Start from what you lift
The gear list falls out of the load list. Write down what the crane actually picks on this job — reinforcing bar, formwork tables, bricks, precast panels, concrete, bins of waste, a person in a rescue — and each of those has a piece of gear that suits it. Sites that order the crane and leave the rigging to week one end up hiring whatever is available, which costs more and fits worse.
Slings and shackles
Our chain slings are Grade 100, two-leg, in 10, 13 and 16 mm with an 8 m effective length. They come with an oversized master oblong link, a clevis-type grab shortener at the top and clevis self-locking hooks at the bottom. The grab shortener is what makes one sling useful across loads of different height: you shorten a leg to level the pick rather than swapping slings.
For anything you do not want chain marks on there are 3 t round slings in 1, 2 and 3 m and a 3 t flat web sling at 6 m. Galvanised Grade S bow shackles come in 2 t (13 mm), 4.7 t (19 mm) and 8.5 t (25 mm). Rate the set against the heaviest pick on the job, not the average one, and keep the test certificates with the site's lifting register.
Cages, boxes and kibbles
Material cages are how most of the small stuff gets to the deck. The MC2 is 3.9 × 2 m with a 2,500 kg working load, the MC3 is 5.1 × 2 m and dual-purpose at 5,000 kg or 1,200 kg depending on how it is used, and the MC1 is the small one at 3.6 × 1.4 m. Alongside them: a brick cage at 2,000 kg SWL, a rescue cage at 2.9 × 1.3 m that is WHS design registered, and a craneable storage cage for the rigging gear itself — 1,000 kg SWL, padlockable, anti-tipping bars, four-way forklift access.
Concrete goes up in a rollover kibble at 1, 1.5 or 2 m³, extra heavy duty, with a straight outlet, a 3 m hose and a 200 mm coupling.
Count the tare, not just the load
This is the part that catches people. The crane does not lift your 2,500 kg of blockwork; it lifts the cage as well. An MC2 weighs 1,250 kg empty, so a full one is 3,750 kg at whatever radius it lands at — and radius is what decides whether the crane can do it. Run the loaded weight, not the material weight, through the lift check, and size the crane on the worst pick in the set. Choosing a tower crane goes through the same sum for the job as a whole.
Panels, blocks and pulling gear
Swivel panel lifters at 1.3, 2.5 and 5 t handle precast and tilt panels and let the panel turn under the hook. Snatch blocks with shackle heads run from 6 t on a 6″ sheave up to 22 t on 14″, to suit steel rope from 13 to 32 mm. For hand lifting and pulling there are W4 chain blocks at 1, 2 and 3 t with a 3 m lift, and industrial lever blocks at 1, 1.6 and 3.2 t with a 1.5 m lift.
Height safety
Harnesses come one-size in M to XXL, with double adjustable lanyards and snap or scaffold hooks. It is the smallest line on the order and the one most likely to be short on day one, so count heads rather than guessing.
Ordering it
The full list, including manboxes, offset lifting beams and stillages, is on the loading platforms and lifting equipment page and in the product list PDF. Anything not on it we can usually source. Send us your load list through the enquiry form and we will come back with the gear and the price, within 2 business days.
Common questions
Does the weight of the cage come off my lifting capacity?
Yes. The crane sees the cage plus what is in it. An MC2 cage weighs 1,250 kg empty, so a full one at 2,500 kg of material is a 3,750 kg pick.
What size chain sling should I order?
Work back from the heaviest load and the angle the legs will sit at, then check the working load limit on the sling's tag and certificate. Send us the load list and we will tell you which size covers it.
Can you supply gear that isn't on the list?
Usually. The product list covers what we hold; other equipment is available on request.
Do you supply the loading platforms too?
Yes. Techway loading platforms and Linc Deck are supplied and installed alongside the hoist, on the same order.
Know what you are lifting? Send us the load list →