Mobile cranes are sophisticated machines that continue to play a pivotal role in construction around the world. They possess outstanding weight-bearing capacity, capable of doing most of the heavy lifting on any job site. Mounted on either wheels or crawler tracks, allowing mobile cranes to maneuver easily throughout a job site.
To support the massive amount of weight mobile cranes carry, the components of these machines are manufactured with special steel that contains trace amounts of a mineral called molybdenum. Crawler cranes can bear the most weight, with some models lifting nearly 7,000 tons while smaller truck cranes are ideal for lighter work under 100 tons.
When renting a mobile crane, it’s essential to identify which machine is best suited for your particular project. You need to determine how high your crane needs to reach, what kind of weight capacity it can carry, and how long the crane will remain on-site. Take a few moments to learn more about mobile cranes and why you should think about renting one for your next job.
Do I Need a Mobile Crane?
Mobile cranes come in a range of sizes, boom lengths, and tonnage capacities. Selecting the right crane for your construction site will depend on the scope of work you’re performing and the type of terrain around the worksite. Some mobile cranes can withstand thousands of tons, while others are engineered for loads under 100 tons. Although there are numerous different models of mobile cranes, many of them fall into one of the following categories.
Crawler
Crawler cranes are attached to tracks that provide additional stability for lifting the heaviest materials when operating across rough terrain. In addition, the way crawler cranes are built allows the operator to rotate the cab 360 degrees so they can perform a range of tasks from one location. However, due to their enormous size and weight, crawler cranes cannot travel on public roads and must be loaded onto trailers to transport them from place to place.
All-Terrain
As the name suggests, an all-terrain crane is capable of navigating across various surfaces. Since all-terrain cranes can travel on public roads, transporting these machines from one job site to another is less involved than moving a crawler crane. Versatile and highly maneuverable, all-terrain cranes are ideal for performing work on a wide variety of paved and non-paved surfaces.
Rough-Terrain
In challenging environments with limited space, a rough-terrain mobile crane is an excellent choice. These cranes rest upon a small, 4-to-6-wheel chassis capable of squeezing through confined areas throughout the worksite. Most rough-terrain cranes can handle between 18 and 160 tons of weight, and their arms can extend up to 65 meters or more. Rough-terrain cranes can withstand even the most rugged conditions, making them an excellent choice for unpaved construction projects.
Truck-Mounted Crane
These smaller cranes are highly mobile, but they’re strictly built for lighter lifting at shorter heights. Thanks to their outstanding maneuverability, truck-mounted mobile cranes are the most common cranes seen on construction sites today. Moving truck cranes between job sites is a breeze, and their relatively small size makes them perfect for delicate precision work.
Advantages to Renting a Mobile Crane
When you buy a mobile crane, you are responsible for everything, including maintenance, inspections, transportation logistics, insurance, and fuel. For simplicity and peace of mind, it’s often better to rent a crane for the specific timeframe you will need it.
Here are some key reasons why you should consider renting a crane instead of buying one.
1. Any Location, Any Time
Renting a mobile crane ensures you have access to the equipment you need, regardless of the job site location. When you own a crane, you have to worry about transporting the machinery to every job site, which can be very challenging for companies that work across multiple states. As the leading mobile crane rental company in the United States, Maxim Crane has locations nationwide, and we’ll handle all the details of bringing the equipment to your next job site.
Renting cranes is also helpful for construction companies who work on multiple projects at once. Waiting for a crane you own to finish work at one site before it arrives at another can cause costly delays and unnecessary inefficiencies. If you need a crane at a worksite on short notice, renting is the way to go.
2. Save Money
Depending on your needs, buying a mobile crane can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, with some models reaching $500,000 or more. Aside from the substantial up-front cost, buying a mobile crane means you have to continue spending money on maintenance and other expenses, even during the downtime in between projects. You will need to ensure you have a qualified mechanic for routine maintenance and repair of any equipment failures. In addition, some cranes must be transported in several truckloads and then require assembly when they arrive on the job site and are disassembled upon completion of the job.
You can keep your operational expenses low by renting a crane for specific jobs as needed. After you’ve completed a project, Maxim Crane will take care of picking up the crane, saving you a lot of cost and labor in the process.
3. Less Paperwork
There is significantly less documentation and logistics to manage when you rent a mobile crane with an operator. Owning a crane means you have to worry about additional DOT (Department of Transportation) and OSHA compliance, transportation planning, crane service and repair for any failures, and securely storing the equipment. Furthermore, you will need to worry about purchasing insurance for the crane and keeping your crew fully licensed to operate the crane.
All these responsibilities can add up to a mountain of paperwork. Instead, consider the benefits of working with a mobile crane rental company to handle the finer details. Under an O&M (Operated and Maintained) rental, Maxim Crane will take care of inspecting the crane as part of our Rental Ready process. With less paperwork to worry about, you’ll have more peace of mind and can spend your energy focused on other aspects of your projects.
4. You'll Receive Professional Support
Working with a mobile crane is a group effort that requires a lot of moving parts. When you buy a crane, you’re responsible for finding licensed drivers and operators, not to mention a specialized mechanic to respond in case issues arise. Finding an experienced crew to deliver, operate and maintain your crane is a time-consuming and expensive process.
Maxim Crane is staffed with qualified workers who will safely transport, deploy, and operate the crane for you. Having reliable support from a team of established professionals will help the job proceed smoothly from start to finish. If plans change or a new crane is required on short notice, and because crane rental is our only business, we can adapt quickly to supply you with the right piece of equipment to accommodate your needs. Once the job is done, we will take care of packing up the crane and moving it back to our storage yard.
5. You’re Covered if the Equipment Fails
There’s nothing worse than buying a crane only to have it break down halfway through a project. If a crane you purchase malfunctions or stops working altogether, your worksite can come to a screeching halt until the equipment receives repair. Avoid this by renting a mobile crane from Maxim Crane. In the unlikely event that a crane issue should arise, our experience allows us to quickly assess and respond to minimize costly downtime on your project.
Renting a mobile crane offers numerous advantages over buying. If you need a mobile crane for your next project, trust our friendly team at Maxim Crane Works for professional support. We operate over 60 locations throughout the U.S. so you can receive the equipment you need quickly and easily. Contact us today to find the right crane for your job site and we’ll walk you through the rental process every step of the way.
