Types of Crane: Which One Does Your Lift Need?

Many lifts could be done by more than one type of crane. Which one fits depends on where it can stand and how long you need it there. This guide sets the types side by side and walks through choosing one.

Overview

Types of crane at a glance

The main types of crane are mobile cranes that drive to site, compact cranes for indoor and restricted work, lorry-mounted cranes, tower cranes, crawler cranes and fixed industrial cranes such as overhead and gantry cranes. Each type suits a different mix of load, reach, access and time on site, so the details of the lift point to the right one.

In short

Heavy lifts with room to set up: an all-terrain crane, or a crawler crane on major projects.
Tight urban sites: a city crane, or a mobile tower crane for long reach over a building.
Inside buildings: a spider crane, or a pick and carry crane where the load has to travel.
Delivering and placing a load: a loader crane.
Light materials to height: a light truck crane.
Months of lifting on one site: a tower crane.
Day-to-day lifting inside a factory: an overhead or gantry crane.

We supply mobile and lorry-mounted cranes, spider cranes and our own electric pick and carry cranes for crane hire and contract lifting, and tower cranes on contract lifts. Each type we supply has its own full guide, linked from its section below.

Compared

Crane types compared

The table sets the main types side by side. Capacities and reaches are ranges across the market from makers’ published figures, so they are a guide to the type and not the limit of any one crane. Each lift has to be checked against the load chart of the actual crane.

Crane type	How it works	Where it fits
All-terrain crane	Road-going, telescopic boom, around 40 to over 1,000 t	Open sites, heavy loads and long reach
City crane	Compact mobile crane, up to about 70 t	Narrow streets and low headroom
Mobile tower crane	Self-erecting tower on a road chassis, jibs up to about 60 m	Reaching over a building on a short job
Tower crane	Flat top or luffing jib tower on a base, or a smaller self-erecting crane	Long build programmes
Light truck crane	Lorry with a long, light telescopic boom	Roof and glazing work
Loader crane	Lorry with a folding knuckle boom, rated in tonne-metres	Bringing a load and placing it
Spider crane	Tracked, four fold-out outriggers, under 1 t to around 9 t	Doorways, upper floors and roofs
Pick and carry crane	No outriggers, drives with the load on the hook	Moving loads across a factory floor
Crawler crane	Tracks and usually a lattice boom, assembled on site	The heaviest lifts and long projects
Rough-terrain and truck-mounted cranes	Off-road or road chassis, telescopic boom	Large off-road sites, or good roads and firm ground
Overhead and gantry cranes	Fixed to a building or running on rails	Fixed lifting along a building or yard
Jib cranes	Arm on a wall or pillar with a hoist	Light lifts at one workstation

Our crane library has the spec sheet and load chart for each crane we supply.

Crane type

Mobile cranes

Mobile cranes drive to site on their own wheels, set up on outriggers and lift with a telescopic boom. They suit single lifts and short jobs: the crane arrives, sets up, lifts and leaves. Our guide to the parts of a mobile crane explains what each part does.

Blue all-terrain crane lifting a grey filter vessel onto a low loader on round slings, with a rigger standing clear — A 60 t all-terrain crane loading a filter vessel onto a low loader.

All-terrain cranes

All-terrain cranes drive on the road and steer on every axle, and range from around 40 t to over 1,000 t. The larger ones bring their counterweight on separate lorries. See What is an all-terrain crane?

City cranes

City cranes are compact mobile cranes, short and narrow enough for tight sites, up to about 70 t. See What is a city crane?

Crane type

Compact and indoor cranes

When the lift is inside a building, or a mobile crane cannot get close enough to the load, a compact crane is usually the answer.

Spider cranes

A spider crane is a small tracked crane with four fold-out outriggers, also called a mini crane. The smallest pass through a single door, and the largest lift around 9 t. See What is a spider crane?

Pick and carry cranes

Pick and carry cranes need no outriggers. They take the load on their wheels and can drive with it on the hook. Electric models work inside factories with no exhaust fumes, and we supply electric pick and carry cranes. See What is a pick and carry crane?

Crane type

Lorry-mounted cranes

A lorry-mounted crane is a crane and its transport in one vehicle, for lighter lifts.

