A craning cage is a heavy-duty enclosed cage built specifically to be lifted by crane with a load inside it. Where a standard security cage is designed to sit still and a lift cage is designed to be forked, a craning cage is designed around the lifting eyes — which is why it is the format used to move loose materials up scaffolding, onto rooftops, into plant rooms and across sites where a forklift cannot reach.
What we supply
Both GPC Heavy Duty Craning Cages are fully welded, with 50 x 50mm mesh sides and a sheet steel base, and both are CE marked and plated. Each accommodates euro pallets and comes complete with craning eyes.
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SK501Z — HD Craning Cage with Loading Ramp. One sheet mesh side doubles as a ramp, so wheeled loads and drums can be run straight in at ground level rather than lifted over a fixed side.
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SK502Z — HD Craning Cage with Opening Front and Folding Security Roof. The opening front gives full-width access for loading; the folding roof closes the cage over the top so the load stays contained and secured in transit.
Which one you want comes down to how the cage gets filled. If the load arrives on wheels or has to be rolled in, take the ramp version. If the load is craned or forked in from above and needs to be shut in afterwards, take the folding-roof version.
The sheet steel base matters
The solid base is not a detail. A mesh-floored cage sheds swarf, offcuts, fixings and debris while it is in the air — which is exactly when you least want it. The sheet steel base keeps small items in the cage, gives you a surface a pallet can sit flat on, and takes point loads from drums and plant without deforming.
Planning the lift
Lifting a loaded cage is a lifting operation under the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER). In practice that means the lift is planned by a competent person, properly supervised and carried out safely; that the crane, the slings and the cage's own lifting points are within their examination intervals; and that nobody works or passes under the suspended load. Load the cage so the weight is distributed evenly around the centre — an offset load will swing on the hook. Use a spreader or a four-leg sling set at the correct angle rather than pulling all four eyes inwards on short slings. This is a summary, not legal advice; your own competent person should sign off the method for your site.
Craning cage or another format?
If the cage will be moved by forklift rather than crane, the lift cages range is purpose-built for that, with fork guides and a 1,000kg capacity. If the cage is going to stay in one place as a lockable store, a Grenadier security cage gives more usable volume for the money. If you are moving loose or awkward material around a workshop rather than lifting it, look at storage cages and our guide to stillages and heavy duty material frames.
Still narrowing it down? The storage cages buying guide compares every cage type we stock side by side.
