What Is Steel Mill Crane?

Steel mill cranes always operate in the most demanding environments in any industrial sector. The loads are heavy, the duty cycles are relentless, and the consequences of crane downtime reach directly into production output. A crane that fails during a pour, a tap, or a charging sequence does not just incur repair cost — it disrupts the entire production line downstream.

Getting the right steel mill crane into the right position in a steel facility is not a single decision. Different areas of the mill handle different materials in different ways. The raw material storage yard has different requirements from the casting bay. The scrap charging area is nothing like the finished product warehouse. Each zone demands a crane type matched to the specific task, duty class, and operating environment.

QD General Purpose Double Girder Overhead Crane

The QD double girder overhead steel mill crane is the workhorse of the indoor steel facility. It is a standard double girder overhead crane designed for general heavy lifting — maintenance tasks, equipment replacement, coil and slab handling in storage bays, and general-purpose material movement wherever a dedicated specialist crane is not required. Most steel mills have multiple QD cranes distributed across maintenance bays, warehouse areas, and secondary processing zones.

The QD handles loads where the primary requirement is reliable, repeatable heavy lifting without the specialized features that grab, magnet, or twin-hook operations require. It is the lowest-complexity crane in the mill’s fleet — straightforward to operate, straightforward to maintain, and straightforward to specify.

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Core Parameters

QC Electromagnetic Bridge Crane

The QC electromagnetic steel mill crane serves every area of the steel facility that handles ferromagnetic material without slings. Scrap charging yards, billet and bloom storage, plate handling in rolling mill runout areas, and mixed steel inventory in service center bays all require a crane that picks up and releases steel loads without manual rigging contact.

The electromagnet is integrated into the crane from the ground up — it is not a portable lifting magnet retrofitted to a hook crane. The onboard DC rectifier, battery backup system, and purpose-rated trolley are co-engineered as one machine. This distinction is important: a retrofit arrangement cannot match the duty cycle rating or operational reliability of a purpose-built QC crane in demanding steel mill service.

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Core Parameters

QE Twin-Trolley Double Girder Overhead Crane

The QE dual-trolley double girder steel mill crane carries two independent trolleys on a single bridge. Each trolley has its own hoist, its own travel drive, and its own hook. The two trolleys can operate independently for separate lifts, or they can be synchronized to lift a single long load from two pickup points simultaneously.

This configuration is essential wherever the steel mill handles long structural sections, large fabrications, or heavy assemblies that cannot be balanced from a single central pickup point. Rolling mill guide frames, large rolls and shafts, long slab transfers, and structural maintenance in the mill building itself are common QE applications. The twin-hook tandem lift allows the operator to tilt the load by raising one trolley while holding the other — a capability that significantly reduces rigging complexity for awkward sections.

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Core Parameters

QZ Grab Double Girder Overhead Crane

The QZ crane is designed for bulk material handling — it carries a grab bucket rather than a hook, and the four-rope hoist system operates both the crane travel and the grab open-and-close functions through a coordinated drive system. In steel mill applications, the QZ handles scrap in charging yards, coal and ore in raw material storage bunkers, and slag in processing areas.

The key operational difference from a hook crane is duty class. Grab crane operations are inherently high-cycle — the crane picks, carries, and releases multiple times per hour throughout every shift. This demands A6 or A7 work duty class as a minimum. A hook crane spec applied to a grab crane application will reach its structural fatigue limit years ahead of schedule

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Core Parameters

U-Type Double Girder Gantry Crane

The U-type gantry crane operates in the outdoor storage and logistics areas of the steel facility — raw material stockyards, finished product dispatch areas, and transfer yards between processing zones. It travels on ground-level rails across a wide outdoor bay, covering areas where indoor crane coverage is not available and mobile equipment cannot match the throughput or lift capacity required.

