the jib rotates. Jib cranes typically have a hand-powered rotation and traverse motion, while it is common to see either electric-powered or hand-powered lift motion. The hand-powered rotation and traverse motion are accomplished by push/pull, while the hand-powered lifting is accomplished by a chain similar to a non-powered garage door. Options for electric rotation and traverse are available on almost all jib cranes for those wishing to purchase such a crane.

Footing Design for Jib Cranes

Tad Dunville — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:55:37 +0000

Floor mounted jib cranes need to be mounted properly or the crane will collapse, resulting in damage to the load as well as human injury or death. A small selection of jib cranes can be mounted straight to a 6” reinforced concrete floor, the industrial building standard. The rest of the floor-mounted jib crane range must have a square of factory floor torn up and a specially-designed concrete footing installed.

How do I determine if my jib crane needs a foundation? Plan on needing a foundation unless your crane engineer tells you specifically otherwise. How do I know how big to make that foundation? Dearborn will supply you with a drawing showing the length, depth, and width of the foundation required, as well as any reinforcement required and the anchor bolt placement. Dearborn also offers a kit consisting of anchor bolts, anchor bolt template, and early kit shipment so the customer can set the foundation including anchor bolts before the actual jib crane arrives.

Jib Crane Standard Configurations

Tad Dunville — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 19:50:21 +0000

The jib crane is a ubiquitous tool for any factory, and almost all jib cranes come in one of three configurations. The main three configurations can be adapted to almost any situation with a little thought, saving the customer money and time over specialty products. Jib Crane Outlet sells hundreds of jib cranes every year and very few are outside the main group. The three main configurations have two sub-groups: Floor-Mounted and Wall-Mounted jib cranes.

Floor Mounted Jib Cranes. Although there are about five types of floor-mounted jib crane, only the free-standing floor-mounted jib crane is truly important. This is a jib crane with an upright mast, a running beam or boom (interchangeable terms), and a concrete foundation (supplied by others) to allow the jib crane to stand upright on a factory floor without any other support. In fact, if a concrete foundation were properly applied, a jib crane could work on the top of a mountain or the bottom of a sea floor without any other support. The free-standing floor-mounted jib crane typically has a design range up to 25’ reach and five ton rated capacity. Most dimensional needs over fifteen foot reach are better served by a gantry crane or bridge crane.

Wall Mounted Jib Cranes. Most wall-mounted jib cranes are actually mounted to a steel building column that would be behind the wall if an industrial building were really a living room or office. The wall-mounted jib crane can be a tie-rod jib crane, where a tie-rod mounted to the wall above the boom and tied off to the far end of the boom supports the weight, or the wall-mounted jib-crane can be a wall-cantilever jib crane, where a beam is cantilevered out without a tie-rod to support the load. As a rule of thumb, the tie-rod jib crane is chosen when maximum lifting height is not as important as economy or price. A wall-cantilever jib crane is more expensive but can also allow the load to be lifted fifteen percent higher because the tie-rod does not need to be mounted above the crane.