Trolley gauge, reeving, height limits, energy feed and the load test. What actually decides whether a new electric hoist still runs cleanly in five years, and what belongs in the handover file when the installation finishes.
A new electric hoist takes 2 to 5 working days to install and commission. Roughly a third of that time goes on settings that cannot be finished in the factory: the lifting height limit, the trolley gauge against your beam, and the load test. The hoist itself is the easy part.
What actually decides whether the thing still runs cleanly in five years is the beam it hangs from, the power feed that follows it along the track, and whether anybody wrote the test numbers down. I have watched a hoist that was installed in one afternoon and worked for a decade, and I have watched one that took a week and started tripping its overload relay on the second shift. The difference was not the hoist.
This guide covers what the installation scope really includes, the eight on-site stages, the trolley fit-up dimensions that decide whether the wheels bind or roll, how reeving and height limits are set, the festoon versus conductor rail decision, 2026 cost ranges, the load test under ASME B30.16, and what belongs in the handover file. If you are buying a hoist as a spare or a replacement rather than as part of a crane, most of this still applies, and we flag the parts that change.
Most arguments about hoist installation are not technical. They are about who was supposed to supply what. The hoist arrives as a fairly complete unit, but it lands on a beam that somebody else built, feeds from a power supply somebody else wired, and gets tested by whoever is standing there when the crate is open.
Sort that list out before the purchase order goes out, not on the morning the crate arrives.
| Scope item | Who normally supplies it | Where it goes wrong |
|---|---|---|
| Hoist unit, trolley, rope or chain, hook block, pendant | Hoist supplier | Trolley gauge ordered before the beam flange was measured |
| Beam or runway the hoist runs on | Buyer, or the crane supplier on a new crane | Web stiffeners missing where the end approach concentrates load |
| Main power switch and supply cable to the crane | Buyer's electrical contractor | Switch put 40 m away, so nobody uses it for maintenance isolation |
| Energy feed along the travel path: festoon, conductor rail or energy chain | Hoist supplier or electrical contractor | Festoon loop sag set by eye, so the cable drags on the rail within a month |
| Lifting height limit setting and overtravel devices | Installer, on site, always | Set too tight at the factory, so the hook stops 400 mm below the real working height |
| Load test, certificate and operator training | Installer or an inspection body | Test done, no signed report, so the file is empty at the first audit |
Two to five working days for a single hoist on an existing beam or crane. Five to ten days if you are also putting in the runway, the power feed and the structural work. The stages themselves are short. What stretches the schedule is almost always a discovery: the beam flange is not the width on the drawing, or the supply is 480 V and the hoist wants 400 V.
| Stage | Typical duration | Usually done by | What stalls it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Site survey and beam measurement | 0.5-1 day, before delivery | Supplier engineer or buyer's engineer | Flange width taken from a drawing instead of from the beam |
| 2. Receiving inspection of the crate | 0.5 day | Site team | Damage not recorded, so the claim dies a month later |
| 3. Lifting the hoist onto the beam and setting the gauge | 0.5-1 day | Rigging crew | No lifting point above the beam, so a mobile crane has to be hired |
| 4. Power supply, main switch and control wiring | 1-2 days | Electrician | Voltage or frequency mismatch found at connection time |
| 5. Reeving, chain container and hook block | 0.5 day | Hoist technician | Rope supplied loose but no reeving drawing in the crate |
| 6. Height limits, overtravel and end stops | 0.5 day | Hoist technician | Set by eye without running the hook at full speed |
| 7. No-load run and load test | 0.5-1 day | Installer, test weights on site | No test weights booked, so the test is done with "about a tonne" of scrap |
| 8. Operator briefing and handover | 0.5 day | Installer plus buyer's supervisor | Nobody writes down the as-built height limit |
Seven things, and the survey takes half a day if the beam is accessible. Skip it and you find out about the wrong one at the worst possible moment, usually with the crate open and the mobile crane already on site.