The U-type designation refers to the structural profile: two vertical legs connected by a horizontal crossbeam at height, with a box-section girder spanning between them. The legs and crossbeam form a U shape when viewed from the end. This structure provides a clear working span below the girder without any obstruction — essential for handling long products like coils, slabs, or pipe bundles that must pass under the crane structure during loading and unloading.

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Core Parameters

Selecting the Right Steel Mill Crane for Each Mill Zone

The five crane types above are not interchangeable. The correct selection for each area of the facility follows from the material type, duty cycle, and operating environment:

Use this table as a starting point, not a final answer. The actual selection for each zone must be confirmed against the specific duty cycle, span, hook height, and environmental conditions at your facility. Providing these parameters to your crane supplier allows them to produce a configuration that fits your operation — not a generic catalogue product.

Steel mill crane procurement is not a single transaction. It is a fleet specification exercise covering multiple crane types, multiple mill zones, and a range of duty classes and technical requirements that vary significantly from one area of the facility to the next. Getting the right crane into the right zone with the right duty class is the difference between a fleet that runs reliably for 20 years and one that requires major repairs within the first five.

Contact HT Crane today to discuss your project and receive a tailored quotation.

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A magnetic overhead crane eliminates both problems. The electromagnet is built into the crane. The operator energizes the magnet from the cabin, picks up the steel load, travels to the deposit point, and releases. No ground crew. No slings. No manual contact with the load. The full cycle is completed by one person from a safe elevated position.

This page covers all three areas you need to make a purchase decision: product design and features, technical parameters, and application scenarios across the industries where magnetic overhead cranes are most commonly used.

Product Description

What Is a Magnetic Overhead Crane?

A magnetic overhead crane — classified as QC type under Chinese national standard GB/T 14406 — is a double girder overhead travelling crane with one or more DC electromagnets integrated into the crane trolley as a permanent lifting system. The electromagnet replaces the standard hook and spreader. It is powered by an onboard DC rectifier and controlled directly from the operator’s cabin.

Unlike a standard hook crane fitted with a portable lifting magnet as an add-on, the magnetic overhead crane is designed from the ground up for continuous electromagnetic operation. The rectifier, cabling, magnet suspension, trolley structure, and control system are co-engineered as one integrated machine.

The crane operates as follows: the operator energizes the magnet from the cabin control panel; the magnet generates a DC magnetic field that grips the ferromagnetic load; the crane lifts, travels, and positions the load; the operator de-energizes the magnet to release. The entire cycle requires no ground crew and no manual load attachment.

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Magnet Suspension Configurations

The magnet suspension configuration determines how magnetic force is distributed across the load. Three arrangements are available, each suited to different material handling requirements:

Built-In Rectifier Power Supply

The DC power supply for the electromagnet is a thyristor-type rectifier unit mounted on the crane trolley. It converts the crane’s three-phase AC supply to the DC voltage required by the magnet coil — typically 110V DC or 220V DC depending on magnet size and specification.

The rectifier includes closed-loop current control that maintains consistent magnetic force regardless of supply voltage fluctuation or coil resistance changes with temperature. This is important in high-cycle operations where coil temperature rises during a shift — consistent current means consistent holding force rather than a grip that weakens as the magnet warms up.

Battery Backup System

If facility mains power fails while the magnet is holding a load, an unprotected electromagnet drops its load instantly. A steel plate falling from height is a serious safety incident — and a crane without battery backup cannot comply with responsible safety standards.

HTcrane magnetic overhead cranes include a battery backup system as standard specification. The battery maintains full magnet energization for a minimum of 30 minutes after mains power failure. This provides the operator with adequate time to lower the load safely to the ground and de-energize the magnet under controlled conditions before backup power is exhausted.

Technical Parameters

Electromagnet Parameters

Lifting Force by Material Type

The magnet’s rated lifting force is always measured on clean, flat, solid steel plate. Real lifting force varies significantly depending on material geometry and surface condition. The table below shows typical achievable force relative to the flat-plate rating:

Critical note for buyers: A magnet sized only to its flat-plate rated force will be severely underperforming on scrap or structural sections. For scrap handling applications, the magnet must be sized to achieve the required lifted weight at 40–55% of its flat-plate maximum. Always request a lifting force calculation based on your specific material — not a catalogue flat-plate rating.

