- May 07, 2025
- Case Studies
25 Ton MG Double Girder Gantry Crane to Poland
Explore our detailed case study on the 25 Ton MG Double Girder Gantry Crane delivered to Poland. Discover the project’s challenges, solutions, and outcomes.
The customer is a steel fabrication company in southern Poland, producing structural beams and welded assemblies for the construction, automotive, and railway sectors. This company operates a big outdoor yard and a covered assembly hall, supporting both indoor and outdoor operations.
Material handling needs include lifting heavy steel sections (up to 25t) from delivery trucks, positioning them under welding stations, and loading finished assemblies onto rail wagons. Prior to this project, the facility used a 10t single girder overhead crane and mobile hydraulic jacks, which could not span the full yard or handle the heaviest loads safely.
Customer Needs And Operational Challenges
Facilities with increased production demands and more complicated handling requirements frequently outgrow their current lifting equipment. When load weights rise, span requirements grow, and safety regulations tighten, off-the-shelf cranes may fail. The customer's special needs and operational issues drove them to look for a customized gantry crane solution.
1. Requirement For Higher Load Capacity And Span
The customer's outside yard handles massive structural parts including steel beams and modular assemblies weighing up to 25 tons. Their layout extends 22 meters between support points, and they required a clear, uninterrupted crane runway for cars and persons to safely pass beneath. Any intermediate columns would impede traffic flow and complicate material movement. As a result, the system required to deliver the full 25 t capacity across a 22 m freestanding span with no extra supports.
2. Versatility For Diverse And Challenging Tasks
Daily operations involve unloading 18-meter-long I-beams from rail cars, precisely inserting steel frames into paint booths, and reloading final assemblies onto flat-bed wagons. Outdoor wind gusts of up to 15 m/s cause sway and placement issues. The crane required fine-tuning, dual-speed lifting, and trolley movement to keep cargo stable during transfer, regardless of the weather. Quick-change spreaders and hoist attachments were also necessary for switching between beam hooks, spreader beams, and lifting clamps.
3. Installation Constraints And Outdoor Operation
Traditional runway beam installation was impractical due to the lack of an existing overhead runway and the limited floor space covered by train tracks and storage racks. The customer wanted a ground-rolling gantry that could move on basic ground rails with little civil construction. All components had to endure temperatures ranging from -20 to +40 degrees Celsius, as well as UV radiation and rain. Galvanized steel legs, sealed bearings, and weatherproof electrical cabinets provided dependable, low-maintenance operation in the open yard.
4. Safety And Compliance Standards
The national crane code of Poland, as well as the EU machinery directives, require high duty and safety criteria. The customer wanted ISO 4301-1 M6 duty classification and EN 15011 compliance for gantry cranes. Every key component—steel structure, hoist, and controls—required CE marking, SGS load-test certification, and TUV design approval. This certification of conformity verified that their new crane would pass local inspections and function safely under heavy-duty situations.
5. Limitations Of Prior Equipment
Their previous 10-tonne single-girder crane couldn't reach crucial outdoor areas, so they had to rely on forklifts and manual chain hoists for bigger parts. These stop-start procedures increased cycle times by 30% while introducing ergonomic dangers. According to data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, material-moving occupations have 2.4 nonfatal accidents per 100 full-time workers and 44 fatal injuries per year among crane operators. The customer required a more competent, safer crane to save downtime and minimize injury hazards in their high-volume yard.
Selection Criteria For The 25 Ton MG Double Girder Gantry Crane
When you want to buy a 25 ton gantry crane, you need to carefully consider the lifting capacity, span, speed and your operating environment. When we supplied the gantry to our Polish customer, we carefully considered their actual working conditions to ensure that they would be able to lift heavy steel structures smoothly.
1. Load Capacity And Duty Classification
After taking a closer look at the customer's lifting needs and their loads, we settled on a safe working load of 25 tons, which could easily handle heavy steel girders, welded assemblies, and occasional peak loads without overloading their lifts. The crane has an operating class of M6, which according to ISO 4301-1 means that it can be used for frequent lifting operations throughout the day. Over the lifetime of the crane, the crane can be used in applications where the frequency of work is extremely high and the intensity of the work is extremely high.
2. Span And Lifting Height
A clear span of 22 meters allowed the crane to cover the full width of the outdoor yard while keeping rail tracks and vehicle routes open. This avoids bottlenecks and makes material flow more flexible. The 10-meter lifting height under the hook gave enough vertical space to stack large beams, place them on adjustable supports, and load them onto rail wagons safely. This setup fits well with fabrication and dispatch operations.
3. Lifting And Trolley Speeds
The lifting speed of 8.5 meters per minute was chosen to match welding, inspection, and painting cycles, so lifting does not slow down production. At the same time, the speed remains controlled enough to protect the load and maintain safety. A trolley speed of 23.8 meters per minute and a crane travel speed of 27.7 meters per minute allow you to move heavy loads across the yard efficiently. This balance between speed and stability helps cut unnecessary waiting time and improves overall handling efficiency during busy shifts.
4. Duty Cycle And Environmental Conditions
As an MG type gantry crane, the design suits medium-duty outdoor operations where the crane works regularly but not continuously at full load. The crane operates reliably in temperatures from –20°C to +40°C, which covers typical Polish weather throughout the year. IP55 electrical protection keeps dust and moisture away from sensitive components, reducing downtime caused by weather. Galvanized and well-coated steel parts help resist corrosion, which is important for outdoor installations and long-term asset protection.
