A spider crane is a compact tracked crane that folds narrow enough to pass through a doorway and then spreads four legs to lift. Hire is usually quoted with an operator at roughly $700 to $1,800 a day, for capacities from about 1 ton to 8 tons at short radius. It exists for lifts that no truck crane can reach and no forklift can make.
Read the load chart at the radius you need
The headline capacity applies with the boom short and the load close to the machine, and it falls steeply as the boom extends. The number that matters is the rated load at your actual radius and height, on the outrigger configuration your space allows. Give the supplier the weight, the distance and the obstruction, and ask for the chart line.
It fits through the door, then it wants outrigger room
Tracked width when folded is what gets a spider crane into an atrium, a plant room or a back garden. Once inside it needs floor for four legs, sometimes at different extensions, and pads under each. Survey the setting position rather than the route, because a machine that got in and cannot deploy has achieved nothing.
Floor loading is the question the building asks
All the weight goes through four small pads, and on a suspended slab, a basement roof or a paved courtyard over a void that concentrated load is what the structural engineer needs to see. Spreader mats reduce it. Expect to supply a setup drawing with outrigger loads for any lift inside an existing building.
The operator normally comes with the machine
These are almost always supplied operated, both because operator qualification for cranes in construction is a regulated matter and because the machines are supplier assets nobody hands over lightly. Practically, an operated hire also gets you the lift planning. If a supplier offers one bare, ask what they expect of your operator in writing.
Questions people ask about spider crane rental
What can a spider crane lift?
Rental fleets typically run machines rated from about 1 ton up to 8 tons at minimum radius, with much lower figures at reach. Glass, plant, steelwork and tanks are the usual loads. The honest answer for any specific lift comes from the load chart at your radius, not the model name.
Can a spider crane work indoors?
Yes, and it is the main reason they exist. Many units run on electric power packs as well as diesel so they can operate inside without exhaust, and they fold to pass through standard door openings. The limits are floor loading and headroom, both of which get checked before the lift.
How much does a spider crane cost per day?
Operated hire commonly runs several hundred to a couple of thousand a day depending on capacity, with transport and the operator's time quoted alongside. Short local lifts are sometimes sold as a half day. Ask what is included: transport both ways, the operator, the lift plan and any mats.