Application Scenarios

Steel Service Centers and Plate Processing

Steel service centers receive large quantities of flat plate and structural sections, process to customer requirements, and dispatch to end users. Material moves through multiple stages — receiving, storage, feeding processing lines, finished goods handling, and loading outbound. Every stage involves repeated lifting, often of the same material multiple times.

A magnetic overhead crane with a rotating multi-magnet beam handles the complete flow. Incoming plate from a delivery truck is picked directly without slings — the magnet engages the full plate surface, the load is transferred to storage, and releases cleanly. Feeding a plasma cutting line requires precise placement onto a narrow cutting table; VFD-controlled slow hoisting speed provides the positioning precision needed. Loading outbound vehicles requires rapid, repeated cycling — the high duty cycle specification handles this without coil overheating.

Scrap Yards and Metal Recycling Facilities

Scrap yards are the highest-intensity magnetic crane environment. The crane operates near-continuously throughout every shift — picking from loose scrap piles, transporting to shredder feed conveyors, baling presses, or outbound trucks, and returning immediately for the next pick. Cycle times are short. The magnet is rarely fully de-energized.

The specification for this application is demanding:

• Magnet diameter: 1,600–2,000mm for maximum pickup area on loose scrap
• Duty cycle: ED 75% minimum
• Coil insulation: Class H for thermal resilience under sustained high-cycle use
• Protection rating: IP65 for the dusty, wet conditions typical of scrap operations
• Work duty class: A6 or A7 — significantly higher than standard industrial applications
• Magnet face: Hardened wear-resistant material with replaceable inserts for abrasive scrap contact

A scrap yard magnet specified to standard plate-handling parameters will fail within the first operating year. The specification must be driven by the actual operating conditions — not by the easiest configuration to supply.

Steel Mills and Billet / Bloom Handling

In steel mills, magnetic cranes handle billets, blooms, and slabs at various stages of production — continuous caster runout tables, cooling beds, rolling mill feed areas, and product storage. Some material is still hot when lifted.

Standard magnets are rated for material surface temperatures up to 100°C. Billet from a continuous caster or fresh from a rolling mill may be at 300–600°C. The specification for hot material requires:

• High-temperature magnet: ceramic-backed pole face, Class H coil insulation
• Thermally insulated magnet body: protects the coil from radiant heat
• Temperature-compensated rectifier: adjusts output current to maintain consistent force as magnet body temperature changes
• Lifting force calculation at operating temperature: magnetic permeability of steel decreases at elevated temperature, reducing achievable force — the magnet must be sized for force at actual operating temperature, not room temperature

Never assume a room-temperature lifting force rating applies to hot steel. Request the hot-material force calculation explicitly.

Shipbuilding and Heavy Steel Fabrication

Shipyards and heavy fabrication workshops handle large steel plate panels and structural sections across wide bays — typically 20–35 metre spans. Electromagnetic cranes replace manual rigging teams that would otherwise be needed to sling each plate before every lift.

For large panel handling, a fixed or motorized multi-magnet beam prevents the plate from bending at the pickup point under a single central magnet. Anti-sway control on hoist and trolley drives is particularly important in shipyard environments — a large steel panel swinging freely in a busy fabrication bay creates serious risk and disrupts production.

The span and hook height specification must account for the full working area — from plate storage racks at one end of the bay to the assembly positions at the other, with sufficient hook height to clear the tallest workpiece in the travel path.

Rail Maintenance Depots and Track Material Yards

Steel rail is long, heavy, and difficult to rig conventionally. A standard rail section weighs 40–70 kg per metre. A 25-metre rail section weighs 1,000–1,750 kg and requires multiple sling attachment points, careful balancing, and a rigging crew to manage safely with a hook crane.

