Contents
Overview
What is a HIAB? The loader crane explained
What is a HIAB? It is a loader crane: a hydraulic crane with a folding knuckle boom fitted to a lorry, which lifts goods onto and off the lorry’s bed. Hiab is a maker’s brand name, from a crane maker founded in Sweden, but in the UK it is commonly used for loader cranes of any make.
In short
- A lorry loader is the lorry and its loader crane together, which is what people on site mean when they ask for a HIAB.
- Fassi, Palfinger, HMF and Atlas are other makers of the same kind of crane.
- The tm rating is for comparing cranes; the weight a loader crane can lift at your radius is on its load chart.
- Whether a loader crane can do your lift comes down to how close the lorry can park and how firm the ground is under its stabilisers.
We supply loader cranes with trained operators for crane hire and contract lifting.
How it works
How a HIAB loader crane works
A loader crane is fitted to a rigid lorry, or to a tractor unit pulling a trailer, and folds up to travel with the vehicle. BS EN 12999, the design standard for loader cranes, also covers cranes on demountable bodies (lorry bodies that lift off the chassis) and on fixed foundations.
The knuckle boom
The boom is made of hinged sections that fold like an arm, with hydraulic extensions in the outer section. It stows behind the cab, or at the back of the bed on a rear-mounted crane, and opens out to set a load down beside or over obstacles near the lorry. In North America, Palfinger notes, loader cranes are known as knuckle boom cranes.
Fly jibs
A fly jib fitted to the boom tip adds reach. Hiab’s spec table for its X-HiPro 858, an 80 tm class crane, gives up to 19.4 m of hydraulic outreach without a jib and 31.6 m with one.
Hydraulic power
The crane runs on hydraulics, with the pump driven from the lorry’s engine. As an alternative, Hiab sells an electric power take-off, a battery and electric motor that drive the pump, so the crane can work with the engine switched off.
Stabiliser legs
Before lifting, the lorry puts down stabiliser legs to carry the crane and its load. The Construction Plant-hire Association (CPA) and ALLMI, the lorry loader industry body, publish joint guidance, Safe Use of Lorry Loaders, which says they must be deployed the way the manufacturer specifies. HSE has issued a safety notice on powered stabiliser legs that tilt up for travel, after operators were crushed against the vehicle as the legs retracted.
Remote control
Many loader cranes are worked by radio remote control, which Atlas fits to its N cranes. The operator can then stand where both the load and the place it lands are in view. Safe Use of Lorry Loaders also says a pedestrian operator should work the controls only while standing still, and should keep the transmitter with them or take the key out, storing it securely when the crane is not in use.
Attachments
Hiab’s attachment range includes pallet forks, brick grabs, clamshell buckets, grapples and rotators. Like the hook block and slings, an attachment counts as part of the load when the weight is checked against the crane’s load chart.
Sizes
HIAB capacity and tonne-metres
A loader crane has no single lifting capacity. What it can lift depends on how far the load sits from the crane, so one crane handles a heavy load close in and a light one at full reach.
Tonne-metres
A loader crane is rated by its lifting moment in tonne-metres: the load multiplied by its radius, which is how far out the load sits horizontally from the crane. Our guide What size crane do I need? shows how radius is measured. On paper a 20 tm rating works out at 2 t at 10 m, but the crane’s load chart gives the real figure at each radius. Some makers use kilonewton-metres instead, and Atlas lists its light cranes at 30 to 90 kNm.
Range of sizes
Hiab sorts its loader cranes into four classes: light, under 12 tm; mid, 12 to 30 tm; heavy, 30 to 100 tm; and super heavy, over 100 tm. Fassi describes its medium range, from 20 tm upwards, as suited to two- and three-axle lorries. Across its range, Atlas quotes reach from 3.7 m to 22 m and capacities from 0.99 t to 13 t. These are makers’ figures for their own cranes, and a lift is always checked against the chart for the crane on the job.
Finding the capacity for your lift
The rated capacity of a particular lorry loader is in its manufacturer’s information for use, or in the latest report of thorough examination if the crane has been derated, meaning given a lower rated capacity. The joint CPA and ALLMI guide warns against relying on sales leaflets for it. Capacity falls as the radius grows, so the lorry’s parking position decides whether a loader crane can make the lift at all.
Compared
How a HIAB compares with other cranes
The main difference is that a loader crane brings the goods with it. A mobile or light truck crane comes to site with nothing on board, and the goods follow on a lorry. Mobile cranes are rated by their maximum load capacity in tonnes, which is how Liebherr lists the all-terrain cranes in the table.
| Crane | Boom | Carries its own load | Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loader crane (HIAB) | Folding knuckle boom | Yes, on the lorry bed | Under 12 tm to over 100 tm |
| Light truck crane | Long, light telescopic boom | No | Light loads, with a long reach for height |
| City crane | Telescopic boom on a compact chassis | No | Varies by maker; see our city crane guide |
| All-terrain crane | Telescopic boom on a road-going chassis | No | 40 t (Liebherr LTM 1040-2.1) to 1,200 t (Liebherr LTM 11200-9.1) |
Compared with a mobile crane
Larger city and all-terrain cranes lift far heavier loads at a longer radius, but the load has to be delivered to them. Where the load is within the loader crane’s chart at the radius needed, one lorry can do the delivery and the lift.
Compared with a light truck crane
A light truck crane has a straight telescopic boom built for height, so roofers and glaziers use it. The loader crane’s folding boom reaches less far but brings the goods and sets them down near the lorry.
