Materials in Motion

History This year at Spanco, we’re celebrating 40 years in the crane business. In 1979, Richard Uhlig—the son of Lug-All founder George Uhlig—established Spanco in Downingtown, Pennsylvania. Here Spanco began manufacturing a small line of Spanco Adjustable Gantry Cranes and Tripod Cranes. Soon the business grew, and we added a line of Spanco Jib Cranes... Read Full Article

Material handling operations can involve potentially hazardous conditions, and they require safety programs to eliminate risk factors. For a safety program to be effective within a facility, employees and managers have to be on the same page regarding safety expectations. Unfortunately, employees and managers don’t always see eye-to-eye, but that isn’t always the sole responsibility... Read Full Article

As a follow up to one of our older posts Understanding Overhead Crane Deflection and Criteria posted on December 23, 2014, I want to talk about why deflection is so important in the jib crane selection process. To recap, crane deflection is the amount of vertical or horizontal displacement of a member or part of... Read Full Article

Overhead cranes can help make material handling operations much safer than other methods of lifting heavy objects. They can alleviate the need for manual lifting, which can protect workers from strains and lift-related injuries. They can also replace other types of lifting equipment, such as forklifts, that aren’t specifically designed for material handling. Overhead cranes... Read Full Article

The world of cranes is huge; while many cranes are used in different types of large construction projects, many other cranes are used every day in a huge variety of industries. With so many different applications, there are also many different kinds of cranes that are all designed for specific jobs and functions. Cranes are... Read Full Article

One common tool found in many automotive garages is the engine hoist. A typical garage engine hoist consists of a wheeled base, a post, and a cantilever arm. The base uses two legs extending forward from the post past the end of the cantilever arm. These legs fit underneath a vehicle to allow the arm... Read Full Article

When lifting heavy or oddly shaped objects, it is sometimes desirable to use two cranes in tandem rather than a single higher-capacity crane. Tandem lifts can be very useful, and they are often used to place structural beams for bridges, move large loads, and lift long components from horizontal to vertical positions. However, tandem lifts... Read Full Article