An electromagnetic crane with a multi-magnet beam — with magnet centres matched to the rail length — handles the full section in a single pick without any manual rigging. For facilities handling mixed rail profiles and lengths, an adjustable-centre beam allows the same crane to handle the full product range. The operational efficiency gain over sling-based rigging is significant in active track maintenance operations where rail volume is high.

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For facilities handling bulk materials repeatedly across a large floor area, an overhead grab crane is not just a convenience. It is the right tool for the job — designed from the structural level up for the high-cycle, high-wear demands of continuous bulk handling. A standard overhead crane running grab operations will reach the end of its structural fatigue life years ahead of schedule. A purpose-built grab crane is designed to last.

This page gives you the full picture: what an overhead grab crane is, how the different grab types compare, what the key specifications mean, and what to verify before you commit to a purchase.

What Is an Overhead Grab Crane?

An overhead grab crane is a double girder overhead crane fitted with an integrated grab bucket drive system. The crane travels on runway rails above the working area. The grab bucket — suspended from the trolley — opens, descends into the material pile, closes to pick up a load, hoists, travels to the discharge point, and opens again to release the material.

The key structural difference from a standard hook crane is the grab drive system on the trolley. A rope-operated grab requires four rope reeving — two for hoisting and two for opening and closing the grab. A hydraulic grab requires a hydraulic power unit mounted on the trolley. Both configurations add weight and mechanical complexity to the trolley, and both require a crane structure designed for the higher duty cycle of grab operation.

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Why Duty Class Matters More Than Capacity

Bulk material handling is one of the highest duty cycle applications in the overhead crane world. A scrap yard overhead grab crane may complete 200–400 grab cycles per shift. Each cycle subjects the hoist mechanism, wire ropes, structural joints, and runway system to repeated loading and unloading. The cumulative fatigue over a year of continuous operation is enormous.

Standard overhead cranes are typically designed to work duty class A3–A5. Overhead grab cranes are designed for A6–A8 — the highest classifications in the GB/T and ISO 4301 systems. This difference is not just a number. It changes the design of the girder, the hoist drum, the wire rope diameter and fleet angle, the runway rail fastening system, and the service life calculations for every rotating component.

Grab Types and Drive Systems

Clamshell Grab — For Dry Bulk Materials

The clamshell grab uses two hinged bucket halves that open and close on a vertical axis. When the bucket is lowered onto a material pile, the two halves open; as the closing rope or hydraulic cylinder acts, the halves close and scoop material from the pile. The loaded bucket is then hoisted to the discharge point and the halves open to release.

Clamshell grabs are the standard for loose, free-flowing bulk materials:

• Coal, coke, and ore at power plants and processing facilities
• Sand, gravel, and crushed aggregate at construction material yards
• Grain and other agricultural bulk commodities
• Salt and mineral concentrates

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Orange-Peel Grab — For Scrap and Irregular Material

The orange-peel grab uses three to six curved tines that close around the material from multiple directions, like fingers closing on an object. This configuration handles irregular, interlocking material that a clamshell cannot reliably pick up — scrap metal pieces, demolition debris, mixed industrial waste, and similar materials that a clamshell would push aside rather than scoop.

Orange-peel grabs are the standard in:

• Scrap metal yards and steel recycling facilities
• Demolition waste processing
• Mixed bulk material with irregular particle size
• Municipal solid waste handling facilities

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Rope-Operated vs Hydraulic Grab Drive

For moderate-cycle applications like power plant coal unloading and grain terminals, rope-operated grabs are the reliable and cost-effective choice. For high-cycle scrap yard operations where maximizing throughput per shift is the priority, hydraulic grabs deliver faster cycle times and better performance on dense, irregular material.

Product Specifications

Standard Configuration Parameters

Grab Bucket Specifications

Grab bucket selection depends on material bulk density and required capacity per cycle:

Always provide your material’s bulk density and target throughput per hour when requesting a grab specification. Incorrect bucket sizing — either too large or too small for the rated SWL — creates either underloading or overloading on every cycle.