| Check | What to measure | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Beam or track section | Flange width (A), flange thickness, section depth, straightness over the full travel | Sets the trolley gauge and the wheel groove. Get this wrong and you are adjusting wheels on site |
| Headroom and hook approach | Distance from beam underside to the highest obstruction, and the end approach at both ends | Decides usable lift height, and whether you need a low-headroom hoist |
| Structure capacity at the hoist positions | Local bending and web capacity at the worst-case wheel load position | A hoist adds a moving concentrated load to a member designed for uniform load |
| Power supply | Voltage, frequency, phases, available fault current, cable route to the main switch | 400 V/50 Hz and 480 V/60 Hz hoists are not interchangeable without a change |
| Travel length and path | Total travel, plus any curves, switches or gates the feed must pass | Around 70-90 m is where festoon stops being the cheap answer |
| Environment | Ambient temperature, dust, humidity, corrosive or explosive atmosphere | Drives IP rating, cable material and whether you need an Ex-rated hoist at all |
| Access for lifting and future service | How the hoist gets up there, and how a technician reaches it in two years | A hoist nobody can reach stops being inspected |
This is the part where a one-millimetre decision shows up as wheel wear two years later. A trolley that is too tight binds and chews its wheel flanges. A trolley that is too loose walks from side to side, and every travel cycle loads one flange instead of sharing it between two.
The good news is that most hoists ship with the trolley gauge already adjusted to the track width you specified on the order. The standard shipping condition for a wire rope or chain hoist is that the trolley wheels are set to the ordered gauge, and on many designs the rope and hook arrive already assembled. What you cannot get from the factory is the fit against your actual beam, because nobody has measured it yet.
| Dimension | Symbol | Requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Track tread width (the part the wheel runs on) | A | Measured on site, not read off the drawing |
| Wheel groove width | C | C = A + 15 mm is the standard relationship for a flanged wheel on a flat tread |
| Trolley gauge (wheel centre to wheel centre) | R | Set at the factory to the ordered track centre distance |
| Track centre distance on the beam | B | B = R plus or minus 2 mm; outside that, adjust the trolley |
| Clearance to the lower flange edge | B1 | About 5-6 mm wider than the lower flange width, then check wheel parallelism before locking |
Set the nuts finger tight, roll the unloaded trolley the full length of the travel, and watch the flanges. If one wheel is carrying the load and the other is floating, the gauge is wrong or the beam is twisted. Fix it now. On a 2-tonne hoist it is a spanner. Two years later it is a set of wheels and a production stop.
On a double-rail crab for a double girder crane the same logic applies to the rail spacing, and the rail centring tolerance is tighter because the crab has four wheels on two rails instead of three on one beam. Our hoist and accessory range is supplied with the gauge set to the ordered track, and we ask for the measured flange width before the order is released for exactly this reason.
The two are often lumped together in buying decisions, and they install differently enough to matter. The main split is how the lifting medium is stored. A chain hoist passes welded load chain over a pocketed load sheave and drops the slack into a chain container. A wire rope hoist winds rope onto a grooved drum, and often routes it through sheaves in the hook block.
That single difference drives lift height limits, headroom, whether the hook tracks straight, and what you inspect every month.
| Item | Electric chain hoist | Electric wire rope hoist |
|---|---|---|
| Lifting medium | Welded load chain over a pocketed load sheave | Wire rope wound on a grooved drum, often through sheaves |
| Slack medium storage | Chain container, needs floor or beam clearance when the hook is up | Stays on the drum, so long lifts cost drum width rather than hanging weight |
| Site assembly | Usually shipped complete; check the chain sits in the container without twists | Rope may be supplied loose; reeving must follow the drawing |
| Hook path | No drum-induced drift, so the hook tracks straight by nature | Single-reeved designs drift a little as rope winds across the drum; true vertical lift needs double reeving |
| Headroom needed | Compact, and low-headroom trolleys are common | Drum and reeving add envelope unless you buy a low-headroom unit |
| Long lift heights | Chain mass and container size grow with the lift | Practical starting point for long lift heights |
| Installation check that matters most | No twist in the chain, and links seated correctly on the load sheave | Reeving matches the drawing, and the rope sits in the drum grooves |
| Routine wear item | Load chain elongation, checked over 11 link pitches | Rope broken wires and diameter loss under ISO 4309 |
| Typical service reality | 0.125-10 t, short to medium lift, logistics and workshop duties | 1-100 t, higher duty, longer lift, more crane integration |
Reeving is the number of rope parts supporting the hook block. More parts means the rope carries less for the same load, and the hook moves slower for the same drum speed. Fewer parts means the opposite.
On a hoist that arrives fully assembled, you do not touch reeving, and this section is about verification rather than assembly. If the rope was shipped loose, or you are changing the reeving to alter hook speed, the reeving drawing in the crate is the controlling document and the parts of line have to match it.
