Hi There.
Looking for a vehicle with hiab crane at the moment but can anyone tell me how to understand the lifting capacity when in some adverts it says for example; " 21 ton per mtr " or " 14 ton metre crane " What does that mean in english?
Some adverts are self explainatary when it says " Will lift 3 ton at 6 mtrs " fair enough.
Anyone please?
Tricky Dicky
what it means is that the crane has been bench tested to lift say 20ton at 1mtr from the center of the crane ie if the top boom goes out at 1mtr it will lift 20ton,i had a palfinger 5600 which technically would lift 56ton at a mtr but i wouldnt want to try it,it basically means the higher the lifting capacity of the crane the more it can lift at distance mine could pick out a 40 portacabin which weighed roughly 4ton at 30ft hope this helps
it means at close range i.e. along side the vehicle it will or should lift the maxium load dispalyed and then it will give you a break down of what it is capable of lifting as each boom extends, I had a 65t per metre crane on the back of my truck, (it was a monster) which was pointless as it was 32t gross but at 15metres full boom it would a fully loaded works transit van at nearly 3.5t no problem, i suppose it depends on what you plan on lifting and shifting but a 15t crane is usually ample for most jobs…
This chart gives and idea of weight lifted and distance. Basically the maximum rating is with the hiab boom as short as it will go, which means you can lift, but can’t extend the boom. A crane that can lift 15 tonnes vertically with the boom as short as it will go, will struggle with 2 tonnes at full boom horizontally, and usually lock out the controls.
Distances are measured from the centre of the kingpin to the hook, realistically you cannot lift anything closer than about 2m from the centre of rotation which will instantly halve the effective capacity of the crane.
A big crane 60t/m or similar is a handy tool when mounted on ssomething like an 8 wheeler as you’ll be able to lift containers and cabins quite some distance, the trade off is that the vehicle will end up weighing 23t or so giving you a payload of about 9t. We run a 6 wheeler beavertail with a 20t/m crane which can deal with containers and cabins but only has a reach of about 6m.
so basicaly lads everything that i put in my post 
8wheels:
Distances are measured from the centre of the kingpin to the hook, realistically you cannot lift anything closer than about 2m from the centre of rotation which will instantly halve the effective capacity of the crane.A big crane 60t/m or similar is a handy tool when mounted on ssomething like an 8 wheeler as you’ll be able to lift containers and cabins quite some distance, the trade off is that the vehicle will end up weighing 23t or so giving you a payload of about 9t. We run a 6 wheeler beavertail with a 20t/m crane which can deal with containers and cabins but only has a reach of about 6m.
Exactly so really the one metre thing is little more than Bolox as you say above it really needs two metres and even then on some lorrys thats still to close!
Perhaps the best thing the crane company manufacturers ought best to state is lifting capacity in tons at 3 mtrs instead of one metre away ,that would make more sense and easier in reality?
Thanks again you boys for your replies, blimey since ive joined this site i aint aff learned a lot but still a long long way to go!
Tricky dicky