Application Scenarios

Scrap Yards and Steel Recycling Facilities

Scrap handling is among the most demanding overhead grab crane environments. The material is heavy, irregular, and abrasive. The crane operates in high-cycle mode throughout every working shift. The grab impacts the scrap pile on every descent — generating shock loads that a standard hook crane is not designed to absorb.

A scrap yard overhead grab crane is specified at A7 or A8 duty with an orange-peel hydraulic grab for maximum throughput. The structural design includes reinforced end truck frames, hardened wheel flanges, and a trolley built to absorb the dynamic grab impact loads on every cycle. Wire rope inspection intervals are shorter than in standard applications — rope wear in scrap service is significantly faster than in clean industrial environments.

(Application description based on standard scrap yard operating conditions.)

Coal and Ore Handling at Power Plants and Processing Facilities

Power plant coal yards and ore processing facilities operate on a different profile: high volume, consistent material, and regular operating schedules. The clamshell grab handles coal efficiently, and the crane duty class reflects the sustained daily cycle rates typical of power generation support operations.

For these applications, a rope-operated clamshell grab at A6 duty is typically the appropriate specification. The rope system is simpler to maintain than hydraulics, and coal is a cooperative material for clamshell operation — consistent particle size, free-flowing, and low abrasiveness compared to ore or scrap.

Port and Inland Waterway Bulk Terminals

At bulk terminals handling commodity imports and exports — fertilizer, grain, minerals — overhead grab cranes handle ship-to-warehouse or barge-to-storage transfer. The crane must cover the full warehouse or storage shed width and provide sufficient hook height to work within the building structure while handling material at different pile heights.

For enclosed warehouses with overhead structural constraints, the hook height specification and runway height must be coordinated carefully. The grab’s open height — the distance from the top of the grab to the hook — consumes lift height on every cycle and must be accounted for in the specification.

Waste Processing and Recycling Facilities

Municipal solid waste and industrial waste processing facilities use overhead grab cranes to feed material into shredders, sorting systems, and waste-to-energy furnaces. The grab handles mixed, irregular, and sometimes wet material — conditions that favor the orange-peel configuration over clamshell.

For waste facilities, the crane often operates in a partially enclosed pit or tipping hall, where dusty, humid, and corrosive conditions affect the crane’s electrical and mechanical systems. IP-rated electrical enclosures and additional corrosion protection on exposed structural components should be specified for this environment.

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Overhead Grab Cranes Key Features

Heavy-Duty Structural Design

HT crane overhead grab crane bridges are designed to GB/T 14406 and EN 13001 for A6–A8 duty class. Box girder construction with full-penetration structural welds and non-destructive testing at critical joints is standard. The girder camber is pre-set during fabrication to compensate for deflection under rated load. End truck frames are reinforced for the impact and fatigue loads specific to grab operation.

Four-Rope Hoist System for Rope-Operated Grabs

Rope-operated grab cranes use a four-rope reeving arrangement: two holding ropes carry the grab load, and two closing ropes open and close the bucket. The rope drum is divided into holding and closing sections with independent spooling. This system is mechanically straightforward and fully maintainable by a standard maintenance team with wire rope experience.

Operator Cabin Design for Bulk Handling Visibility

Grab crane operators need clear downward visibility to position the grab accurately over the material pile. Our standard cabin includes a full-height forward window and an angled floor window providing direct vertical view to the grab and working area below. This visibility is operationally significant — a poorly positioned grab on a dense scrap pile wastes cycle time and increases mechanical wear.

Corrosion and Wear Protection

Overhead grab cranes operate in dusty, often humid environments. Our standard specification for grab cranes includes Sa 2.5 blast preparation and a three-coat epoxy system with minimum 260-micron DFT. All cable conduits and electrical enclosures are rated to IP54 or higher. Trolley frame wear plates on high-contact surfaces are replaceable — this extends trolley service life significantly in abrasive environments.

