R Stahl's low-headroom hoist

German cleaning products manufacturer Kaercher went to crane builder and hoist manufacturer R Stahl to replace its single girder SH 4010-20 4/1 wire rope hoist with an even lower-headroom model. Kaercher had specified larger casting tools to be lifted into its plastic injection moulding machines. The low ceiling made it impossible to mount the crane higher, so R Stahl engineers made a special hoist with 210mm (8 in) of headroom for 5t loads and 185mm (7 in) of headroom for 3.2t loads. The crane uses a ST 50 dual-chain hoist. The two chain drives were offset by one link to improve the smoothness of hook movement. Existing bridge, power supply and controls were reused.