The straight answer · Franna vs spider crane
Franna crane hire Sydney — do you actually need one?
Here’s something a crane company doesn’t usually tell you: we don’t hire Frannas — and about half the people searching for one don’t need one. This page gives you the honest answer in two minutes. If your job truly needs a Franna, we’ll say so and point you to an operator who runs them. If it doesn’t, our compact crane-and-carrier setup usually does the same job through gaps a Franna can’t even see into.
The honest answer, up front
We don’t operate Frannas, and we won’t pretend our machines are one. A Franna is a road-registered pick-and-carry crane — brilliant for loads over three tonnes, long carries and driving the load between sites. If that’s your job, call us anyway: we’ll tell you in one conversation and refer you to a Franna operator we trust. But here’s the pattern we see every week — most people searching “Franna hire” have a load under three tonnes that needs to get through a gate, a doorway, a backyard or onto soft ground. A 20-tonne road crane can’t enter those sites at all. Our spider cranes and tracked carrier can — and that’s the job this page is really about.
Franna vs spider crane + carrier — side by side
| The job needs… | Franna | Spider crane + carrier |
|---|---|---|
| Loads over 3 t in one lift | ✓ YESits whole purpose | ✗ NOwe’ll refer you out |
| Driving the load on the road | ✓ YESroad registered | ✗ NOon-site moves only |
| Access narrower than 2.5 m | ✗ NOwon’t physically fit | ✓ YES750 mm is enough |
| Working indoors or in a warehouse | ✗ NOdiesel + size rule it out | ✓ YESelectric carrier, no fumes |
| Lawns, pavers, suspended slabs | ✗ NO20 t+ on wheels | ✓ YEStracks + mats spread the load |
| Tight suburban streets, no closure | ✗ NOoften needs traffic control | ✓ YESparking-bay footprint |
| Precise placement in confined spots | ✗ NObig machine, big margins | ✓ YESmillimetre work is the specialty |
Two machines, honestly compared
When a Franna wins
- Single loads over 3 tonnes — beams, tanks, plant
- Carrying a load a long distance across an open site
- Driving the load between locations on the road
- Open yards and civil sites with firm, level ground
- Repetitive taxi-crane work around a big site
When the crane + carrier wins
- Any load that has to pass a gate, door or side path
- Backyards, courtyards, indoors, occupied buildings
- Soft, sandy, muddy or finished ground
- Streets where a road closure would blow the budget
- Delicate placement — glass, spas, machinery, statues
No Franna? Here’s how we do the same job
Simple: two small machines instead of one big one. The crane does the lifting, the carrier does the carrying — and both of them fit through a standard side gate.
Our Maeda mini crane picks your load up off the truck or the ground — anything up to 2.98 t. It walks itself in through gaps as tight as 750 mm and sets up in the space of one parking spot.
The load goes onto our tracked carrier — think of it as a small motorised flatbed on rubber tracks. It carries up to 1.2 t straight through doorways and side paths only 780 mm wide, and it’s electric, so it can go indoors.
At the drop zone, the crane lifts the load off the carrier and places it exactly where you want it. Same result a Franna gives you — on sites a Franna can’t get into. Full details on our pick and carry page; the machines themselves are mini crawler cranes.
What it costs
All rates + GST with a 6-hour site minimum that covers setup and pack-down. One crew runs both machines — you’re not paying two teams. Most under-3-tonne “Franna jobs” price as a single crane day, often without the traffic control a road crane would need on the same street. Fixed price in writing before you book.
Franna questions, answered straight
What is a Franna crane, exactly?
“Franna” is the brand name Australians use for a road-registered pick-and-carry crane — a machine that lifts a load and drives with it, typically rated 15–25 tonnes. They’re the workhorses of open construction sites, and for over-3-tonne lifts with room to move, they’re the right call.
Do you hire Frannas?
No — and we won’t pretend otherwise. If your job needs one, tell us the load and site over the phone and we’ll say so immediately, then point you to a Franna operator we trust. No quote games, no wasted morning.
My load is under 3 tonnes but access is tight — what are my options?
That’s exactly our lane. The spider crane tracks through gaps from 750 mm, sets up in a parking-space footprint and lifts to 2.98 t — and when the load needs to travel across the site, the tracked carrier does the carrying. Same end result as a Franna, on sites a Franna can’t enter.
Is a spider crane cheaper than a Franna?
Often, once you count the whole job. Our rates run $195–$205 per hour with the operator included, and because the footprint is small most suburban lifts skip the traffic control and road-occupancy costs a 20-tonne road crane drags along. On open sites with big loads, the Franna’s economics win — and we’ll tell you when that’s the case.
Can a spider crane drive around with the load like a Franna?
No — a spider crane lifts from a fixed setup on outriggers. So for moving loads we bring the tracked carrier as well: the crane loads it, the carrier drives the load across the site, and the crane unloads it at the other end. Two small machines doing what one Franna does — which is exactly why the whole setup fits through a 780 mm doorway.
How do I get a straight answer for my job?
Text a photo of the load and the tightest gap it has to pass to 0434 242 777. You’ll get one of two answers, fast: “that’s a Franna job, call these guys” or “we’ve got this — here’s the fixed price.”
One call, one answer
Tell us the load. We’ll tell you the machine — even when it isn’t ours.
— or text a photo of the load and the gap to 0434 242 777. Straight answer, usually same day.