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The challenge for buyers is that “double girder overhead crane” covers multiple very different machine types. each is designed for a specific operating environment or load type. Specifying the wrong type creates safety risk, regulatory non-compliance, or a crane that fails prematurely because it was not built for the conditions it faces.

This page covers six types in a single reference. By the end, you will know what distinguishes each model, where it belongs, and which one matches your operation — before you speak to any supplier.

What Is a Double Girder Overhead Crane?

Double girder cranes are the standard for loads above 20 tonnes, spans above 30 metres, and operations with high duty cycles. They are the infrastructure of steel mills, foundries, chemical plants, shipyards, and any facility where heavy loads move frequently across large areas.

QD General Purpose Double Girder Overhead Crane

The QD crane is the standard double girder overhead crane for general industrial use, manufactured to Chinese national standard GB/T 14405. It covers the broadest range of capacity and span of any type in this family — from 5 tonnes to 500 tonnes, with spans from 10.5 metres to 35.5 metres in standard increments.

The QD crane uses a standard wire rope hoist trolley and is designed for work duty classes A3 to A6, covering everything from light warehousing to intensive production use. It is the baseline from which all specialized variants are derived.

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Where It Fits

The QD is the right choice for standard industrial environments with no special hazards:

• General manufacturing workshops and assembly facilities
• Warehouse and logistics operations
• Steel fabrication shops without molten metal
• Engineering facilities handling machinery and equipment
• Any application where the environment does not require explosion-proof, heat-resistant, or insulated specifications

Key Specifications

QB Explosion-Proof Double Girder Overhead Crane

The QB crane is a double girder overhead crane with full explosion-proof specification across all electrical components. Every motor, brake, control panel, limit switch, and electrical enclosure is certified to ATEX (EU Directive 2014/34/EU) or IECEx international standards for use in potentially explosive atmospheres.

The explosion-proof specification is not a coating or add-on — it is a fundamental design requirement that affects the selection of every electrical component in the crane. ATEX categories Ex d (flameproof), Ex e (increased safety), and Ex n (non-sparking) are applied to different components depending on their function and the zone classification of the operating environment.

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Where It Fits

QB cranes are mandatory in any facility where explosive gas, vapour, or dust may be present in the working atmosphere:

• Chemical processing and petrochemical facilities
• Paint storage and spray finishing areas
• Grain silos and flour mills (combustible dust)
• Petroleum product storage and handling
• Pharmaceutical manufacturing with solvent atmospheres
• Any ATEX Zone 1 or Zone 2 classified area

Critical compliance note: Installing a standard QD crane in an ATEX-classified zone is a regulatory violation and a serious safety risk. The ATEX or IECEx certification of the crane’s electrical components must match the zone classification of the facility. Verify zone classification with your safety engineer before specifying the crane.

Key Specifications

QDY Metallurgical Double Girder Overhead Crane

The QDY crane is a double girder overhead crane engineered specifically for metallurgical environments — steel mills, foundries, casting shops, and facilities where molten metal, extreme heat, and continuous high-intensity operation are daily conditions. The “Y” designates the metallurgical (冶金) specification.

Every aspect of the QDY differs from a standard QD crane. The structural steel is selected for elevated temperature performance. All electrical components have thermal protection ratings suited to ambient temperatures that can reach 60°C or higher near furnaces and casting lines. Hoist mechanisms use heavy-duty metallurgical-grade designs with larger drum diameters and higher safety factors on wire ropes, because the consequences of a hoist failure above molten metal are catastrophic.

The QDY crane is designed for work duty A6, A7, or A8 — the highest duty classes — because metallurgical operations run continuously, at or near rated load, with minimal downtime. A standard crane’s design life would be exhausted in a fraction of the time in this environment.

