Featured in Lift Line Summer 2025
For the past decade-plus, "bigger" has become synonymous with "better" in the crane industry. Capacities inched toward and eventually surpassed 1,000 tons. During that same time, unique cranes from Japan were making inroads in the North American market by going in the exact opposite direction. Maeda mini-cranes have models small enough to fit through a standard 32-inch doorway. People who use them are discovering the creative ways these small but mighty cranes can make certain jobs easier than using much larger lift equipment.
Maeda (pronounced MY-AIDA) cranes debuted in Japan more than a half-century ago in 1962, but just started making an impact on U.S. shores in 2011. ALL has been an authorized Maeda dealer since 2018, with an exclusive territory covering Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin.
Joe Wheatley, sales manager for Maeda America, says the company has built its reputation on reliability, user friendliness, and an ability to go where no other cranes can go. “The access you can achieve with a Maeda mini-crane enables unconventional problem-solving that was previously impossible,” said Wheatley.
Maeda manufactures the most compact crane models in the industry, but with features normally found on larger cranes. These include full load moment indicators (LMI) and custom outrigger programs. They also have impressive load charts.
The LMI enables the setting of virtual walls, which limits boom movement on the X and Y axes to prevent it from getting into areas you don't want it to go. This added safety feature works in the conjunction with the crane's ability to get into tight spaces by helping to prevent it from touching nearby obstructions.
The construction industry is especially fond of these small cranes for their ability to be placed high up in a structure and assist with glazing and curtain wall installation. While glass glazing remains their most widely known use, there has been an evolution into other applications.
These cranes are versatile and small to easily access a lot of places. Aside from rooftop applications, they can work indoors where you wouldn’t find many other cranes or telehandlers. They come in a lithium ion battery-powered option for zero emissions. "They can get it inside a tight area in a building and make a pick,” said Buck Trawick, COO of Maeda America. “Just roll the machine in and do a job quickly that might otherwise require an elaborate series of operations.”
Take plant work, for example. “You can fit one of our cranes in between plant equipment and walls,” said Wheatley. “Jobs that previously might have required knocking a hole in a ceiling to get a conventional crane hook into the space can now be done with much less disruption.”
For utility work, the nimble outriggers can easily fit in the spaces between electrical lines or duct work while the zero-turn turret enables superior reach. It’s part of what gets them into tight spaces unavailable to conventional cranes.
They’re being used in bridge work to handle material while positioned on decking. Because the MC285 model can fit on the back of a pickup truck, it is being used in high-end residential construction. It can work indoors to pick and set large slabs of marble and granite for countertops.
“Bigger isn’t always better. Sometimes it’s about being artful and surgical,” said Trawick. “Sometimes you don’t need a bigger hammer; you need a different kind of hammer. Maeda mini-cranes are a new kind of tool.”
“Maeda is known for its customer support, strong dealer network, and commitment to maintaining inventory in North America,” said Kris Kasparek, Manager, ALL Aerials. “This aligns well with our own goals to provide customers with the broadest fleet in the industry, backed up by unmatched service, support, and expertise. Maeda is a valuable addition to the ALL family.”
ALL doesn’t only sell Maeda mini-cranes. They’re part of our fleet. Here are two recent projects that demonstrate how our own teams are using the unique capabilities of these remarkable machines.
Saving the day for A/C project
Typically, air handling units are lifted atop tall buildings by big cranes with long reach. The crane sets up on the street below and reaches up and over the building. But in this downtown Cleveland project, there was an obstruction, and it wasn’t going anywhere: two elevated pedestrian bridges running between the target building and a neighbor.
“It was theoretically possible to thread the boom of a larger crane between the walkways, but we would have no way to assemble a longer boom/jib combination,” said Brian Meek, project manager for ALL Erection & Crane Rental, a member of the ALL Family of Companies. “And due to roadwork on another street bordering the building, this was the only location where we could set a crane if we hoped to lift and set the unit from the street. We knew we needed a different strategy.”
Instead, ALL lifted a Maeda MC285C-3 on top of the building and let it put the air handling units in place. Lifting the A/C units with a crane positioned on the actual roof of the building removed the pedestrian walkways as a factor. The Maeda MC285C-3 packs a punch into its small frame, with a boom that extends to 28 feet and a 3-ton capacity. The air handling unit was just 800 pounds – well within range.
Also, because the Maeda MC285 is battery-powered, there were no emissions generated, ideal for working near air venting.
The Maeda’s outriggers unfold and arc away from the body of the crane like legs. Those leg-like outriggers came in handy on the roof because they were able to straddle some piping as the Maeda worked directly atop some roof protection that had been laid down.
Adding architectural details to new battery plant
One hour northwest of Atlanta, ALL Crane Rental of Georgia, a member of the ALL Family of Companies, used a Maeda MC305C-3 to aid in construction of battery plant for an automaker. This model is just a little more than four feet wide and weighs less than 9,000 pounds.
"The customer needed a crane to set a large amount of light metal and steel filler items for architectural details on top of the building,” said T.J. Sokolowski, sales manager of ALL Crane Rental of Georgia. “The challenge was that these materials needed to be set back approximately 500 feet from the edge of the building’s lower floor.”
Because of this distance, even though the pieces were light, the work would have required a much larger crane set up on the ground. Plus, it would likely have to be repositioned several times because it would only be able to reach halfway.
Instead, ALL set the Maeda MC305C-3 on top of the unfinished plant’s roof (using a Link-Belt RTC-8080 II). Cofigured with 41-feet of telescoping main boom at 65 degrees, the Maeda had 1,270 pounds of li capacity at its 17-foot lift radius. It was on site for several months, picking and setting 1,000 individual pieces. Each piece weighed approximately 300 pounds.
“Using a conventional crane would have required such a large radius, we would have needed a machine with 600 tons of capacity,” said Sokolowski. “Using the Maeda saved the customer tens of thousands of dollars.”