The two assembly errors that cost the most time are a rope reeved with the wrong number of parts, and a hook block that hangs rotated because the rope was not de-twisted before the drum was loaded. Both show up immediately during the no-load run, which is exactly why the no-load run is not optional.
| Reeving | Parts of line | Effect on hook speed | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2/1 | 2 | Fastest hook speed for a given drum speed | Light hoists and short lifts where speed matters |
| 4/1 | 4 | Half the hook speed of 2/1, double the rope load capacity | The common middle ground from about 5 t upwards |
| 6/1 or more | 6+ | Slow hook, lowest rope load per part | Heavy capacities where rope size, not speed, is the constraint |
| Double reeved vertical lift | 4 or 6 | Hook path stays vertical with almost no lateral drift | Precision placement, die handling, container loading |
Because it depends on the hook approach you actually have, and nobody knows that until the hoist is hanging on your beam. A hoist is electrically tested at the factory, but the upper and lower travel limits are left to be set on site. That is not laziness. The factory does not know how much beam depth, hook block height and floor clearance you have.
Set the upper limit too high and the hook block can hit the trolley. Set it too low and you lose usable lift height that you already paid for. The lower limit is for slack rope or slack chain, not for production positioning, and using it as a working stop is how people overheat a motor.
| Device | What it protects | How to set or test it |
|---|---|---|
| Upper limit switch | Stops the hook block contacting the trolley or drum | Test with an empty hook travelling at increasing speeds up to maximum, per OSHA 29 CFR 1910.179(k)(1)(ii) |
| Lower limit switch | Prevents the rope or chain paying out past the safe end | Set so at least the specified number of rope wraps, or chain links, remain on the drum or sheave |
| Slack rope or slack chain device | Stops the hoist paying out rope or chain with no load on the hook | With the hook resting on the floor, confirm the hoist will not lower further |
| Secondary overtravel limiter | Backup if the primary upper limit fails or is bypassed | Verify it operates independently and is not defeated by the same signal as the primary |
| Trolley and bridge travel end stops | Stops the trolley or crane leaving the end of the track | Check the buffer gap and that the stop can absorb the impact at rated travel speed |
| Emergency stop and main switch | Removes power for maintenance and emergency | Mount the switch near the main power entry, not across the plant, and test it under load |
Three options, and the choice is decided mostly by travel length and duty. Festoon cable is a set of cables carried on trolleys that run along a wire rope or track, and it is the default for short and medium travel. Conductor rail is a set of insulated bar conductors with a sliding collector, and it wins on long travel, high speed and hot or dirty environments. Energy chain is a linked carrier for cable, useful where travel is short and the environment is aggressive.
There is a second question hiding here that catches more projects than the first one: what does the feed have to do at curves and switches? A straight festoon run cannot serve a branching track network. If your hoist crosses a switch, the energy feed has to be a conductor rail or a system built for that layout.
| Parameter | Festoon cable | Conductor rail |
|---|---|---|
| Practical travel distance | Roughly 50-150 m, limited by cable weight | 500 m and beyond with sectional feeding |
| Travel speed | Up to about 100 m/min | Up to about 300 m/min |
| Current per phase or pole | About 20-630 A, higher with parallel cables | About 50-2,000 A per pole |
| Number of conductors | 4-48 cores in a single flat cable | 2-7 poles, expandable with multi-rail |
| Temperature range | About -40 to +80 C with PUR cable | About -20 to +120 C standard, higher with heat-resistant rail |
| Ingress protection | IP54-IP65 for the cable | IP54-IP67 for enclosed rail |
| Installation cost per metre | Roughly EUR 25-60 per metre, cable, trolleys and track together | Roughly EUR 60-200 per metre including brackets, collector and terminations |
| Maintenance interval | About every 6 months: cable tension, trolley wheels, loop sag | About every 12 months: brush wear, rail cleaning |
| Service life of main component | Cable 5-8 years at moderate duty, 3-5 years at heavy duty | Rail 15-20 years, brushes rated over kilometres of travel |
| Best fit | Short to medium travel, clean environment, moderate duty | Long travel, high speed, heat, dust, high duty cycles |
Currency note, because this surprises people: the per-metre figures above are European market ranges and they are quoted in euros in most of the published comparisons. A 20 m run is a few hundred dollars of difference. A 200 m gantry runway is not, and that is where the crossover around 70-90 m of travel actually bites. For most workshop hoists under 30 m of travel, festoon is still the sensible answer.
A static proof test at 125 percent of rated load, a dynamic test at 110 percent through the full working cycle, and functional tests on the brakes and the limit devices. This is not optional paperwork. Under ASME B30.16 a powered hoist's brake system has to stop and hold the load hook when the controls are released, hold test loads up to 125 percent of rated load, and limit the lowering speed to no more than 120 percent of the rated lowering speed for the load being handled.
