Most crane enquiries are two lines long: a tonnage and a span. What comes back is three quotes that cannot be compared, because each supplier filled the gaps with different assumptions. The buyer then spends six weeks in clarification emails, and the eventual order still carries variations. A complete enquiry takes about an hour to assemble and changes the entire process — comparable quotes, faster turnaround, and a price that holds. Here is exactly what to send, and what to demand in return.
Why an Incomplete Enquiry Costs You Money
What suppliers do with missing information
They assume. A supplier who does not know your duty cycle assumes the lightest class, because that produces the most competitive number. A supplier who does not know your environment assumes a standard panel. Neither is dishonest — they are answering the question you asked. The gap surfaces later as a variation order, or as a crane that wears out early.
There is a second effect worth knowing. Suppliers triage enquiries by quality. A detailed enquiry signals a serious, technically competent buyer and gets routed to a senior engineer. A two-line enquiry gets a template quote from whoever is free. The information you send determines who works on your project.
1. What You Are Lifting
Maximum load, typical load, and tackle
Send three figures, not one:
- Maximum load — the heaviest thing you will ever lift, including anything attached
- Typical load — what the crane handles on an ordinary day
- Below-the-hook equipment — spreader beams, magnets, grabs, C-hooks, sling sets, with weights
Maximum load sets capacity. Typical load sets duty class. Tackle comes out of rated capacity, so leaving it out is how a 3-tonne job becomes a 4-tonne crane at revision two.
Load shape, temperature, and handling method
Long, awkward, or hot loads change the answer. A 2-tonne 6-metre pipe needs different handling from a 2-tonne compact casting. Molten metal, hot forgings, and furnace work bring de-rating, heat shielding, and in some cases mandatory redundant braking. State the material and its temperature.
2. How Often You Lift It
Cycles per hour, hours per shift, shifts per day
Count for one real week. Do not estimate from memory — buyers routinely underestimate cycles by a third. Send the actual counts.
Why this decides duty class
Duty class governs wheel diameter, gearbox rating, brake sizing, rope safety factor, and fatigue life. It is the single largest lever on both price and reliability, and it is derived almost entirely from these numbers. An enquiry without duty information is an enquiry that cannot be priced correctly.
3. Your Building Dimensions
The six measurements that matter
- Span, rail centre to rail centre
- Bay length and total runway length
- Floor to underside of roof truss
- Floor to the lowest obstruction along the crane’s travel
- Existing rail top level, if rails are fitted
- Required hook height above floor, and lowest hook position needed
How to measure each one correctly
Measure span at three points along the bay and report all three — buildings are not square, and a 40 mm variation over 20 m is normal and designable. For the lowest obstruction, walk the full bay with a laser and record what it is and where: the truss is rarely the winner, and light fittings, ducts, and sprinkler branches usually sit lower.
4. Your Building Structure
Columns, corbels, existing runway, foundations
Tell the supplier what the building already has. Column spacing and section size, whether corbels exist, whether a runway is in place and what condition it is in, and whether you have foundation drawings. If a previous crane was installed and removed, say so and send its details — its wheel loads tell the engineer a great deal.
New build vs existing shed
State clearly which situation you are in. In a new build, the crane parameters should drive the structural design, so the conversation happens with your architect in the room. In an existing shed, the structure constrains the crane, and the sequence is survey, structural check, then specification.
5. Your Shop Environment
Dust, heat, humidity, chemicals, outdoor exposure
Environment drives motor class, panel IP rating, paint system, bearing sealing, and brake selection. Describe the conditions plainly:
- Foundry, forging, or heat treatment — ambient temperature and radiant heat
- Grinding, casting, or cement — dust levels
- Galvanising, pickling, or plating — acid or alkali exposure
- Coastal locations — salt air and corrosion
- Partially open sheds or outdoor runways — rain and UV
Hazardous area requirements
If your area is classified for flammable gas or dust, say so at enquiry stage and give the zone classification. Flameproof cranes are a fundamentally different build, and retrofitting is not an option.
6. Speeds and Control Preferences
Required travel and hoist speeds
Specify hoisting, cross travel, and long travel speeds, or describe what you need to achieve. High-speed travel over long bays saves real cycle time; slow, precise hoisting matters for assembly work. Ask for dual speed or VFD where positioning accuracy counts.
