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 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.

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.