Light truck cranes

A light truck crane is a lorry with a long, lightweight telescopic boom, reaching over 50 m on the largest models with light loads. They are common on roofing and glazing jobs. See What is a light truck crane?

Loader cranes

A loader crane, often called a HIAB or lorry loader, has a folding knuckle boom. It can bring the load on its own bed and lift it off, so one vehicle does the delivery and the lift. See What is a loader crane?

Crane type

Tower cranes

Tower cranes lift from a tall fixed tower and stay on a building site for the length of the job.

Static tower cranes

Most are built up on a base for the length of a project, as flat top or luffing jib cranes. Smaller self-erecting tower cranes unfold themselves on site for shorter jobs. We supply tower cranes on contract lifts, with erection and dismantling arranged as part of the job. See What is a tower crane? and How are tower cranes erected and dismantled?

Mobile tower cranes

A mobile tower crane is a tower crane on a road chassis that unfolds itself on site, giving tower crane reach on a short job without a base. See What is a mobile tower crane?

Red mobile tower crane with its tower raised and lattice jib reaching out beside a modern building, against a blue sky — A mobile tower crane with its tower raised and jib out on a street in Bath, set up for a rooftop chiller lift.

Crane type

Crawler and specialist cranes

Crawler cranes

A crawler crane runs on tracks, and the larger ones carry a lattice boom. It arrives in pieces on many lorries and is assembled on site, which suits major projects and long periods of lifting. The largest crawler cranes carry out some of the heaviest lifts in construction and energy work, and on prepared ground a crawler can travel with a load on the hook, within its load chart.

Rough-terrain cranes

Rough-terrain cranes have large tyres and a short wheelbase, built for off-road work on big sites such as quarries and energy projects. They are slow on the road and are usually brought to site on a low loader.

Truck-mounted cranes

A truck-mounted crane carries a telescopic boom on a road-going truck chassis, built to travel between jobs on the road.

Railway and floating cranes

Railway cranes run on the track and lift track panels and switches and crossings during track renewal. Floating cranes and sheerlegs work from barges or vessels, in ports and offshore.

Crane type

Overhead, gantry and jib cranes

Industrial cranes are fixed installations, built into a factory or yard. They stay in one place and handle the same lifts day after day. BS 7121-7 gives guidance on the safe use of bridge and gantry cranes, including light crane systems.

Overhead cranes

An overhead crane, also called a bridge crane or overhead travelling crane, runs on beams along the building, with a hoist that travels across it. It lifts materials and machine parts over the working floor.

Gantry cranes

A gantry crane works like an overhead crane, but stands on legs that run on rails or wheels at ground level. Large gantry cranes handle containers in ports and precast units in yards; small portable gantries are used for lifting in workshops.

Jib cranes

A jib crane has a horizontal arm on a wall or pillar with a hoist, swinging round one workstation for light lifts such as loading parts into a machine tool.

When a load is beyond an overhead crane’s reach or capacity, or the overhead crane itself is being installed or taken out, a mobile or pick and carry crane is usually brought in. See machine delivery and installation.

Choosing

How to choose the right type of crane

Five questions narrow the choice.

How heavy is the load, and how far does it need to go? Capacity falls with radius, so weight and reach are always considered together. Our guide What size crane do I need? explains how.
Where can the crane stand? Open ground suits an all-terrain crane, and a narrow street a city crane or light truck crane. Inside a building you need a spider or pick and carry crane.
How long is the crane needed? For a single lift, bring in a mobile crane. Weeks of lifting may call for a mobile tower crane, and months for a tower crane or crawler crane.
Does the load need delivering too? If so, a loader crane can often do both.
What is the ground or floor like? The ground or floor has to carry the crane’s outrigger or track loads, and a pavement or suspended floor may need checking or the load spreading. See crane site preparation.

In Great Britain, regulation 8 of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER) requires employers to make sure every lifting operation involving lifting equipment is properly planned by a competent person, and appropriately supervised and carried out in a safe manner. Northern Ireland has its own equivalent regulations. Our LOLER guide covers what that means, and the BS 7121 codes of practice give guidance on the safe use of the main types of crane.