The brake holding requirement is where a new installation most often fails quietly. A hoist that passes a 110 percent dynamic test can still creep down under a 125 percent static load if the brake air gap was never re-checked after the first few cycles. Check the gap after the test, not only before it.
| Test | Load | What you do | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| No-load run | None | Raise, lower and travel through the full range; confirm the hook tracks straight and the rope or chain is not twisted | Hoist manufacturer instructions |
| Static proof test | 125 percent of rated load | Lift just clear of the floor, hold, and inspect the structure, rope, chain and hook block for deformation | ASME B30.16 construction and testing provisions |
| Dynamic test | 110 percent of rated load | Run the full working cycle including travel, starting and stopping under load | ASME B30.16, ASME B30.2 |
| Brake holding | Up to 125 percent of rated load | Release the controls under load and confirm the load holds without creep | ASME B30.16 brake provisions |
| Limit switch function | Empty hook | Run the hook at increasing speeds up to maximum and confirm the upper limit trips in time to prevent contact with the trolley | OSHA 29 CFR 1910.179(k)(1)(ii) |
One practical point: book real test weights. I have seen more than one "load test" performed with a stack of steel offcuts estimated at the rated load, and no signed report at the end of it. If the hoist is the lifting appliance on a site where an inspector or insurer will ask questions, the numbers need to be measured and written down.
Installation is a small fraction of the hoist price on a simple job and a much larger fraction on a complicated one. A single chain hoist on an existing beam is often a one-day job. A wire rope hoist feeding from a new conductor rail on a runway that needs stiffeners is a project.
For labour rates, published US field service postings for experienced overhead crane and hoist technicians were advertising USD 35 to 50 per hour in mid 2026. European rates vary widely by country, and in many markets you are buying a service call plus a fixed installation package rather than an hourly rate.
| Cost item | Low | High | Main driver |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mechanical installation labour | USD 600 | USD 2,500 | Days on site and crew size |
| Rigging or mobile crane to place the hoist | USD 400 | USD 2,000 | Lift height and access |
| Main switch, supply cable and connection | USD 500 | USD 2,500 | Distance from the distribution board |
| Energy feed along the travel path | USD 25/m festoon | USD 200/m conductor rail equivalent | Travel length, duty and environment |
| Pendant or radio control | USD 300 | USD 1,500 | Hard-wired pendant versus radio with extra functions |
| Load test with weights and certificate | USD 300 | USD 1,200 | Capacity, and whether a third party signs it |
| Operator training and documentation | Included | USD 800 | Number of operators, language of the manual |
| Beam stiffeners or runway strengthening | USD 1,500 | USD 9,000 | Whether the survey found a capacity shortfall |
Here are the same numbers rolled up the way a buyer actually budgets, with the hoist unit included. These are guide ranges for standard configurations in normal working conditions, and freight is separate.
| Hoist type | Capacity | Unit price (FOB) | Installed total on site |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chain hoist, plain or push trolley | 0.5-2 t | USD 800-2,600 | USD 2,200-6,500 |
| Chain hoist, motorised trolley | 1-5 t | USD 1,500-5,500 | USD 3,500-11,000 |
| Wire rope hoist, standard headroom | 3.2-20 t | USD 4,800-24,000 | USD 9,000-45,000 |
| Wire rope hoist, low headroom | 5-32 t | USD 7,500-38,000 | USD 13,000-68,000 |
| Double-rail crab hoist | 20-100 t | USD 22,000-95,000 | USD 40,000-180,000 |
If your hoist is going onto an existing crane rather than a new one, subtract the runway and structure lines and keep the electrical, test and control items. That is the case where a technician can genuinely finish in a day, and where the cost is usually dominated by the service call and the test rather than by the hoist.
Not much, if the settings were done properly. The first-year service calls we see on newly installed hoists cluster into a handful of causes, and most of them trace back to something skipped during commissioning rather than to a component failure.
