Arlington Crane Rental
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HVAC and Rooftop Crane Service in Arlington, TX
An HVAC crane lift sets, swaps or removes a packaged rooftop unit (RTU) or other mechanical equipment on a commercial roof, and in Arlington three things decide it: the unit's weight, the reach from the crane to the roof curb, and the heat. An RTU packs its heating or cooling equipment into one cabinet that sits on a curb, a raised frame fixed to the roof. Trane builds its Precedent rooftop units from 3 to 25 tons of cooling, and its July 2026 installation manual prints a weight for each size, copied in the table below. The crane is sized from that weight plus rigging, read on the load chart at the radius to the curb. The HVAC contractor does the unit work; we supply the crane, the operator, the rigging plan and the lift, in a written quote that is free.
$100 to $300 per hour for a boom truck (ThePricer.org, national, updated November 12, 2025) · full pricing guide
A rooftop pick is short and exact: the unit leaves the trailer, clears the roof edge and lands level on its curb. Three crane classes handle it. A boom truck is a crane boom on a commercial truck chassis; National Crane's NBT50, one example, lists a maximum capacity of 50 US tons and a 102 ft four-section boom. A hydraulic truck crane rides its own highway carrier; Grove's TMS500-2 lists 40 US tons, a 32 to 102 ft main boom and travel speeds up to 65 mph. An all-terrain crane carries a longer boom; Tadano's four-axle AC 4.070-2 lists 75 US tons, a 164 ft main boom and a 137.8 ft maximum radius. Our boom truck rental page and mobile crane rental page cover each class.
Published crane prices are national, not Arlington quotes. Boom trucks "frequently price at $100-$300 per hour," says ThePricer.org's crane rental page (updated November 12, 2025), which adds that four- to eight-hour minimums are common for truck and all-terrain cranes and that most providers bill portal to portal, yard travel included. For a small crane, an equipment-rental marketplace's national cost guide (April 27, 2026) gives $150 to $350/hour bare (the machine with no operator) and $200 to $450/hour operated. Texas taxes the two billing styles differently under the Comptroller's Rule 3.294: one combined charge for crane and operator is a presumed service, untaxed unless the work itself is a taxable service, while split charges are presumed a lease, with the crane line taxable. Arlington's combined rate is 8.25 percent in the Comptroller's table. The crane cost page compares the ranges.
OSHA's crane rule, 29 CFR 1926 Subpart CC, governs the pick. The unit's weight "must be determined from a source recognized by the industry (such as the load's manufacturer)," and on request it goes to the operator ahead of the pick (29 CFR 1926.1417). When the curb is out of the operator's full view, OSHA's signal rule, 29 CFR 1926.1419 requires a signal person, and only workers needed to receive the unit may be in the fall zone as it lands (29 CFR 1926.1425). The City of Arlington's fee schedule, effective June 1, 2026, prices the mechanical permit for the unit work at $40.00 for the first complete split, package or DX system up to and including 10 tons. A crane that restricts a street or sidewalk needs the City's Temporary Traffic Control Permit under section 6.06, apart from short closures; see our Arlington crane permit guide.
The rest of the plan is wires and dates. Oncor's guidelines require service drops, the wires from a pole to a building, to clear streets by 22 feet and parking lots, alleys and commercial driveways by 16 feet, and a crane near any line works under OSHA's 20-foot check for lines up to 350 kV and Texas's 6-foot law, which requires telling the line's operator 48 hours before the work. Inside the Entertainment District, the business day before a special event is closed to right-of-way work under the City's Right-of-Way Manual. Our page on crane rental in Hurst covers the city where HEB ISD broke ground on the L.D. Bell High School rebuild on March 26, 2025, and crane rental in Bedford covers a city its 2023 financial report calls approximately 98% built out.
For a written quote, send the unit's make, model and weight from its nameplate, submittal or the maker's table, and whether an old unit comes off the same curb. Add the roof height, a photo of where the crane can stand, the distance from there to the curb, the paving under the outriggers (the legs a crane extends to steady itself), plus any wires overhead, the street address and your target dates. Each line of our quote carries its own price: crane class and size, minimum hours, travel, permits, mats, rigging and any tax. For a building close to DFW International, Arlington Municipal or Grand Prairie Municipal, the FAA's 14 CFR 77.9 notice test comes first, and the quote says whether anyone must file Form 7460-1 (at least 45 days ahead).
