Which is Better: Straight Boom vs Folding Boom Truck-Mounted Crane?

Truck-mounted cranes are widely recognized and increasingly applied thanks to their outstanding advantages such as easy operation and flexible movement. At present, telescopic boom and folding boom types are the two most common models. What are the pros and cons of these two boom structures? How should customers make a proper choice? The following is a detailed comparison of their advantages and disadvantages.

The telescopic boom truck crane adopts a wire rope hoisting mechanism. The drum rotates forward to retract the rope and lift the hook, and reverses to release the rope and lower the hook, resulting in relatively low working efficiency.The folding boom truck crane is equipped with multiple hydraulic cylinders to form an articulated boom connection structure. It performs actions faster and delivers higher working efficiency.

With the same boom length, the telescopic boom crane can extend the wire rope hook to increase the working depth. In contrast, the folding boom crane is less competent for operations requiring a deep working range.

Determined by the boom structure, folding boom cranes are more suitable for narrow working environments such as factories and warehouses. Restricted by structural design, telescopic boom cranes require a larger operating space.

The wire rope lifting mechanism of telescopic boom cranes enables precise control of cargo lifting and lowering. However, folding boom cranes driven by hydraulic cylinders struggle to achieve stable vertical lifting of loads.

With a hydraulic cylinder driven articulated manipulator structure, folding boom cranes can be fitted with various accessories, including working platforms, buckets, clamps, hanging baskets, plate forks, multi-purpose grabs, spiral drills, tire handling manipulators and pile pullers.Due to the flexible wire rope at the front end, it is rare to install auxiliary tools on telescopic boom cranes.

Telescopic boom cranes with drum-type wire rope retraction structure are easy to operate. Folding boom cranes rely on multiple hydraulic cylinders to complete manipulator-like movements, which requires higher operating skills.

The difference is obvious in space occupation. The entire boom of a folding boom crane can be fully folded during transportation, occupying less space. The boom of a telescopic boom crane can only be placed horizontally, taking up more space during driving.

The loose structure of the telescopic boom helps disperse the overall vehicle load. Its center of gravity is far from the mounting position, which is conducive to dispersing the axle load of the chassis during heavy-load lifting.

Whether centrally or rear-mounted, folding boom cranes feature a compact and concentrated structure. The center of gravity tends to concentrate on a single axle of the chassis, causing excessive load on a certain bridge and bringing disadvantages to overall vehicle installation.

The folding boom crane has a complex structure and high manufacturing precision requirements, leading to higher overall production costs and selling prices.

The telescopic boom features a simple structure and lower precision standards, with lower comprehensive costs and more competitive prices.