Tools
Crane Planning Tools
HCW Crane Service publishes three free planning tools: a four question selector that suggests a starting point for which crane suits a job, an interactive site preparation checklist you can print, and a builder that assembles everything needed to quote a lift into one message.
These exist because the same handful of details decide almost every crane job, and most people do not know which details those are until somebody asks. The tools ask.
Each of them is deliberately limited. None performs a capacity calculation, reproduces a load chart or produces a figure you could act on without an operator. That is a safety boundary rather than a design shortcut. What the crane can do on your site is settled by the operator reading the manufacturer's chart for the exact configuration in use, on the day, in front of the real conditions.
The Tools
All three work on a phone, all three are free, and none of them asks you to create an account.
- Which Crane Do I NeedFour questions about weight, distance, surface and obstacles. Returns a starting point for the call.
- Site Prep ChecklistInteractive checklist across six categories, with a progress count and a print button.
- Quote Info BuilderAnswer once, get one tidy message ready to copy, text or email. Nothing is sent for you.
The boundary
What These Tools Will Never Do
- No capacity mathNo tool here calculates what a crane can lift. That calculation belongs to the operator with the chart in front of them.
- No load chart dataNo part of any manufacturer's load chart is reproduced on this site, in any form, for any machine.
- No actionable numbersNothing here produces a figure a person could rely on unsupervised. That is the whole point of the limit.
- No pricesNo rate, minimum or estimate appears in any tool, for the same reason no rate appears anywhere else on this site.
- No stored dataNothing you type is saved or transmitted. The builder hands you a message and you decide what happens to it.
- No substitute for a lookWhere a tool says a site assessment is needed, that is the honest answer rather than a sales step. The visit is free.
Answers
Frequently Asked Questions
Are these tools free to use?
Yes, all three, with nothing to sign up for. They run entirely in your browser and none of them sends anything to us unless you deliberately choose to send it.
Why do the tools never show a capacity number?
Because a capacity number without a load chart, a measured radius and a look at the ground is a number somebody could act on and should not. The operator reads the chart for the actual setup on the day, and that reading governs every lift.
Which one should I start with?
If you are still working out whether a crane is the answer, start with the selector. If the job is decided and you want it to run smoothly, start with the site prep checklist. If you are ready to ask for a quote, use the quote info builder.
Do these replace a phone call?
No, they make the phone call shorter and more useful. Everything here can be done in a conversation instead, and for anything urgent a call is faster than any form.
Ready to schedule your lift?
Tell us the load, the site and the timing. We will confirm capacity, access and a window.