Uses
What a HIAB is used for
Loader cranes deliver goods that need lifting off at the other end. BS 7121-4, the code of practice for lorry loaders, has sections on special applications and special attachments, and the attachments makers sell show the range of work:
- palletised bricks and blocks to building sites, with brick grabs or pallet forks
- loose materials, with a clamshell bucket
- timber, with a grapple, though the CPA and ALLMI guide says forestry timber handling cranes are specialist equipment that should not be used for general lifting unless suitably equipped
- road barriers, with a barrier lifter
Moving a machine between sites also means packing and transport. Our machine delivery and installation and machine packaging and transport services cover the whole move, with the crane chosen to suit each lift.
Planning
Planning a HIAB lift
A loader crane lift is planned like any other crane lift, starting with where the lorry stands.
Where the lorry parks
The lorry has to stand close enough to the landing point for the crane’s capacity at that radius, with room to put its stabilisers fully out. Safe Use of Lorry Loaders says lifting over a public road should be avoided where possible, and needs permission from the appropriate authority where it cannot be. Highway authorities such as West Sussex County Council require a permit or licence for a crane on or over the highway, so ask the council early (see crane site preparation).
Ground under the stabilisers
Stabiliser feet put high, concentrated loads into the ground, and the CPA and ALLMI guidance names poorly assessed ground as a major cause of accidents. The site’s own competent person checks for cellars, drains, soft verges and weak paving, and the loads are spread with mats, sized as our guide to outrigger mats shows. On a contract lift we submit ground bearing pressure calculations covering the outrigger loads and mats, and that competent person confirms the ground is suitable.
Overhead power lines
Delivery points in yards and streets can sit under overhead power lines. HSE’s guidance note GS6 sets out how to plan work near them.
The lift plan and the law
In Great Britain, regulation 8 of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER) requires the employer to make sure every lifting operation is properly planned by a competent person, appropriately supervised and carried out in a safe manner, however routine the delivery. The CPA and ALLMI guide, Safe Use of Lorry Loaders, sorts each lift by complexity, from basic up to complex, depending on the load and the site, and the planning grows with the category.
The operator
In Great Britain, regulation 9 of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER) requires employers to make sure everyone who uses work equipment has had adequate training. ALLMI operator training is delivered by instructors who register each course with ALLMI in advance, and its card lasts five years before refresher training and a new assessment. ALLMI also runs courses for crane supervisors and appointed persons.
Hiring
Hiring a loader crane
Hiab and Fassi are among the makers whose loader cranes we supply, and our lifts are planned to BS 7121.
Crane hire or contract lift
On crane hire you get the loader crane and operator, and the planning and supervision are yours. On a contract lift our appointed person writes the plan in house and we supervise the lift on the day.
What to send us
- The weight and size of the load, and where its lifting points are
- Where it is collected from and where it has to go
- How close the lorry can park to that spot
- Any height, width or weight limits on the way into either site
Questions
Common questions
What does HIAB stand for?
HIAB stands for Hydrauliska Industri AB, the Swedish company Eric Sundin and Einar Frisk founded in Hudiksvall in 1944. Series production of its HIAB 190 crane began in 1947, according to Hiab’s own history. In the UK the name is used for loader cranes from any maker, and ALLMI, the industry body, calls lorry loader the more technically correct term.
What is a HIAB lorry?
A HIAB lorry is what the industry calls a lorry loader: a lorry or trailer fitted with a loader crane. The crane lifts goods onto the bed and off again, so the vehicle delivers and unloads without a separate crane or forklift. It can be a rigid lorry or a tractor unit pulling a trailer.
What is the difference between a crane and a HIAB?
A HIAB is a type of crane, a loader crane on a lorry, and it carries its own load. A mobile crane arrives empty to lift goods brought on another vehicle. Larger mobile cranes outlift it, especially at long radius. A HIAB is rated in tonne-metres, while mobile cranes are quoted by maximum capacity in tonnes.
How much can a HIAB lift?
It depends on the crane’s rating and the radius. A loader crane is rated in tonne-metres, so its capacity falls as the load moves further from the crane. Hiab’s range runs from light cranes under 12 tm to super heavy cranes over 100 tm, and the load chart for the actual crane sets each lift’s limit.
What does HIAB delivery mean?
A HIAB delivery is one where the lorry unloads itself with its own loader crane. CPA and ALLMI guidance treats a delivery to a business as a contract lift in effect: the supplier provides the appointed person and the plan, and the customer gives site information and assesses and prepares the ground. For a household, the supplier takes on everything.
Do you need a licence to use a HIAB?
In Great Britain, driving the lorry needs the right driving licence category: C1 or C for a rigid lorry, and C+E for a tractor unit and trailer. The law names no particular licence for working the crane, but PUWER makes employers responsible for adequate training. ALLMI operator training, recognised by Build UK, gives a card valid for five years.
Do I need a lift plan for a loader crane?
Yes. In Great Britain, LOLER requires every lifting operation to be properly planned by a competent person, even for a routine delivery. On crane hire the planning falls to the hirer’s appointed person. On a contract lift, including a delivery by the supplier’s own lorry loader, the supplier plans it, and on ours our appointed person writes the plan.
Get a quote
Get a quote for loader crane hire
Call us on 0800 008 6096 or email office@synergy-lifting.co.uk. Send the weight of the load and how close the lorry can get to where it lands, and we will recommend the right crane.
Find out more about our crane hire and contract lifting and machine delivery and installation services.
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