Stone, Quartz & Engineered Surfaces

Cranes, Gantries & Fezer Vacuum Lifting for Stone Fabricators, Quartz Manufacturers & Slab Distributors

Stone slabs are heavy, fragile, expensive and arrive in awkward sizes. A 3-metre jumbo slab of granite, quartz or Dekton weighs 300–500kg on its own — bundled on an A-frame for transport, you’re lifting 2–5 tonnes at a time. Drop one and you’ve lost £1,500 of stock plus a day of production. Slings or chains scratch the surface, bare hooks crack the edge. The right lifting solution makes the difference between a profitable yard and an expensive one.

At Granada Cranes, we’re uniquely placed in the stone sector — we supply, install and maintain overhead cranes, freestanding gantries and jib cranes, AND we’re the UK distributor for Fezer vacuum lifting devices. The combination is the right answer for nearly every stone yard in the country — one supplier, one install, one team supporting it.

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5 Ton Crane Installation - Cosentino

FEZER Vacuum Lifting

Why Stone Fabricators Need Specialist Lifting

15 Ton Overhead Gantry Crane - TATA Steel

Stone, quartz and engineered surface materials present lifting challenges that general industrial cranes weren’t designed for. The combination of weight, size, fragility and value means standard slings, chains and clamps usually do more harm than good.

The realities of the slab:

Weight: a single 3m × 1.4m granite slab at 30mm thickness weighs ~340kg; a Dekton ultra-large at 3.6m × 1.6m can hit 470kg+
Bundling: A-frames carrying 5–10 slabs reach 2–5 tonnes — and that’s the typical incoming delivery
Surface fragility: any contact with chains, hooks or unprotected slings marks the polished face — which means scrap
Edge fragility: brittle materials like sintered stone chip on point loads — clamps and grabs can cause more damage than they prevent
Value: a finished jumbo slab is £800–£2,000+ depending on material — one drop is a serious P&L event
Wet, dusty environments: water-jet cutting, polishing and routing create environments that destroy unsuitable equipment quickly

What stone yards actually need: overhead cranes for the gross moves, Fezer vacuum lifting for safe single-slab handling, and jib cranes at fabrication workstations where operators feed slabs into saws, water-jets and CNC bridges all day.

Cranes Suitable for the Stone Industry

For stone yards, the right combination is typically an overhead crane for bay-wide moves, Fezer vacuum lifting for safe slab handling, and jib cranes at fabrication workstations. We supply, install and service the lot — from a single 5-tonne overhead system through to a multi-bay turnkey install like the one we delivered for Cosentino UK.

Overhead Gantry Cranes

These robust cranes are ideal for heavy-duty lifting and extensively used in large-scale industrial environments. Their ability to move over large areas makes them indispensable.

Lightweight Cranes

Perfect for small workshops or areas where space is a premium. Despite their compact size, they offer remarkable efficiency and are easy to operate.

Swing Jib Cranes

Offering 360-degree rotation, these cranes are perfect for workshops where flexibility and space-saving are key. They can be wall-mounted or freestanding.

Vacuum Lifting

These cranes offer gentle lifting solutions that use suction pads to lift objects, making them ideal for handling delicate materials.

Goliath & Semi-Goliath Cranes

Known for their immense lifting capabilities, these cranes are a staple in outdoor environments like shipyards and large construction sites.

Hoists & Monorails

These systems are great for streamlined, linear operations. They can be tailored to fit specific production lines and are excellent for repetitive tasks.

Gantries

Offering the ultimate in flexibility, these gantries can be moved as required, with options for manual or motorised movement.

Gantry Steelwork

WEC 15t Single Girder Overhead Crane Installation

At Granada Cranes, we design, fabricate, and install complete gantry steelwork and crane runway systems for Overhead Gantry Cranes

Crane Rail & Runway Systems

Granada Cranes specialises in the design, installation, and refurbishment of crane rail and runway systems for workshops, warehouses, factories, and heavy industrial environments.

Cosentino UK — The Engineered Surfaces Project

Cosentino UK — maker of Silestone, Dekton and other engineered surface materials — approached us for cranes capable of handling heavy slab loads with precision and consistency across their UK facility. Following site visits to assess feasibility and operational requirements, we designed and built the cranes in our factory before transporting and installing on-site.

Equipment supplied:

2 × 5-tonne single-girder overhead cranes
1 × freestanding gantry

Key project specifications:

SWL: 5,000kg | Construction: Box Girder | Classification: M5
Spans: Bay 1 25,000mm; Bay 2 20,000mm
Height under hook: 6,000mm
Hoist: SWF wire rope, 8 / 1.3 m/min, 7.5 / 1.2 kW
Travel: Cross 20 m/min, long 40 m/min — stepless dual speed
Controls: Radio control with pendant backup
Power: Enclosed busbar 3-phase + earth
Travel indicator lamp + horn, electronic overload protection
Cranes branded in Cosentino’s corporate colours and logos

Outcome: Cosentino now operates the cranes as the backbone of their UK slab-handling operation, with Granada providing ongoing service and LOLER cover.

