Advantages and Disadvantages of Luffing Tower Cranes

Luffing Tower Cranes are especially demanded tall buildings on congested sites. They have a very short counter jib and a variable working radius, which permit high productivity in extremely narrow spaces.

It's common to have limited space and clearance when working with a Tower Crane in an urban metro area and downtown work sites. A Luffing Tower Crane is ideal for building projects where there's not much space on either side of the site and you need to work safely. A Luffing Crane is able to raise or lower its jib, and that allows it to reduce the slewing radius.

But there are some disadvantages of the luffing cranes when you compare them to a tower crane:

The price of the luffing-jib crane is much higher than a regular tower crane. The tower frames of a luffing tower crane are stronger, and the luffing mechanisms are much bigger than the hoist system of a tower crane. Of course, the technology applied to move the jib, counterweights, etc is the highest.

The cost of assembling and disassembling are much higher too. Most of the structures are heavier, and it takes longer to erect a luffing-jib crane. Once again, to erect a crane is more difficult due to the technology applied, etc.

The jib of a luffing crane acts as a wall to the wind, and the load moment is much bigger. So the restrictions of the tower are higher.

Due to the luffing cranes don't have trolley motor (the movement is made by the total jib), the working process is slower than in a tower crane.