If you’ve ever visited industrial or construction job sites, chances are that you’ve seen several different types of overhead cranes. These devices are incredibly useful for a variety of purposes. Even a company like United Rentals might employ overhead cranes to help maintain their rental equipment.
What is an Overhead Crane?
An overhead crane often called a bridge crane, is a piece of industrial equipment made up of two parallel runways that have a bridge between them. This bridge may travel back and forth along the runways. It also contains the hoist, which is the device used for lifting equipment. While the bridge travels the length of the runways, the hoist travels laterally across the bridge. This allows for precision when lifting and moving objects.
Uses for Overhead Cranes
Overhead cranes have a wide range of applications. They have long been used in foundries, helping to move heavy pieces of metal throughout the production area. The crane can be used to pour raw materials into a furnace, and to hold up metals while they cool.
Bridge cranes are also popular for industrial shippers, as they can be used to lift large pieces of finished products onto and off of flatbed trailers. For instance, long, heavy steel beams are not easily loaded by hand or on a standard shipping dock. Instead, these manufacturers can use an overhead crane to more safely and accurately load the trucks that come in to deliver their materials.
These cranes are often utilized at major shipping yards and ports, as heavy-duty ones can be used to move containers around the yard. Whether loading them onto a train or a cargo ship, they are very useful and provide a benefit over other methods of transportation.
Heavy Equipment Maintenance
While overhead cranes provide many uses for the production, storage and transport of materials, they are also useful in maintaining heavy machinery. Companies like United Rentals can utilize overhead cranes in the upkeep of their industrial equipment.
United Rentals provides access to equipment such as forklifts, diggers, loaders, and excavators. As you can imagine, these items take quite a beating when they are rented out to a variety of different individuals and companies. This means that they require constant maintenance to ensure that they have a long life span and continue to work for anybody looking to use them.
If you visit a United Rentals or other similar facility, you may see them using an overhead crane to move their equipment from one place to another. As these types of machines are made up of heavy parts, it makes sense for them to use the crane when rebuilding them or fixing certain parts. It is also sometimes a quicker option than driving them across the floor – especially if they are having mechanical issues.
Overall, these cranes make for a safer, more efficient work environment because they reduce the chance of human error or injury. When it comes to moving heavy equipment, overhead cranes simply can’t be beaten.