A portable gantry crane carries its own runway on two end frames with casters, so it lifts anywhere a floor can take the load and leaves nothing behind when it rolls away. Gorbel builds three versions: fixed height steel to 5 tons and 30 foot spans, adjustable height steel for the same range with a boom that moves up and down, and aluminum to 2 tons and 20 foot spans that one person can carry in pieces. Power and Motion sells and installs all three across metro Atlanta, and the choice usually comes down to how often the crane moves and what it has to clear on the way.
What A Gantry Crane Does That A Fixed Crane Cannot
A jib crane or a free standing bridge crane is bolted to the floor or the building and covers one area for good. A gantry crane sits on wheels. The end frames carry a top beam, a trolley rides the beam, and a hoist hangs from the trolley. Push the frame to the next machine and the whole lifting system goes with it.
That makes the gantry the right answer for three recurring jobs: a load that only gets handled a few times a year, an area where a permanent structure cannot be installed, and work that happens under an existing overhead crane or in a spot the main crane cannot reach. It is also the tool for maintenance crews pulling motors, gearboxes, and dies at different machines around the plant.
Fixed Height Steel Gantry Cranes Carry The Heaviest Loads
Gorbel's fixed height steel gantries run in spans up to 30 feet and capacities up to 5 tons. The end frames use square tubing uprights, knee braces, and a channel base, which is what keeps a 5 ton gantry stable while it rolls under load. The height under boom is set when the crane is ordered and does not change afterward.
Gorbel's model number spells out the configuration. FG-3-10-8 is a fixed gantry rated at 3 tons with 10 feet of height under boom and an 8 foot span. The height number is the one to get right, since it has to clear the tallest machine or fixture the crane will straddle and still leave room for the hoist and rigging above the load.
Fixed height steel suits a plant where the gantry lives in one bay, handles the same class of part, and moves between a few stations with the same floor-to-ceiling clearance. A machine shop pulling spindles and a fabrication cell flipping weldments are typical homes.
Adjustable Height Steel Gantry Cranes Trade Simplicity For Reach
The adjustable steel gantry uses the same end frame construction but lets the top beam be raised or lowered in the uprights. Gorbel calls it the most flexible lifting arrangement of any gantry style, and the reason is clearance. Lower the beam to pass through a doorway or under a mezzanine, raise it again to lift a tall load on the other side. One crane serves a low-headroom assembly area and a high-bay staging floor without buying two gantries.
The trade is a heavier frame and an adjustment step every time the height changes. For a crane that moves between areas with different ceiling heights, that step is worth it. For a crane that stays in one bay, the fixed height version does the same lifting with less to maintain.
Aluminum Gantry Cranes Are The Ones People Actually Carry
Gorbel's aluminum gantry crane is built from extruded aluminum track, and its components are light enough for one person to lift. The crane ships to a job site in pieces and can be carried up a ladder or staircase to a rooftop work area, which no steel gantry can do. Quick facts from the Power and Motion gantry page:
- Capacities up to 2 tons
- Standard spans up to 20 feet
- Height under boom from 6 to 12 feet
- Top running trolley included
The top beam attaches to the uprights with beam clamps that slide to set the span, and the height adjusts the same way, so a single aluminum gantry handles both low headroom and taller lifts. When the job is done the frame collapses for storage. Options include ratchet-adjusted height and inflatable pneumatic wheels for rough surfaces, which matters for a crane that leaves the plant floor for a loading dock, a parking lot, or an outdoor equipment pad.
Aluminum is the pick for field service, HVAC and rooftop work, contractors who set equipment at customer sites, and plants that need a lift in a different place every week.
Casters Decide How The Gantry Actually Moves
On a steel gantry the standard caster is a molded phenolic wheel with a steel core. Gorbel offers urethane casters with or without a cam brake, four-position swivel locks, and steel V-groove rigid casters, with the V-groove version available with a cam brake. The right caster depends on the floor and the load.
Phenolic works on smooth, sealed concrete with an epoxy finish. Urethane is quieter and easier on polished or coated floors, which matters in a plant with an epoxy finish. V-groove casters ride on a floor-mounted inverted angle track and turn the gantry into a straight-line crane that cannot wander, which is the setup for a gantry that always travels the same path between two stations. Swivel locks hold two casters straight so the crane tracks true during a long push, then release for steering.
A gantry should never be moved with a load suspended more than a few inches off the floor, and brakes or locks should be set before any lift begins. Those two habits prevent most gantry incidents.
Hoist And Trolley Are Part Of The Rating
Gorbel gantry cranes are rated with the hoist weight and impact already accounted for, the same way Gorbel rates its jib cranes. A 2 ton aluminum gantry lifts 2 tons with the hoist on it. That simplifies hoist selection: match the hoist capacity to the gantry capacity, confirm the trolley fits the beam, and the crane is ready. The aluminum gantry includes a top running trolley. On steel gantries the trolley and hoist are specified with the crane, and manual chain, electric chain, or air hoists all run on the same beam.
Where Each Gantry Ends Up
The decision follows the floor plan more than the catalog.
- One bay, one class of part, same ceiling height everywhere: fixed height steel
- Multiple areas with different headroom, or doorways and mezzanines to pass under: adjustable height steel
- Lifts outside the plant, on rooftops, at customer sites, or wherever the crane has to be carried in: aluminum
Capacity settles the rest. Anything over 2 tons is steel. Anything over 20 feet of span is steel. Everything else is a question of how far the crane has to travel and who has to move it.
Power and Motion has designed, sold, and installed Gorbel cranes for over 25 years out of Acworth, GA, and provides layout and design help, AutoCAD drawings, and mechanical installation. The Gorbel gantry crane page has the aluminum and steel brochures, and loads that outgrow a gantry move to Gorbel free standing cranes or a Gorbel jib crane that stays put. Call 770-529-0418 with the heaviest load, the span, and the clearance, and the crane gets specified from there.
