By: Amber Grennan On: March 10, 2023 In: Blog Comments: 0

With so many cranes available on the market today it can be an impossible task to sort through and narrow down the options available to you. Being able to choose the right crane means there’s a lot less time wasted trying to work with a crane that can barely manage the job or having to swap it out for a different one. You can save a lot of money if you have the perfect crane from the start as you won’t have to risk spending more on longer crane rentals and paying for more long-term staffing.

An example of this happening is in this case study where a customer had initially only hired a forklift to position a load but found they needed the extra height from our URW-706-2 Mini Spider Crane. As no.1 for lifting solutions with almost 30 years of experience, GGR Group has a team of experts that can select products that are best suited to your needs and provide further advice on lift plans and operator hire.

Below we have listed some of our crane types and products to help you get started.

Mini Spider Cranes

With the ability to fold itself into a box-like shape with rough terrain tracks this compact crane can be driven by remote control through doorways, over bumpy earth, and at high altitudes without issue. This crane also has a small mass that is disproportionate to the heavy lifting capacity such as the URW-295 Mini Spider Crane which weighs just 1850kg but can lift up to 2.9 tonnes. True to the name the spider crane has outrigger ‘legs’ that provide extra stability for those heavy lifts and high lifting. Here’s a recent video of our smallest Mini Spider Crane roaming the streets of Manchester City Centre.

Our smallest Mini Spider Crane the UNIC URW-094 has an impressive maximum capacity of 0.995 tonnes at 1.5 metres and our largest the UNIC URW-1006 can lift 10 tonnes at 3 metres high. With the addition of one of our searcher hooks/fly-jibs, you can also increase your maximum working height and working radius to make the most out of your crane.

In 2013 we launched our first ECO Mini Spider Crane which was developed for use on the most sensitive of projects and in reflection of the future of green energy in construction. These cranes have all the same abilities as their diesel counterparts but come with the advantage of using them indoors without worrying about fumes. They come with the option of tracks or tyres so it can be used easily in different settings. Here’s our ECO-095 installing canopy glazing with low-marking tyres that were perfect for indoor work.

UNIC URW 706-2 Mini Crane

UNIC URW 706-2 Mini Spider Crane

Mini Crawler Cranes

This compact heavy lifter combines mobility and pick-and-carry ability with a uniquely compact size so that you can travel on rough terrain and small indoor places. The Mini Crawler Cranes have a wide base which provides extra balance when on uneven ground along with a hydraulic blade which clears the way through mud so the ground is smoother for the crane.

Our Sunward Mini Crawler Cranes are designed with construction sites in mind with features developed to increase productivity and practicality. The Sunward MCC1004 has a Euro Stage V engine which was specially selected as it enables the crane to be used in sensitive environments and is even suited for operating in London’s Low Emission Zone. Despite being friendlier to the environment it can lift just as much as its MCC1005 counterpart at 10 tonnes, here’s a video of the MCC1005 which demonstrates what both versions are capable of.

One of our smaller Mini Crawler Cranes is the MCC500D which can lift up to 5 tonnes at 2.1 metres despite its compact size at just 2320mm wide. This mini machine showed off its skills when lifting an excavator over a sea wall on Canvey Island. This machine was able to travel along a bumpy path as well as easily lift the 1.86-tonne excavator over the 710mm wide sea wall.

Glass Vacuum Lifters

In addition to choosing the correct crane you also need to be sure you have the right attachments.

Glass can be one of the hardest materials to work with due to the combined weight and fragility which is why companies rely on vacuum lifters to safely move and install glazing. Below-the-hook vacuum lifters are ideal tools as they can be used with any machine you can attach it to such as a pick and carry crane or a floor crane. Their versatility means that different lifters are designed for lifting textured and curved glass as well and typically they can all lift the majority of smooth non-porous materials as well as glass.

GGR Group supply a range of glass vacuum lifters including 10+ in the Woods Powr-Grip range which is an industry favourite as the whole face of the vacuum pad makes contact with the glass so they can be used on glass of almost any thickness with little chance of injury. Here’s an example of our Woods Intelli-Grip P11104 installing some large glazing pieces at a school.

Cladding Lifters

In order to safely install cladding, it is very likely you will need a cladding lifter due to its massive size which makes it awkward to manoeuvre. Cladding is typically lightweight in comparison to its size which may make you think there isn’t much of a need for a tool for lifting it, but cladding lifters provide necessary extra support, especially when installing multiple pieces. As the vacuum lifter attaches to the cladding and will only detach if the vacuum is released it means the cladding will be held up even when there is time needed to adjust positioni

Sunward Mini Crawler Crane installing glazing.

Sunward Mini Crawler Crane installing glazing.

ng or when human error is made.

One of our small but mighty cladding lifters is the Mini-Clad which has a pad that is just 960mm by 720mm but can handle vertical panels that are up to 18 metres long and 400kg in weight. In this post, the Mini-Clad is seen installing large 6-metre cladding panels which weighed 194kg. The large height of where the cladding was being installed made it much safer to use a combination of a MCC500D Mini Crawler Crane and the Mini-Clad along with two boom lifts so workers could position the cladding correctly.

Accessories

No job is complete without useful accessories that enhance the finish and speed of your work. One of our most popular accessories are hand suction cups which are strong and durable hand-held cups that can be used to lift glazing or provide and extra hold when moving the glass. All these cups have an indicator for suction loss so you are never at risk of the cup accidentally falling off. The N4950 is one of our bestsellers with a 57kg max capacity that has a strong and grippable metal handle and a rubber pad that has a strong lip for containing the vacuum.

Another essential accessory is slings and straps that can be used to provide a safety net to materials being lifted or to attach tools such as glass vacuum lifters to the hook of a crane. Products such as the 3 Tonne Polyester Continuous Sling at 4 metres which is an ideal addition to heavier lifts with its strong polyester composition that is designed to absorb shocks, resist twists and kinks, and be used for choke applications.

These are just a few of GGR Group’s reliable products that can be used in addition our cranes, by selecting the right crane and addition to the crane you can be sure you will finish your project perfectly. As no.1 for lifting solutions, we have many more products available that will be suited to your lifting projects, to receive personalised advice speak to one of our experts by phone or by clicking here.

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