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Trane Precedent Rooftop Unit Weights by Cooling Size
Trane's installation, operation and maintenance manual for its Precedent packaged rooftop units (publication RT-SVX092F-EN, dated July 18, 2026) prints two weights for each cooling model, shipping and net, in pounds. The rows are the eight sizes from 3 to 25 tons of cooling.
| Cooling size (tons) | Trane model | Shipping weight (lb) | Net weight (lb) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | TSK036 | 667 | 589 |
| 5 | TSK060 | 705 | 629 |
| 7.5 | TSK090 | 1,008 | 914 |
| 10 | TSK120 | 1,044 | 950 |
| 12.5 | TSK150 | 1,412 | 1,218 |
| 15 | TSK180 | 2,040 | 1,820 |
| 20 | TSK240 | 2,140 | 1,920 |
| 25 | TSK300 | 2,190 | 1,970 |
These are Trane's published approximate weights for its Precedent cooling units, without factory or field installed options or accessories. They are one maker's figures, not the unit on your roof: a lift is planned on that unit's nameplate or submittal weight plus rigging, against the crane's load chart at the radius used.
Signs a Rooftop Equipment Job Needs a Crane
Each of these shows up on the drawings or from the parking lot, before anyone climbs to the roof. When one is true, the job needs a crane, an operator and a rigging plan, booked before the HVAC start date is fixed.
- The unit has to land level on a roof curb set back from the edge, where nothing lifting from the ground below can reach it.
- The weight on the nameplate or submittal, plus slings and spreader bar, is more than a boom truck holds at the distance from the street to the curb.
- The unit maker's manual rules out forklifts, as Daikin's manual does for its Maverick II rooftop units of 30 to 50 tons.
- The crane must set up on a City of Arlington street or sidewalk, so a Temporary Traffic Control Permit enters the schedule.
- Service drops or Oncor lines run between the crane's setup spot and the roof, inside OSHA's 20-foot check distance.
- The building sits near DFW International, Arlington Municipal or Grand Prairie Municipal, so the boom height must be checked against the FAA's notice criteria.
What the Trane and Daikin Manuals Say About Lifting a Unit
A rooftop unit has to rise level on rigging rated for its whole weight, and both makers' manuals say how. Trane's Precedent installation manual says to "Ensure that all the lifting equipment used is properly rated for the weight of the unit being lifted." It warns that lifting cables "may not be of the same length" and says to adjust them for an even lift. The weight is not spread evenly: Trane's table gives the 25-ton TSK300's four corner weights, in pounds, as 684, 485, 332 and 469.
Trane then calls for a test lift of "approximately 24 inches (61 cm) to verify proper center of gravity lift point," and says to reposition the lifting point if the unit is not level. Daikin's Maverick II installation manual, written for its 30 to 50 ton units, says "The maximum allowable lift angle from the vertical is 30 degrees." It requires that straps, chains or a spreader bar, the beam that holds slings apart over a load, not touch the unit, and it defines level as no more than 0.25 inch per foot of unit length. Daikin also bars forklifts, warns that the center of gravity may sit off the geometric center, and sends riggers to the job submittal's dimensioned drawings for each unit's weight.
Reading a Load Chart for a Rooftop Pick
The capacity that matters for a rooftop unit is the chart figure at the radius to the curb, not the crane's headline number. Manitowoc defines maximum capacity as the figure "obtained at minimum radius with basic minimum boom length," and SANY's load chart guide says "the larger the lifting radius, the lower the maximum lifting capacity." The hook block and slings use up part of the rating; Manitowoc's capacity charts say "Their total weight must be subtracted from the rated load to obtain the weight that can be lifted." The crane "must not be operated in excess of its rated capacity" (29 CFR 1926.1417). Instead of a recognized source or calculation, the rule lets the operator begin hoisting with a load weighing device or a load moment indicator, which senses load times radius and shows the percentage of capacity in use; if the load "exceeds 75 percent of the maximum rated capacity" at the longest radius planned for the pick, the operator may not proceed until the weight is verified.
Wind is the last check. Liebherr says crane lifting capacity tables "generally apply in gust speeds of up to 9 m / s (20 mph)" for a load with up to 1.2 square meters of wind area per tonne, and a load with more area needs a lower wind limit.
Arlington Heat and the Working Hours of a Rooftop Lift
Summer heat sets the hours of an Arlington rooftop lift, since the roof crew works in full sun. NOAA's 1991-2020 normals count 20.3 days of 100 degrees F or hotter in an average DFW Airport year, and NWS Fort Worth puts the average first 100-degree day on July 1 and the last on August 27. Summer 2026 ran well past the normals: DFW reached 100 degrees F on 27 days in August, its August high was 109 on August 23, and September was the warmest September on the Dallas/Fort Worth record. On a roof in the sun, the National Weather Service notes that "exposure to full sunshine can increase heat index values by up to 15" degrees F.
