How Much Can A HIAB Lift? HIAB cranes add value to the productivity of an individual worker by enabling lifting of heavy objects. They provide the ability to lift, manipulate and manoeuvre to collect and deliver anything from builder’s merchant supplies to forestry timber and much more; with improved safety and in less time.
Let’s look at the lifting capability of a truck mounted HIAB crane.
Constraints On The Maximum Weight That A HIAB Crane Can Lift
Lifting capacity goes back to Archimedes and his Law Of The Lever around 200 BC. To paraphrase it: the longer the reach of the tip of the boom from the centre of gravity, the less weight it is able to lift.
That is why the lifting capability of cranes is sometimes expressed in Tonne Metres (tm). A crane that can lift 2.5 tonnes at a boom length (radius) of 4 metres is classed as a 10tm crane. However, there is no recognised standard for what radius it should be based on and so one manufacturer’s specification may differ from another’s. LOLER dictates that, for the purposes of HIAB crane safety, it must clearly show a decal with its Safe Working Load (SWL), which is the maximum load it can lift safely.
The HIAB range offers a wide choice of cranes to suit all vehicle sizes and lifting requirements:
12tm HIAB Light Cranes For Small & Medium Vehicles
These lightweight truck loaders are small enough to fit many vehicles, yet powerful enough to perform demanding tasks. They are available as either stiff boom cranes or smaller models with knuckle booms where the second boom folds up beside the column.
12tm – 30tm HIAB Medium-Capacity Cranes
Moving up the lift capability ratings sees a greater range of configurations like HIAB’s bigger X-series knuckle-boom cranes as well as specialist cranes like the longer first extension of their L-series cranes and Z-series that fold behind the cab. Specialist cranes like these can even be used for digging trenches and laying pipes.
Over 30tm Heavy-Capacity HIAB Cranes
When you need a dedicated heavy lifting crane, then these HIABs are what you are looking for. The range starts with X-Series knuckle-boom cranes, including EP variations with a short boom for heavy lifting. Long boom versions are suitable for construction work, manoeuvring architectural steel elements, and even search & rescue capabilities.
You can see more details on the HIAB loader crane ranges website page.
Avoiding Crane Faults
HIABs are reliable machines, but no matter which crane model you choose, it always pays to diagnose faults quickly. Download our guide; How To Find And Diagnose Hiab Crane Faults for help finding error codes and other crucial information.