5. Logistics And Delivery To Poland
Transport planning played a key role in this project because of the crane's large size and weight. Major components such as girders, legs, and end carriages were shipped by sea from China to Gdańsk port. From there, inland transport required careful route planning to avoid low bridges and tight roads. Proper lashing and cribbing protected the components during transit. All customs and documentation followed EU machinery import rules, helping you receive the crane on site without delays and allowing installation to start as scheduled.
Yauntai Gantry Crane
Product Specifications And Technical Features
In order to ensure that the final design and product is suitable for the customer in Poland, our engineers provided several lifting solutions for the customer's reference, and finally chose the following solution:
1. Double Girder Main Beam And End Carriages
The bridge uses two parallel welded box girders made from high-strength Q345B steel. Weld seams are stress-relieved and the whole beam is stiffened to reduce deflection under full rated load, so the crane keeps accurate hoist positioning even at long spans up to 30 m. End carriages ride on P43 rails with forged steel wheelsets fitted with sealed precision bearings and reinforced treads to cut rolling wear and extend service life. The design includes accessible inspection points and lubrication ports so you can perform routine checks without major disassembly. Legs and connections are bolted and welded per EN practice, and the structure receives a corrosion-resistant paint system suitable for outdoor or industrial use.
2. Electric Wire Rope Hoist
The crane is fitted with an open-winch electric wire rope hoist built to GB/T 14406 standards for durability and predictable performance. A dual-speed motor gives a fast empty-run speed and a slow, controlled pick-and-place speed for precise handling; thermal protection and a heavy-duty gearbox protect the drive train. The four-fall reeving increases mechanical advantage and keeps drum rpm moderate, while a mechanical load brake and fail-safe disc brake secure loads when the motor is off. The hoist accepts a high-quality galvanized wire rope sized to the rated load, and features upper and lower travel limits, emergency lowering, and overload detection that ties into the crane's alarm and interlock system.
3. Control System And Safety Devices
Controls are simple and rugged with an IP65 pendant as standard and optional radio remote control for better visibility and mobility during lifts. Safety features include a deadman switch, a large, easy-reach emergency stop, and strain-gauge load cells on the hoist for accurate overload protection; the system disables lifting above the preset limit and issues an audible and visual alarm. End-stop buffers absorb impact at travel limits and flange guides plus anti-derail devices keep wheels on track during gusts or sudden stops. For multi-crane sites, anti-collision radar and programmable approach limits reduce the risk of interference.
4. Electrical And Mechanical Protections
Electrical cabinets include phase-failure and phase-sequence relays, short-circuit breakers, and motor thermal overload protection to safeguard drives and reduce downtime. Variable frequency drives are used on travel and trolley motions to deliver smooth start/stop profiles and lower mechanical stress on gears and couplings. Cables are routed through cable reels or festoon systems with strain relief and proper earthing to prevent damage during travel. Mechanically, wheel flange guides, rubber leg buffers, and shock-absorbing travel stops protect the structure from impact and lateral loads, while corrosion-resistant coatings and accessible maintenance panels make routine servicing faster and cheaper.
5. Certifications and Compliance
This gantry crane meets EN 15011 criteria for structural integrity, safety devices, and testing methods, as well as ISO 4301-1 classification for duty cycle ratings. It possesses the CE mark, ISO 9001 quality management certification, and has undergone SGS factory inspections. TUV type-examination certificates cover both the electric hoist and the safety systems. Each unit comes with a compliance statement, complete load-test records, and material traceability documentation.
Installation And Commissioning Process
Crane installation must be planned ahead of time to ensure long-term stability. Yuantai's skilled installation team offers a comprehensive variety of services, from foundation and track planning to installation inspections, ensuring that each installation program is adapted to the customer's specific requirements.
1. Site Preparation And Rail Installation
Our installation team arrived early to fix the site. We erected dual ground rails on chemically secured tie-bars, with sleepers spaced apart to balance weight distribution. Rail alignment was certified to be within ± 0.5 mm across 10 m spans using laser levels and straight edges. This exact arrangement ensures smooth, vibration-free crane motion and increases rail life.
2. Cranes Erection And Hoist Mounting
Next, modular gantry legs were bolted directly to the prepared rails. A transportable hydraulic crane lifted each double-girder beam into place, with fit-up tolerances of ± 2 mm for smooth splicing. We installed end carriages and modified axle shims to ensure homogeneous wheel loads based on load calculation charts. The electric wire rope hoist was then installed beneath the main beam. Technicians precisely positioned the hoist drum and rope path, preventing rope skew and premature wear.
3. Testing And Verification
After completing the mechanical assembly, we performed no-load trial runs at various speeds to ensure smooth bridge, trolley, and hoist operations. A static proof load test lifted 31.25 t, or 125% of the 25 t SWL, to certify structural integrity according to EN 13001. Dynamic testing then moved 25 t loads through full travel and lift cycles at the rated speed. We recorded motor current draw and drop distances during emergency stops. All safety devices—overload limiter, emergency stop circuits, limit switches, and anti-collision radar—were tested and found to function within the specified response times. Each measurement and test result was documented so that the customer's safety officer could review them.
4. Operator Training And Documentation
To guarantee a smooth transition, our engineers provided on-site training courses on standard operating procedures, emergency stop protocols, and daily inspection routines. Each operator was given a complete user manual, a preventive maintenance schedule, and calibrated test instruments. Finally, we produced a full commissioning report that included as-built drawings, test data logs, certification copies, and recommended spare parts lists, ensuring that the customer had all of the information needed to operate the crane safely and reliably.
