Overhead Crane Installations with Low Headroom Challenges — How We Solve Them

Not every facility is built with overhead cranes in mind. Older factories, workshops with low ceilings, mezzanines, and specialist production cells often have one major problem:

There isn’t enough headroom to fit a standard crane system.

Traditional crane and hoist configurations take up valuable lifting height. In tight spaces, even losing a few hundred millimetres can make a crane unusable. That’s where low headroom engineering becomes essential – and it’s an area where Granada Cranes has extensive experience.

Why Low Headroom Cranes Are a Challenge

• Limited lifting height due to roof beams, HVAC, lighting, ducting or existing steelwork
• Restricted hook path meaning standard hoists lose valuable travel
• Little space for runway steelwork or end carriages
• Older buildings built without crane loads in mind
• Retrofit projects where modifying the structure isn’t possible

In many cases, a standard overhead crane simply won’t fit. The answer is specialist design.

How Granada Cranes Solves Low Headroom Installs

Because we manufacture and design cranes in-house, we’re able to engineer systems specifically for small vertical space. That includes:

• Low headroom wire rope hoists (SWF, OMIS, Stahl)
• Chain hoists for compact workshop layouts
• Slimline single girder beams to maximise hook height
• Custom end carriages with reduced wheel load and profile
• Open barrel rope hoists for true vertical lift and high precision
• Freestanding gantry steelwork when the building structure can’t take load

Every crane is modelled, surveyed and fabricated to fit around the environment – not the other way around.

Real Installations in Tight Spaces

20 Ton Double-Girder Crane for Pro-Mil Engineering

• Tight headroom environment
• Omis open barrel hoist with no rope guides
• Precision lifting for large CNC components

View Case Study

5 Ton Crane Installed Inside a Soundproof Cell

• No room for standard hoist travel
• Custom compact crane system designed to fit the enclosure
• Quiet, controlled lifting inside a sealed acoustic room

Production Facility Retrofits

• Overhead cranes fitted into buildings not originally designed for lifting
• Limited clearance beneath trusses
• Custom girder profiles and hoist positioning to maximise hook height

In every example, a standard crane would not have worked. A specialist low headroom configuration made the project possible – and compliant.

Where Low Headroom Cranes Are Used

• Fabrication and welding bays
• Automotive workshops
• Small engineering firms
• Facilities with low ceilings or mezzanines
• Noise-controlled rooms and sealed production cells
• Older manufacturing sites

Why Choose Granada for Low Headroom Installations?

• In-house fabrication and design – we build cranes around your space
• Specialist hoist configurations from SWF, OMIS, Stahl, Liftket and more
• Experienced with tight clearances, unusual environments and retrofit projects
• Total project delivery – design, steelwork, installation, commissioning and servicing

Need a Crane But Short on Headroom?

We offer free site surveys and direct advice from our engineering team. If your building can’t take a standard crane – we’ll build one that will.

✔ Custom low headroom cranes
✔ Low headroom hoists
✔ Retrofit and modernisation work
✔ Nationwide installation and servicing