Questions

Common questions

What are the main types of crane?

The main types of crane used in the UK are all-terrain and city cranes, spider and pick and carry cranes, light truck and loader cranes, tower and mobile tower cranes, and crawler cranes. Factories and yards also use fixed overhead and gantry cranes, plus jib cranes at single workstations, for repeated lifting in one place.

What are the types of mobile crane?

In the UK, the main types of mobile crane are all-terrain cranes, city cranes, rough-terrain cranes and truck-mounted cranes, all with telescopic booms on wheels. Crawler cranes run on tracks and are assembled on site. Light truck and loader cranes are lorry-mounted, and a loader crane can carry its own load as well.

How many types of crane are there?

There is no fixed number, because cranes can be grouped by how they travel or how they are mounted. The BS 7121 codes of practice, for example, have separate parts for mobile cranes, lorry loaders, tower cranes, and bridge and gantry cranes. Most UK lifts use a mobile, compact, lorry-mounted or tower crane.

What is the difference between a tower crane and a mobile crane?

A static tower crane is built up on a base and stays on one site for months, lifting from a fixed tower with a long jib. A mobile crane drives to site, sets up on outriggers and leaves when the lift is done. A mobile tower crane gives tower crane reach but drives to site like a mobile crane.

Which crane can work inside a building?

Spider cranes and electric pick and carry cranes are built for indoor work. The smaller spider cranes fit through a doorway and set up on outriggers, while pick and carry cranes travel with the load. Some small city cranes can work inside large buildings where the doorway and headroom are big enough and the floor can take the outrigger loads.

How do I know which crane I need?

Start with the weight of the load and its lifting gear, how far it has to reach, where the crane can stand and how long you need it. Send us those details, with photos or drawings if you have them, and we will recommend the type and size of crane for the lift.

Get a quote

Get help choosing a crane

Call us on 0800 008 6096 or email office@synergy-lifting.co.uk with the load and where it has to go, and we will put forward a crane for it.

Find out more about our crane hire and contract lifting and electric pick and carry crane hire services.

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Chiller Lifting: Craning Chillers and AHUs onto RoofsHow chiller lifting onto a roof is planned, from the maker's weights and rigging to the crane's reach and the landing spot.
Crane Hire or Contract Lift: What Is The Difference?Crane hire or contract lift: who plans and runs the lift, who answers if it goes wrong, and what each route costs.
Crane Site Preparation: Getting Ready for a Mobile CraneCrane site preparation for a mobile crane: the route in, set-up space, power lines, exclusion zones, road permits and what to send.
Crane Wind Speed Limit: Lifting in WindWhere a crane wind speed limit comes from, and why a lift stops when the gust at the top of the crane reaches it.
Glass Lifting: Equipment and PlanningGlass lifting explained: vacuum lifters, glass clamps and glazing robots, the weight of a panel, planning the lift and LOLER checks.
How Are Tower Cranes Erected and Dismantled?How are tower cranes erected and taken down? The base, the mobile crane, climbing and the checks before use, step by step.
How Much Does Crane Hire Cost?What decides crane hire cost: the crane, the days on hire, the site and the service you book, and how each part of a quote is charged.
How to Read a Crane Load ChartHow to read a crane load chart: radius, boom length, counterweight, outrigger spread and deductions, with a worked example.
Parts of a Mobile Crane ExplainedThe parts of a mobile crane explained: boom, jib, hook block, slew ring, carrier, outriggers, counterweight and safety systems.
Parts of a Tower Crane ExplainedThe parts of a tower crane explained: base, mast, slewing unit, cab, jib, counterjib, trolley, hook and the safety systems.
What Is a Lift Plan?What is a lift plan? What goes into one and who writes it, on crane hire and on a contract lift, under LOLER and BS 7121.
What Is a Tandem Lift?How two or more cranes share one load: when a tandem lift is used and how each crane's share and any down-rating are worked out.
What Size Crane Do I Need?What size crane do I need? Work it out from the weight and radius of the lift, with load chart figures for a 40 t and a 100 t crane.
What Size Outrigger Mats Do I Need?How to size outrigger mats from a crane's outrigger loads and the pressure the ground can take, with a worked example.