Crane Hot Line is part of the Catalyst Communications Network publication family.
Used cranes are vital to the North American lifting industry. It would be difficult to find a crane fleet of any size that doesn’t include at least a few units that were bought used.
Crane buyers may choose a used unit instead of a new one for many reasons, such as lower purchase cost, immediate availability, brand preference or suitability for a particular application.
Crane Hot Line recently took the pulse of the used-crane market by asking a fleet owner, a dealer, an auctioneer and an equipment financier for their insights.
Those experts are John Anderson, president of NessCampbell Crane+Rigging; Jeff Swan, vice president of Exact Crane & Equipment Corp.; Bryan Carr, crane and heavy-transport specialist for Jeff Martin Auctioneers Inc.; and James H. Mayes Jr., executive vice president of M&T Equipment Finance Corporation.
State of the Market
“Sales of used cranes have been relatively steady in North America, but well-maintained used machines are getting harder to find,” said Exact Crane’s Swan.
“The 2024 year-end rush has rolled strongly into the new year, beginning with a few machines going to steel guys and roofers,” Swan added. “Although, working with so many industries, it’s hard to pinpoint a hot machine; we move a range of all terrains, boom trucks, rough terrains, crawlers and now, even mini cranes.”
NessCampbell’s Anderson notes that “Rough-terrain cranes of all capacities and all-terrain cranes with capacities less than 300 U.S. tons are plentiful. Larger all-terrain cranes, telecrawlers and higher-capacity lattice-boom crawler cranes are scarce.”
What’s shaping the market for used cranes?
“The current used-crane market is driven largely by the high cost of new cranes,” said Jeff Martin Auctioneers’ Carr. “Also, many businesses are holding onto their older cranes longer, rather than investing in new equipment. That has increased demand for used cranes.“
Exact Crane’s Swan likewise expects high demand to continue driving the market this year.
He says that many of his contacts have told him they expect 2025 to be busy.
“Larger contractors, energy and foundation companies have backlogs across the U.S.,” he said. “Infrastructure projects and data centers seem to be keeping plenty of equipment busy as well.”
Expert Advice
Jeff Martin’s Carr advises crane buyers to either personally inspect the equipment or to hire a trusted advisor to do so.
“A reliable inspection is critical to ensure confidence in the purchase and to avoid potential issues with unseen defects,” Carr said.
As for owners who want to sell equipment, Carr advises them to contact a company like Jeff Martin, which can turn assets into cash within 30 days, and whose global reach offers maximum access to potential buyers.
Exact Crane’s Swan suggests that anyone who plans to buy a crane this year start looking sooner rather than later. “The earlier you search, the more options are available,” he said.
Swan also suggests that buyers clearly define their needs. “No one knows your business like you do,” he said. “From there, we can help you get the right machine.”
As for crane owners, Swan advises that they take good care of their equipment.
“Every crane will eventually be for sale, so take care of it,” he said. “Exact Crane has maintenance products to help with that. A crane that has been taken care of is worth more when you sell it.”
Fleet Owner’s View
NessCampbell Crane+Rigging provides crane rental, rigging, specialized transportation, machinery moving and engineering services.
Headquartered in Portland, Oregon, it also operates major branches in Seattle, Washington, and Boise, Idaho, and has eight total locations in the region.
Its fleet includes more than 100 cranes, from a 6,400-pound-capacity mini crane to a 660-U.S.-ton lattice-boom crawler.
“As of now, we’ve bought about 80% of our cranes new and about 20% pre-owned, but we don’t set a new-to-used ratio by dollar value or unit count,” said John Anderson, NessCampbell’s president.
Anderson said the decision between buying a new or used crane rests on many factors, such as lifting capacity, what cranes are available, how soon the crane will be needed, the brand and others.
When looking at a used crane, NessCampbell carefully considers the unit’s overall condition, its engine hours, how well it was maintained and whether it was used in rugged work like pile driving.
One example of a used crane that has had a big effect on NessCampbell is the 660-U.S.-ton Liebherr LR 1600/2 lattice-boom crawler it bought last year.
“Until then, our largest crawler crane was a 385-U.S.-ton model,” said Anderson. “We had never needed a crane as large as the LR 1600/2 before.”
That changed when a competitor brought in the 660-ton Liebherr to set girders for one job in Portland.
“That expanded our thinking,” said Anderson. “We realized that if we owned a larger crane, we could create a market for it, so we bought the competitor’s LR 1600/2 that was already here.”
In the year that NessCampbell has owned it, the LR 1600/2 has been among the company’s most-used cranes. “That pre-owned higher-capacity crane lets us serve our customers better than ever before,” Anderson added.
Financier’s Perspective
Financing a used crane is about the same as financing a new one, except the term is shorter and the buyer needs to be even more careful about what he or she is buying, says James H. Mayes Jr., executive vice president of M&T Equipment Finance Corporation.
Mayes has more than 35 years of experience financing heavy equipment, including cranes of all types and sizes.
Headquartered in Houston, Texas, M&T has 40 representatives who finance new and used equipment for customers across the U.S.
The company’s crane-owning clients range from one-rig operations to the country’s largest fleets.
“My first advice to anyone buying a crane, new or used, is to choose a lender who specializes in heavy equipment,” Mayes said.
“A lender who intimately understands the industry, is familiar with large projects and general contractors, and who deeply understands the equipment will be much more responsive when things do not go as planned,” he explained.
Mayes’ second advice for used-crane buyers is to know the equipment’s condition. “Paying an expert for a certified inspection is a worthwhile investment,” he said.
Mayes also advises buyers of any crane to have a clear plan of how they will use it, and of the potential income and expense it will generate.
Carefully estimating those things makes the lending process smoother and also helps the buyer understand what is needed for the new crane to be profitable.
“All lenders want a current financial statement as part of a loan request,” said Mayes. “We at M&T also look at the impact the new crane will have on the buyer’s business, so we also want to analyze its expected utilization, hourly rates and other information that predicts cash-flow revenue.
“We want our borrowers to succeed, because that’s how we succeed.”
