Innovative Derrick Crane: Heavy Lifting in a Small Package

It all started with an idea, and some Lego.

One night, Ryan Burton, Managing Director of Bigfoot Crane, was playing Lego with his son and they started to build a miniature Derrick Crane. Weighted with nickels and dimes as ballast, the Lego creation was lifting materials up onto the roof of an imaginary building.

It got Ryan thinking.

Soon after, he contacted Mainland Machinery, and they began designing an innovative Derrick Crane with enough lift capacity to replace some of the biggest crawlers and all-terrain cranes in the marketplace.

But it wasn’t just about strength, it was about portability.

The goal was to build a Derrick Crane that was compact enough to go up an elevator and, just with man power, be assembled on a balcony or rooftop. From there, the Derrick would be able to winch materials up off the street.

Ryan insisted that the Derrick needed to be portable, but also able to lift to a maximum of 750 feet, depending on the winch package. The tower of the crane would need to reach ten feet above the roof to allow room for materials to be onloaded, but the crane would also need an inclinable jib so an even higher hook height could be achieved.

The result was a Derrick Crane with a single design but with 24 footing designs to accommodate a variety of rooftop applications. With its flexible design and a fast winch motor, the crane could be assembled in about four hours, allowing for maximum efficiency on projects.

For high-reach projects on existing buildings or industrial structures, Bigfoot’s Derrick Crane provided a great alternative to large crawler and all-terrain cranes. Not only did the new Derrick lift to the same height as the larger cranes, but it eliminated the street closures that are often associated with high-angle urban projects.

Technical Spec Highlights:

Heaviest Component: 150 lbs

Maximum lift capacity: 1 tonne (2,000 pounds)

Maximum service height: 750 ft

Jib length: 13 ft

Click here to see the Derrick Crane in action on a balcony in downtown Vancouver.

For full product details and to inquire about renting this crane for your next project, contact Ryan at 604.854.3218 or call toll free at 1.877.852.2192.