The numbers below are our own distribution from service records and installer feedback, not a published industry statistic, so treat them as a pattern rather than a precise measurement.
| First-year issue | Share of calls | Root cause | Prevention at commissioning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Load drifts down slowly under load | 26% | Brake air gap never re-checked after the first loaded cycles | Re-measure the gap after the 125 percent static test and record the value |
| Upper limit trips too early | 18% | Limit set statically instead of at maximum hook speed | Set with an empty hook running at full speed, per the OSHA method |
| Pendant cable or festoon trolley damage | 16% | Loop sag and trolley spacing wrong, so the cable drags or over-stretches | Set sag to the drawing and check it at full travel in both directions |
| Overload relay trips on normal loads | 14% | Actual load close to rated, or current limit set conservatively | Weigh a representative load and compare it with rated capacity before handover |
| Rope or chain twist and kink | 12% | Reeving error, or chain fitted with a twist or links the wrong way round | Verify parts of line against the drawing and check the chain lies flat in the container |
| Impact noise at travel ends | 8% | Buffer gap too small or end stop not sized for the travel speed | Check the gap with the trolley against the stop and confirm the buffer rating |
| Control faults and phase problems | 6% | Supply wiring, phase rotation or control voltage not verified | Record phase rotation and control voltage before the first powered run |
Ten items. If a supplier cannot produce this list when the installation finishes, that is a signal about how the rest of the job was run. The file also matters legally in Europe, where a hoist put into service carries documentation duties, and where EU Machinery Regulation 2023/1230 applies to machinery placed on the market from 20 January 2027.
| # | Item | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nameplate data matched against the order | Capacity, duty class, speed and voltage all traceable |
| 2 | Installation instructions in the site language | ASME B30.16 requires the manual to be supplied in the language of use |
| 3 | Wiring diagram and control voltage | The next electrician will not guess correctly under production pressure |
| 4 | As-built lifting height limit and lower limit positions | So the next person does not "fix" a limit that was set correctly |
| 5 | Measured brake air gap, and the acceptable range | Turns a maintenance check into a measurement instead of a guess |
| 6 | Signed load test report with weights used and results | The single document an inspector or insurer will ask for first |
| 7 | Declaration of conformity or incorporation | For CE markets, this identifies who is responsible for the finished machine |
| 8 | Inspection schedule based on duty class | Frequent, periodic and annual inspection intervals set by use, not by calendar convenience |
| 9 | Spare parts list with the wear items called out | Brake pads, rope or chain, hook latch, limit switch they will need in two years |
| 10 | Operator training record and named responsible person | Most incidents trace to operation, not to installation |
Two of these are routinely missing and both are cheap to fix during the job. The measured brake gap, and the as-built limit positions. Everything else tends to find its way into the file eventually.
Two to five working days for a single hoist on an existing beam, including the load test and operator briefing. Five to ten days if the runway, power feed or structural work is part of the same job. The stage that most often runs long is not the hoist itself, it is waiting for the main switch to be installed by somebody else's electrician, or for test weights to be delivered to site.
Mechanically, a small hoist on a suitable beam is within reach of a competent maintenance team, and plenty of plants do exactly that. Two parts are not DIY-friendly. The electrical connection and the load test both need somebody who can sign their name to the result, and the load test needs measured weights rather than an estimate. If your insurer or a labour inspector asks for the commissioning record, that signature is the point of the exercise. Our electric hoists ship with the installation and commissioning instructions, and we will review your beam measurements before the order is released.
Because it depends on the hook approach above and below the beam, and only your building knows that. The hoist is electrically tested in the factory, but the upper and lower travel limits are left for site setting. If they were fixed at the factory, half the installations in the world would either lose usable lift height or let the hook block touch the trolley.
A static proof test at 125 percent of rated load, a dynamic test at 110 percent through the full working cycle, and function tests on the brake and the limit switches. Under ASME B30.16 the brake also has to hold test loads up to 125 percent of rated load and limit lowering speed to no more than 120 percent of rated lowering speed. Ask for a signed report that states the weights used, not a certificate that just says "passed".
Yes, and this is the check people skip because the hoist is what they bought. A hoist turning a uniform load into a moving concentrated point load is a different proposition for the structure, particularly at the wheel positions and at the end approaches. If the beam was sized for a lighter hoist or for static load only, adding stiffeners before the new unit goes on costs a fraction of what it costs after a crack appears.
Chain hoists usually arrive complete and the critical checks are that the chain sits in the container without a twist and lies correctly on the load sheave with the links facing the right way. Wire rope hoists may arrive with the rope loose, in which case reeving has to follow the drawing, and low-headroom or double-reeved designs need the hook path checked for drift. On the maintenance side, chain elongation is checked over 11 link pitches and rope condition under ISO 4309. Both are covered by ASME B30.16 for installation, inspection and testing.
Give us the flange width, travel length, lift height, supply voltage and duty class. We will confirm the trolley gauge, recommend the energy feed and give you an installed cost breakdown rather than a catalogue price.
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Electric Hoist Inspection & Safety Compliance Guide: ASME B30.16 Checklists, Discard Criteria & Test Intervals
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