As someone in the warehouse, factory, or plant business, you likely deal with heavy machinery on a near daily basis. Whether it be hoists, cranes, or forklifts, you’ve got a wealth of expensive and potentially dangerous machinery on your hands. As the owner or operator of such a facility, you have a responsibility to not only acquire, but maintain your hoists and cranes appropriately. This is vital to not only safety, but the longevity of your investment.
At T&M Cranes, we provide exceptional machinery that’s essential to the everyday functionality of warehouses, factories, plants, and other commercial facilities. Whether it be hoists, cranes, or forklifts, we’ve got you covered. Our industry expertise ratifies us as a reliable source for any and all details about hoist and crane maintenance and acquisition, and we put that expertise to good use in articles like these. For your consideration, we’ve outlined some key upgrades for hoists and cranes you should be aware of.
When considering hoist and crane upgrades, if efficiency is your primary concern, you should turn your focus to upgrading your hoist. For most built-up hoists, there are a lot of internal components that are easy to swap out or interchange with newer or more specialized parts—and when doing so, there’s no need to replace your existing hoist or trolley. Upgrades are there for a reason, you don’t have to replace a hoist completely to increase its functionality.
It’s likely your current hoist is primed to fulfill a specific need—whatever need you purchased it for. This means once you upgrade it, you’ll also have to change parts such as the gear sets and motor to ensure there’s compatibility between all parts. You may also need to consider upgrading your wire rope reeving system, depending on the type of hoist you own and the purpose it serves.
If you’re operating a low-duty electric or pneumatic hoist, the process can be slightly more complicated. In most cases, you need to replace the system completely with a more heavy-duty hoist package, then have it reinstalled. Targeted upgrades like these are key to keeping your hoists and cranes in top shape.
Crane upgrades can be incredibly beneficial when it comes to increasing the overall output of your facility. There are many ways you can go when looking at crane upgrades, for instance you could target its capacity. However, upgrading your crane to increase its capacity will cause your end truck wheels to wear much faster. Meaning, you’ll need to upgrade them as well, so they can keep up with the heightened load.
Changing your crane wheels to ones made of harder materials is often the best solution to coping with an increased capacity, along with strengthening the bolted safety lugs to provide improved support. Though, it’s important to be careful and not make the wheels harder than your rails, as doing so causes excessive wear on the rails themselves.
At T&M Cranes, we have a commitment to excellence in all aspects of our business. From supplying, to upgrading, to shipping new parts, we provide our clients a holistic experience when it comes to hoist and crane maintenance and acquisition. We can upgrade electrical and mechanical components to help you safely operate your crane more efficiently, and increase productivity.
Our comprehensive evaluation starts with a full inspection of your system, including structural soundness, mechanical operation and electrical performance. We can also review maintenance records to ensure we fully understand your unique equipment needs.
Reach out to us today to look into upgrades for hoists and cranes and get a quote on any services you may require!