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Where It Fits

QDY cranes are the mandatory choice for:

• Electric arc furnace (EAF) and blast furnace tapping operations
• Continuous casting and rolling mills
• Foundry mold handling and pouring operations
• Scrap charging above furnaces
• Any operation where the crane is within the radiant heat zone of molten metal

Key Specifications

QY Insulated Double Girder Overhead Crane

The QY crane is a double girder overhead crane with full electrical insulation throughout the hook path — from the crane bridge down through the end truck, trolley, hoist, and hook block. The insulation system prevents any electrical current from passing through the crane structure to the load or operator.

This specification is required when the crane handles live electrical components, high-voltage equipment, or loads that may carry residual electrical charge. Without insulation, the crane provides a conductive path between the load and the building structure — creating electrocution risk and potential equipment damage.

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Where It Fits

QY insulated cranes are used in:

• Power generation facilities handling transformers, switchgear, and generators
• High-voltage electrical equipment manufacturing and testing
• Transformer assembly and repair shops
• Electrical substation construction and maintenance
• Any facility where the load may be electrically live during lifting

Key Specifications

QE Type Double Trolley Overhead Crane

The QE crane is a double girder overhead crane carrying two independent hoist trolleys on the same bridge. Each trolley has its own hoist, motor, controls, and hook. The two trolleys can operate independently or in coordinated tandem — lifting opposite ends of a long, heavy object simultaneously.

Tandem lifting with a single crane eliminates the need for two separate cranes, two separate operators, and the coordination risk of operating two independent cranes in close proximity. Both trolleys are controlled from a single operator station, with synchronization logic preventing differential lifting that could twist or overload the suspended load.

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Where It Fits

QE Type Double Trolley Overhead Crane:

• Shipyards handling ship sections, hull blocks, and shaft assemblies
• Heavy structural steel fabrication — lifting long girders and trusses
• Precast concrete facilities handling long bridge beams and wall panels
• Wind turbine tower manufacturing
• Any application where a single lift point is structurally inadequate for the load geometry

Key Specifications

QZ Grab Double Girder Overhead Crane

The QZ crane is a double girder overhead crane fitted with an integrated grab bucket drive system rather than a standard hook. The crane carries a dedicated grab bucket — hydraulic or rope-operated clamshell or orange-peel — for handling bulk materials directly, without slings, hooks, or manual load attachment.

The QZ crane has a separate drive system for the grab — opening and closing the bucket is powered independently from the hoisting motion. The crane structure and hoist are designed for the higher duty cycle of continuous bulk handling, where the grab operates repeatedly throughout every working shift.

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Where It Fits

QZ grab cranes are the operational standard in:

• Scrap metal yards and steel recycling facilities
• Coal, ore, and aggregate handling in power plants and processing facilities
• Port and inland terminal bulk unloading
• Waste processing and recycling facilities
• Sand, gravel, and mineral storage yards

Key Specifications

How to Choose: A Decision Framework

Step 1: Identify your hazard environment. If your facility is ATEX-classified — explosive gas or dust — QB overhead crane is mandatory. If you handle molten metal above the crane’s operating area — QDY overhead crane is mandatory. If your loads may be electrically live — QY overhead crane is mandatory. These are not optional upgrades. They are safety and regulatory requirements.

Step 2: Confirm duty cycle. All specialized types typically require higher duty class ratings than a standard QD. Confirm your lift frequency and load spectrum with your supplier before finalizing the specification.

Step 3: Confirm compliance documentation. For QB overhead crane , confirm ATEX zone classification. For QY overhead crane , confirm insulation voltage requirement. For export projects, confirm CE documentation standard (EN 13001 vs GB/T).

Here is how the six types compare at a glance:

Double girder overhead cranes are not one product. They are a family of multiple engineered solutions, each built for a specific operating environment and load type.Getting the type right is the most important decision in this procurement. Get the type wrong, and no amount of correct specification on capacity or span will fix it.

HT crane manufacturer reviews your operating environment, hazard classification, load type, and duty cycle before recommending a model. Contact us with your facility details and we will provide a type recommendation, full technical specification, and CE documentation plan at no cost.

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