Mobile crane hire
Mobile cranes drive to site on their own wheels, set up on outriggers and can lift the same day. Tell us the job and we pass it to firms that cover your area.
- Free to use, no obligation
- One short form, about a minute
- We pass your request to crane hire firms that cover your area
- We are not a crane hire company and do not plan lifts
What is a mobile crane?
A mobile crane is a crane on a road-going chassis, with a telescopic boom, that sets up on outriggers to lift.
The common kinds are all-terrain cranes, which travel on the road and can also cope with rougher site ground, city cranes built to be short and manoeuvrable in tight streets, and truck-mounted cranes. Sizes run from small city cranes up to all-terrain machines rated in the hundreds of tonnes.
What decides the size of crane?
Weight alone does not decide it: the radius matters as much.
A crane's capacity falls as the load moves further from the crane, so a crane rated at 50 tonnes may only lift a fraction of that at the far end of its reach. That is why the hire firm will ask where the crane can stand, how far the load has to travel and how high it has to go. Counterweight that travels separately, and the space needed for the outriggers, can also decide which crane is practical.
Setting up on a road or pavement
If the crane has to stand on the public highway, you will usually need permission from the local highway authority, and sometimes traffic management or a road closure. The hire firm can usually tell you what is needed. Allow time for it: permits are not always quick.
Ground conditions
Outriggers put very heavy loads through small pads. Cellars, drains, soft ground and recent backfill all need to be known in advance, so mats or spreader plates can be planned.
Contract lift or crane hire with operator?
Under the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER), every lifting operation has to be properly planned by a competent person, appropriately supervised and carried out safely. BS 7121, the British Standard code of practice for the safe use of cranes, sets out how that is usually done. With a mobile crane you can book a contract lift, where the hire firm plans and manages the lift, or crane hire with operator, where you do. The difference explained.
What to have ready
- The site address and postcode, and where the crane could stand.
- What is being lifted: its weight if you know it, its size, and whether it has lifting points.
- How far and how high: the distance from where the crane stands to where the load lands (the radius), and the height it has to clear.
- Access: gateway and door widths, overhead cables, trees, and whether the crane needs to set up on a road or pavement.
- Ground conditions: soft ground, cellars, drains and recent backfill all matter, because outriggers put a lot of load through a small area.
- Dates, and whether you want a contract lift or crane hire with operator.
Questions people ask
How heavy a load can a mobile crane lift?
It depends on the crane and above all on the radius, the distance from the crane to where the load is lifted and landed. Capacity falls as the radius grows, so the hire firm needs the weight, the radius and the height to choose a crane.
Do I need a permit for a mobile crane on the road?
Usually, if the crane or its outriggers will stand on the public highway. Permission comes from the local highway authority, and some jobs also need traffic management. The hire firm can usually advise.
Does a mobile crane come with an operator?
Yes. In the UK mobile cranes are normally supplied with a trained operator, whether you book a contract lift or crane hire with operator. What changes is who plans and supervises the lift.
Need a crane?
Tell us the job once. We pass it to crane hire firms that cover your area and they contact you directly.
Request crane hire