What Is a Davit Crane? Socket-Mounted Lifting Explained
A davit crane is a compact crane with a single vertical mast and a horizontal arm that rotates around it. Instead of standing on legs like a gantry, the mast drops into a fixed base socket anchored to the structure, and the load travels in an arc around the mast. Industrial davit cranes serve pump pits, manholes, rooftops, tank hatches, and other fixed lift points where a two-legged crane can’t set up.
First: industrial davit crane vs. the marine davit
Search “davit” and half the results are about lifeboats. The word comes from shipping, where a davit is the curved arm that swings a lifeboat or anchor over the side of a vessel. That’s a real and much older use of the term — but it isn’t what a plant engineer means when they price a davit crane.
In industrial lifting, a davit crane is a land-based material-handling machine: mast, rotating arm, a hoist or winch, and a base socket permanently anchored into concrete or steel. Same geometry as the shipboard original, different job. Everything below is about the industrial kind.
The four parts of a davit crane
| Part | What it does |
|---|---|
| Base socket | The anchored receiver the mast drops into. Permanently fixed to the structure — concrete pad, wall face, tank deck, or hatch curb. The socket stays; the crane doesn’t have to. |
| Mast | The vertical member that seats in the socket and carries the rotation. Everything above it swings around this axis. |
| Arm (boom) | The horizontal member that sets the working radius — how far out from the mast the load hangs. Fixed-radius or adjustable depending on the model. |
| Hoist or winch | Raises and lowers the load at the end of the arm. Manual or powered. |
That base socket is the part people underestimate. It’s what makes the davit fundamentally different from every other portable crane: the anchoring is done once, permanently, and the crane itself becomes the portable part.
Davit crane vs. jib crane
This is the comparison buyers ask about most, and the two are genuinely close — both rotate a load around a vertical axis on a single mast. The practical difference is permanence.
| Jib crane | Portable davit crane | |
|---|---|---|
| Installation | Permanent — mast bolted to floor or bracket to wall | Socket is permanent; the crane lifts out and travels |
| Serves | One location, continuously | Many locations, one at a time |
| Duty pattern | Frequent, repetitive lifts in a work cell | Periodic maintenance lifts spread across a site |
| Typical capacity | Higher — often several tons and up | Lower — commonly ½ to 1 ton in portable aluminum |
Rule of thumb: if the same lift happens in the same spot every shift, that’s jib territory. If a handful of lift points around a facility each need service a few times a year, one davit and a set of sockets covers them all for less than the cost of a jib at each one.
For the other common comparison — davit versus a two-legged portable gantry — see gantry crane vs. davit crane: when to use each. The short version: gantries are freestanding and roll the load across a floor; davits anchor at a fixed point and swing it in an arc. If you’re new to the category, what is a gantry crane? covers the other side.
The socket network: one crane, many lift points
This is the part that changes the economics, and it’s the reason davits persist in facilities that could afford fixed cranes.
Because the socket is cheap relative to the crane, a facility can anchor sockets at every lift point — each pump station, each hatch, each rooftop unit — and buy a single davit crane that travels between them. A maintenance tech carries the crane to whichever socket the job is at today, drops it in, makes the lift, and takes it to the next one. Ten lift points, one crane.
That only works if the crane is light enough for one person to actually carry and install without tools. eme’s aluminum davits are built to that standard: the 1100 Series weighs 38 lb at 1,100 lb rated capacity, and the 2200 Series weighs 43 lb at 2,200 lb rated capacity. Both drop into a compatible socket with zero tools and rotate under load. An extended-reach variant is available where the geometry needs more radius, configured to the specific job.
Socket styles vary by mounting condition — top-mount, side-mount, and flush-mount families cover concrete decks, wall faces, and finished floors where nothing can protrude. Not every socket pairs with every davit or every radius, so compatibility is confirmed at quoting. See davit sockets for the mounting families, and portable aluminum davit cranes for the crane side.
Capacity, reach, and the trade between them
One davit specification catches buyers out: capacity and reach trade against each other. The rated capacity of a davit applies at a stated working radius. Push the load farther out from the mast and the overturning moment on the socket rises, so the safe load comes down.