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Outfitting a Stone Yard or Fabrication Facility?

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Stone Industry Lifting Specs & Applications

Every stone fabricator’s setup is different — bay size, slab volume, machine layout, building structure all change the spec. Here’s the typical envelope we work within.

Typical Stone Yard Crane Specs
Lifting Capacity	2t–10t (slab bundles, A-frames); 100kg–2,000kg (vacuum lifters)
Span	15m–25m typical for slab yards and fabrication bays
Construction	Box girder for span and rigidity
Classification	FEM 2m / ISO M5 (medium duty, multi-shift)
Hoist Type	SWF wire rope hoist with dual-speed lift
Travel Speeds	Cross 20 m/min, long 40 m/min — stepless dual speed for positioning
Vacuum Lifters	Fezer VacuBoy (to 2t), VacuGiant (to 40t for ultra-large slabs)
Controls	Radio control with pendant backup — standard for stone
Power Supply	Enclosed busbar, 3-phase + earth
Compliance	LOLER, PUWER, BS EN 15011, BS EN 14492-2, CE marked

Stone Industry Role	Typical Lifting Setup
Engineered Surface Manufacturer	Multi-bay overhead cranes for incoming raw materials and outgoing finished slabs (Cosentino-scale).
Slab Distributor	5–10t overhead cranes for unloading delivery wagons, A-frame transfer, and pick orders.
Stone Fabricator	Overhead crane plus VacuBoy at the saw, water-jet and CNC bridge.
Worktop Manufacturer	Lighter overhead or freestanding gantry, plus jib cranes at fabrication stations.
Architectural Stone	Cranes sized for cladding panels, monumental pieces and bespoke installation work.
Granite Quarry / Block Yard	10t+ overhead or goliath cranes for raw block handling, plus bridge saws.
Restoration & Specialist	Lighter cranes plus jib and lightweight systems for delicate, valuable pieces.

Frequently Asked Questions on Stone & Quartz Lifting

The combination of overhead cranes and Fezer vacuum lifters we supply handles all the major engineered and natural surface materials: granite, marble, quartz (including Silestone, Caesarstone, Compac), sintered stone (Dekton, Lapitec, Neolith), ceramic and porcelain slabs, limestone, slate and travertine. The crane spec is governed by the weight of your A-frame bundles; the vacuum lifter spec is governed by the slab format, surface finish and fragility. We’ll match both during the site survey.

For most stone fabricators and slab distributors, a 5-tonne overhead crane covers nearly all slab-bundle handling — the same spec we supplied to Cosentino UK. Larger operations (granite quarries, block yards) often need 10-tonne or higher to handle raw blocks. Smaller worktop manufacturers can sometimes get away with a 2–3 tonne overhead or a freestanding gantry. The main factor is the heaviest bundle you’ll lift — not individual slab weight.

The VacuBoy is the standard slab vacuum lifter for fabricators and distributors — up to 2,000kg, 90° or 180° rotation, and small enough to suit most overhead and freestanding cranes. The VacuGiant is the heavy-format option for ultra-large slabs (Dekton, Lapitec, oversized natural stone) up to 12 metres long, with full 180° turn-over — designed for the manufacturers and distributors handling architectural-format material. We spec the right model based on your typical slab dimensions and weight.

Yes — that’s the core of why stone yards choose us. We’re the UK’s largest independent crane company AND the UK distributor for Fezer vacuum lifters. Both come from one team, one site survey, one install schedule and one ongoing service contract. No coordinating between separate suppliers, no finger-pointing if something doesn’t work, and the crane and lifter are designed to work together from day one.

Yes. We finished the Cosentino UK cranes in their corporate colours and applied their logos — and we can do the same for any client who wants it. It’s a small line item in the quote and makes the cranes feel like part of your facility rather than a generic install.

Yes. Every crane and lifting accessory we supply is covered under our nationwide LOLER inspection service, with over 60 competent engineers across the UK. We also offer preventative maintenance contracts, breakdown cover and Fezer-specific service for suction pads, seals and vacuum pumps. One service contract covers both your cranes and your lifting attachments.

For the stone industry specifically, we offer something nobody else in the UK does: we’re both the UK’s largest independent crane company AND the UK distributor for Fezer vacuum lifters. That means the crane and the lifter are designed to work together from day one, supplied through one team, and serviced under one nationwide contract.

Outfitting a Stone Yard?
Choose Granada Cranes

Whether you’re building a new fabrication facility, expanding an existing yard, or replacing a tired crane that’s no longer fit for the slab volumes you’re running — tell us your bay dimensions, slab format and lifting volume, and we’ll come back with the right crane, the right Fezer vacuum lifter, and a single clear quote for both.

Book a site survey or request a quote today.