Tower cranes are typically seen on large construction sites, particularly where there are high rise buildings and/or in built up areas where other crane types would not be practical. Tower cranes use galvanised steel wire rope for multiple crane tasks, find details of suitable ropes and their uses below.
Wire ropes come in a vast array of constructions and sizes, so selecting the right one can be hard
work. Lifting Gear Direct has chosen the popular ropes suitable for use on tower cranes to narrow the field a little. The ropes may be suitable for the hoist rope, trolley rope and/or boom rope so ensure you choose appropriately.
The full technical specifications for each rope can be found in the download section above.
All wire ropes for hoisting are rotation resistant and compacted in construction for high performance and excellent multi-layer coiling, bend fatigue resistance and crush resistance. Also available with plastic impregnation on request.
The 24x7 construction is a non-rotating rope and suitable for hoists given that it will not spin uncontrollably under load. Its compacted design means good crush resistance when coiled in multiple layers. Diameters from 8mm up to 22mm available. 1960 MPa strength
24x17 compacted wire ropes with rotation resistance are available in diameters from 24mm to 44mm. This high strength rope with 1960 MPa is ideal as a hoist rope on tower cranes.
28x7 comes in diameters ranging from 10mm to 17mm. Features include a Warrington steel core, rotation resistance and compacted strands. 1960 Mpa. High service life performance.
This 32x7 steel rope is suitable for high rise operations, thus ideal for tower crane hoisting. Featuring 16 strands around a Warrington steel core. 18mm to 26mm diameters available.
The 35x7 has good flexibility and makes an ideal hoist rope on a tower crane. It is compacted, crush resistant and stronger than equivalent diameter non-compacted ropes. This enables smaller diameters to be used with the same minimum breaking load strength. 28mm to 48mm available.
35x26 stranded wire rope for use on tower cranes as high rise hoist rope. 68Mm, 70mm & 72mm diameters available in 2160 MPa strength rope. Fully compacted strands with a Warrington core.
Our 35x31 rope construction for tower crane hoists comes in diameters from 68mm up to 72mm, one of our largest hoist ropes. Ideal for high rise operations. Featuring 2160 MPa strength with a Warrington core and compacted strands.
35x36 wire rope is our second largest non-rotating, compacted hoist rope, perfect for high rise tower cranes. Available in huge diameters from 93mm up to 109mm in 2060 MPa strength rope. Warrington steel core.
The largest 49x36 tower crane hoist rope comes in diameters from 113mm to 125mm in 2060 MPa high strength rope. Compacted inner and outer strands and a Warrington steel core provide a high resistance wire rope ideal for high rise, heavy duty hoisting tasks.
The following steel wire ropes are suitable for use as trolley ropes on tower cranes.
6x31
FC (fibre core)
This light use rope is made up or 6 strands, each having 31 wires all twisted around a fibre core. Its compacted strands and flexibility mean its ideal for trolley ropes as well as some hoist and pendant ropes. Available in diameters from 10mm up to 28mm.
6x31
WC (wire core)
With 6 compacted outer strands and a 7x7 wire core this rope has a higher minimum breaking strength than its fibre core counterpart but with slightly less flexibility and lower stretch properties. 10mm to 28mm diameters are available.
6x36 FC (Fibre Core)
6x36 WC (wire core)
With 2160MPa high breaking strength this 6x36 has a compacted outer with a 7x7 standard steel wire core this makes a great trolley rope on a crane and can also be used for hoists, pendant rope and more. 30mm to 62mm diameters are the typical sizes available.
The following selection are have plastic impregnation with benefits including improved rope behaviour, better flexibility, higher cycle rates and are ideal for heavy duty crane applications. Used for travelling systems and ideal for trolley and boom rope. NOTE: For use with guided systems only!
8x19
PIR
There are 8 compacted outer strands, each containing a further 19 compacted wires, these are wrapped around a 7x7 compacted wire core with a plastic impregnation layer between outer strands and inner core. 6.5mm up to 15mm diameters are available in this 8x19 PIR wire rope.
8x26
PIR
With an 8x26 outer and a 7x7 wire inner core and plastic impregnated in between rope behaviour is much improved. Available in 1960 and 2160 MPa breaking load strengths in diameters ranging from 16mm up to 32mm.
8x31
PIR
This plastic impregnated rope is made up with 8 outer strands, each containing 31 wires. The inner wire core is a 7x17 individual wire rope. The plastic in-between the layers provides great abrasion resistance and performance. 34 to 59mm diameters available in either 1960 or 2160 MPa.
8x36
PIR
The largest PIR rope suitable for crane Trolley systems comes in diameters from 60mm up to 65mm. 8x36 outer and 7x15 independent inner core (which also has a 7x17 steel core)
These ropes have a combination of compacted layers, plastic impregnation and a Warrington steel core to create high performance ropes suitable for use as trolley and boom ropes, as well as hoist ropes on some types of cranes.
Warrington Core Description:
A Warrington core has two layers of wires around a core. The inner layer has same size strands, while the outer layer uses alternate large and small diameter strands, this construction enables the larger wires to sit in the valleys/voids of the inner layer.
9x17
PIR - HP
16mm, 18mm or 19mm are the available diameter options for this rope, available in 1960 or 2160 MPa breaking strength. The outer layer has 9 strands made up from 17 wires and are fully compacted. The inner layer has a slightly different construction and incorporates a Warrington Steel Layer.
9x26
PIR - HP
Each of the 9 outer strands have 26 wires; the inner layer has a different construction comes complete with a Warrington steel core, in between these layers is the plastic impregnation allowing the layers to work independently without abrasion. 20-32mm diameters available.
9x31
PIR – HP
With a Warrington core and fully compacted strands the 9x31 plastic impregnated rope gives high performance. Diameters range from 34mm up to 50mm.
9x36
PIR HP
Our largest high performance trolley or boom rope, the 9x36 comes in diameters from 52mm to 64mm. Fully compacted strands and a Warrington core provide optimum stability, flexibility and high breaking strength.
The above 8x and 9x PIR ropes are suitable for use as a boom rope as well as the trolley rope, the following ropes however are for use as boom ropes only. Our boom ropes are of a parallel closed rope construction which avoids strand crossovers, instead they create line contact due to the stranding technique and thus should only be used when both ends are fixed under significant tension to prevent rotation.
8x19
Parallel Closed Boom Rope
At 2160 MPa these 8x19 boom ropes have a very high breaking strength thanks to the high fill factor. Available in diameters from 6.4mm up to 15mm.
8x26
Parallel Closed Boom Rope
With 8 outer strands being made up of 26 wires laid in a closed parallel style and with differing diameter inner strand this rope makes a perfect boom rope, anchored at each end as it needs to be. Perfect where high breaking strength is needed. 16-28.6mm diameters available.
8x31
Parallel Closed Boom Rope
The largest Parallel Closed Boom Rope comes in diameters from 30mm up to 52mm. Its high fill factor gives it a vert high breaking load factor, but needs to be anchored at both ends and kept under tension as prone to spin. Therefore this is an ideal boom rope.
Different types of wire rope are necessary for for different types of crane systems and what they will be used for on the crane; this is due to many crane types having more than one type of rope. For example container cranes will need a rope for its hoist, one for the trolley and a 3rd one for the boom. Lifting Gear Direct are able to supply steel wire crane ropes suitable for use in each of these scenarios so get in touch with your requirements.