Pendant, radio, or cabin; VFD or contactor
State your preference and the reason. Radio control where sightlines are poor or the area is hot. Cabin for long spans and continuous heavy work. VFD where load swing, spotting accuracy, or structural shock is a concern.
7. Power Supply Details
Send the available supply — voltage, phases, frequency — the connected load you can allocate, and the distance from the incomer to the runway. Confirm whether you want festoon or conductor bar electrification, and mention any voltage fluctuation issues at your location. Cranes on unstable supply need protection that costs little to include and a lot to add later.
8. Standards, Certification, and Documentation
Name the standard you want the crane built and classified to, and list the documentation you expect as deliverables:
- Girder design calculations
- Maximum wheel loads and end reactions
- General arrangement drawings for approval
- Electrical schematics
- Load test certificate at 125% of rated capacity
- Material test certificates for structural steel
- Operation and maintenance manual
- Spare parts list with part numbers
Put these in the enquiry so they appear in the quotation, not in an argument after delivery.
9. Timeline, Budget Range, and Scope Split
Why sharing a budget range helps you
Buyers hide budgets believing it protects the price. In capital equipment it does the opposite. A supplier who knows your range proposes a configuration that fits it and explains what a higher spend would buy. A supplier who does not know either overshoots and gets discarded, or undershoots and wins on a specification you will regret.
Defining supply scope clearly
State explicitly who supplies runway beams, rails, corbels, civil work, the mobile crane for erection, and test weights. Ambiguous scope is the leading source of variation orders on crane projects. Write it down and make every supplier quote the same split.
10. Photographs and Drawings
Send whatever you have — a factory layout, structural drawings, and photographs down the bay from both ends plus upward shots of the roof structure. A good engineer will spot constraints in a photograph that no dimension list would have surfaced. This is the highest-return five minutes in the whole enquiry.
The One-Page Enquiry Template
Copy this into an email:
- Maximum load, typical load, tackle type and weight
- Material handled, temperature, load dimensions
- Cycles per hour, hours per shift, shifts per day
- Span at three points, bay length, runway length
- Floor to truss, floor to lowest obstruction (named)
- Required hook height and lowest hook position
- Column spacing, corbels, existing runway condition
- New build or existing shed
- Environment — dust, heat, chemicals, outdoor, hazardous zone
- Required speeds and control preference
- Power supply and electrification preference
- Standard, duty class if known, documents required
- Scope split and target commissioning date
- Attachments: layout, structural drawings, photographs
What to Ask For in Return
- Duty class stated explicitly on the quotation, with justification
- Maximum wheel loads and end reactions in writing
- Hoist make, model, and country of manufacture
- Clear scope of supply and clear exclusions
- Lead time measured from drawing approval, not from order
- Warranty terms and what they cover
- Service engineer location and stated response time
- Spares availability and whether key items are ex-stock
FAQs
How long does it take to prepare a proper enquiry? About an hour with a tape measure, plus a week of counting cycles. It typically removes two to three weeks of clarification from the quoting cycle.
Should I send the same enquiry to every supplier? Yes, identical and in writing. It is the only way the quotes you receive are comparable, and it exposes which supplier is adding engineering value rather than just a price.
Is it a problem if I do not know my duty class? Not at all. Send cycles per hour, hours per day, and typical load as a percentage of maximum. Determining the class from those is the supplier’s job — but only if you provide the inputs.
Will sharing my budget get me a higher price? On capital equipment, sharing a range gets you a configuration that fits it. Suppliers use it to select specification levels, not to inflate margins — and it prevents you from receiving proposals you were never going to buy.
What if I do not have structural drawings? Send photographs and measured column spacing, and say the drawings are unavailable. A site survey covers the rest, and a supplier who offers one before quoting is telling you something useful about how they work.
Conclusion
Spend one hour assembling the fourteen points above before you send another crane enquiry. It is the difference between three quotes you can line up side by side and three you cannot compare at all. Build the enquiry once, and reuse it every time you buy.
Heben Crane answers every enquiry with duty class, wheel loads, and scope stated on the proposal, and starts serious projects with a site survey rather than a template. You get a specification you can hand to your structural consultant on day one.
Send your requirement to Heben Crane using the checklist above and get an engineered quotation with nothing left to assume.