This means a davit can’t be specified on capacity alone. You need the weight of the heaviest load and the horizontal distance from the mast centerline to where that load has to hang — the edge of the wet well, the far side of the hatch. Fixed-radius davits publish capacity at their radius; adjustable and extended-reach models publish a capacity that steps down as the arm extends.
eme’s extended-reach 3300CH makes the trade concrete:
| Working radius | Rated capacity |
|---|---|
| 72 in | 2,200 lb |
| 84 in | 1,100 lb |
Same crane, same socket. The extra foot of reach costs half the rated capacity — which is why “how far out does it have to hang?” is the first question on a davit inquiry, not an afterthought.
The other half of the specification is the socket. It carries the entire overturning moment into the structure, so the anchor design, the concrete, and the fastener pattern all have to suit the loads the crane can generate. That’s an engineering question, not a catalog question — which is why davit projects usually start with a conversation about the lift geometry rather than a part number.
Where davit cranes are used
Davits win wherever the lift point is fixed, access is awkward, and the lift happens periodically rather than continuously:
- Water and wastewater — pulling submersible pumps and mixers out of wet wells through floor hatches. The single most common industrial davit application, and the reason municipal plants standardize on socket networks across their stations. See the wastewater pump-lifting network case study.
- Rooftops — hoisting equipment, tools, and materials over a parapet where no crane can reach.
- Confined-space entry points — lowering and retrieving equipment through manholes and vault hatches (equipment, not people — see the next section).
- Tanks and vessels — lifting mixers, agitators, and internals through top hatches.
- Marine and dockside — the original application, still active for gear and small-boat handling.
- Corrosive and washdown environments — where an aluminum davit is chosen specifically because it doesn’t rust out.
Material handling is not fall protection
This distinction gets blurred in the market, and getting it wrong is a safety problem rather than a paperwork problem.
A davit crane rated to lift equipment is not automatically rated to arrest a falling worker, and the reverse is also true. The two duties impose different loads — a fall-arrest event puts a large, sudden force into the anchor — and they’re governed by different standards and different design requirements. A single davit and a single anchor should not be asked to serve both.
Where a confined-space job needs equipment lifting and worker fall protection, that’s two independent systems on two independent anchors, each specified by someone qualified for that duty. eme davit cranes are material-handling equipment; eme does not supply fall-arrest equipment of any kind. If a specification calls for a davit that does both, it needs to be split before anyone quotes it.
Standards that apply
Portable davit cranes fall under the same North American framework as other cranes: ASME B30 series safety standards in the US — with OSHA workplace regulations referencing them as accepted practice — and CSA B167 in Canada, with CSA S157 governing structural aluminum design. eme davit cranes are engineered to applicable ASME and CSA requirements with a design factor on yield stress well in excess of the proof-test load. Each davit design is qualified by a 150% proof-load test documented on the P.Eng-stamped drawing; each production unit is then load-tested to 125% of rated capacity before shipment and supplied with a Certificate of Test. Structural welding is performed under CSA W47.2 certification by qualified aluminum welders.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a davit and a crane?
A davit crane is a crane — the term names a configuration, not a separate class of machine. Specifically it’s a single-mast, socket-mounted crane that swings its load in an arc, as opposed to a gantry (two legs, load travels along a beam) or a bridge crane (runway rails overhead).
Are there lightweight davit cranes for easy transport?
Yes — that’s the main argument for aluminum. eme’s 1100 Series is 38 lb and its 2200 Series is 43 lb, both light enough for one person to carry between sockets and install without tools. Steel davits at comparable capacities are generally a two-person or equipment-assisted lift.
What are the best materials for davit cranes in corrosive environments?
Aluminum is the usual answer for wastewater, washdown, coastal, and chemical exposure — it doesn’t rust, and there’s no coating to chip and undercut. eme davits are built from 6061-T6 aluminum; see what is 6061-T6 aluminum? for why that alloy specifically. Where the environment is aggressive enough to attack the anchoring hardware too, stainless socket hardware is the usual companion specification.
Can a davit crane rotate while carrying a load?
Rotating the load around the mast is the davit’s normal working motion — that’s how the load gets from over the hatch to over the truck. What matters is that rotation stays smooth and controlled rather than jerking, and that the load stays within the rated capacity for the radius it’s at. Operating limits are in the manual for the specific model.
How do you select the right davit crane for a load?
Four inputs: the weight of the heaviest load, the working radius from mast centerline to load, the mounting condition at each lift point (deck, wall, flush floor), and how many lift points the crane needs to serve. Those four determine crane model, socket family, and how many sockets to anchor. Send the geometry to eme and you’ll get a configuration back rather than a catalog.
eme has been engineering lightweight and portable lifting equipment since 2003.