OSHA's employer guidance says "Remember water, rest, and shade," and its heat hazards page says to assume workers are unacclimatized if they have done the job for less than one to two weeks. Texas is not among the states OSHA lists with their own heat standards; OSHA points to its General Duty Clause, which it says covers heat-related hazards likely to cause death or serious bodily harm. We watch the forecast heat along with the wind and storms, set the lift window with you, and any standby a weather wait causes is billed the way the written quote sets out.
Boom Truck, Truck Crane or All-Terrain Crane for a Rooftop Unit
Two numbers make the choice: the weight on the hook (the unit plus slings, spreader bar and hook block) and the radius, the horizontal reach from the crane's axis of rotation out to the hanging load's center of gravity. The maker's load chart prints the rated load for each pairing of boom length and radius, and the rating shrinks as the radius lengthens.
A boom truck
A boom truck drives in on its own chassis and sets up beside the building. National Crane's 600E2, a stand-up model, lists a maximum capacity of 20 US tons and a 90 ft four-section boom, and the larger NBT50 lists 135 ft of tip height on its main boom. It suits lighter units when the truck can park close to the wall below the curb.
A hydraulic truck crane
A truck crane travels at highway speed and sets up on outriggers in a lot or a street. Grove's TMS500-2 lists a tip height of 134.8 ft on its 102 ft boom version. TxDMV's $100 annual Unladen Lift Equipment permit covers cranes past Texas's legal width or weight, up to the permit's own limits, and TxDMV's Tarrant County weekday curfew does not apply to mobile cranes. It suits mid-size units and roof curbs set farther from the street.
An all-terrain crane
An all-terrain crane has the longest reach of the three examples here, for a unit set deep on a large roof or lifted over a building from its far side. Tadano's AC 4.070-2 lists a 223 ft maximum tip height, an outrigger base of 26.5 ft by 21.3 ft and road speeds up to 52.8 mph, and that base needs firm ground. Our all-terrain crane page covers the class.
HVAC and Rooftop Crane Service FAQs
What size crane do I need to set an HVAC unit?
Take the unit's weight, add slings and spreader bar, and check the crane's chart at the radius from its setup spot to the roof curb. Trane lists shipping weights for its Precedent cooling units, in pounds, from 667 for the 3-ton size to 2,190 for the 25-ton size. Capacity drops as radius grows, so a light unit far from the street can need more crane than a heavy one close to it. Send the nameplate weight and a site photo for a written quote.
What does a crane for a rooftop AC unit cost?
No published guide gives an Arlington price, so start with national figures. Boom trucks run $100 to $300 an hour in ThePricer.org's national numbers (November 12, 2025), which also list riggers, signal persons and spreader bars as separate charges. An operator adds $50 to $150 per hour, according to an equipment-rental marketplace's national guide dated April 27, 2026. Your written quote breaks out the crane, the minimum hours, travel, any permit and the tax line.
Does a crane parked in an Arlington street for an RTU swap need a City permit?
Most likely, yes. The City of Arlington's code, section 6.06, says "A person must obtain a Permit under this Section from the City to temporarily restrict vehicular or pedestrian access," though a closure that "is for a period of time that is less than four (4) hours on a single day" is exempt if it does not recur there within 30 days. File the application and traffic control plan "at least five (5) business days before the proposed temporary restriction or detour"; the City's form adds a $50.00 plan fee.
Can a forklift lift a rooftop unit instead of a crane?
Not when the unit's maker rules it out. Daikin's installation manual for its Maverick II rooftop units, 30 to 50 tons, says "Forklifts may not be used to lift or move Maverick units as the method may result in unit damage." Trane's Precedent manual describes lifting with cables, chains or slings and a level test lift. Send the exact model's manual with your quote request.
Who checks that the roof can hold the new unit?
A structural engineer, according to the unit's maker. Trane's Precedent manual says to "Confirm with a structural engineer that the roof structure is strong enough to support the combined weight of the roofcurb, the unit, and any accessories," and lists curb weights of 61 lb for its T/YSK036-060 units and 105 lb for its T/YSK072-120 units. Daikin's manual adds that a curb must be level within 0.25 inches side to side and 1.50 inches over its length. We handle the crane side of the lift.
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