It happens on every tower eventually. Something has to reach the 30th floor and it will not go up the inside of the building.
Sometimes it is mechanical — a chiller, a compressor, a water heater that was installed before the walls went up and cannot come out the way it went in. Sometimes it is a resident's furniture: a sofa, a marble table, a piano that measured fine in the showroom and does not turn the corner out of the elevator lobby.
The usual answer is a crane. It is often the wrong one.
Why the crane is not automatic
A mobile crane on a South Florida high-rise needs:
- Street or lot space to set up and deploy outriggers. On an oceanfront tower with no setback, or a downtown lot with the building on the property line, that space frequently does not exist.
- A road closure and permit. That is a lead time measured in weeks, not days, plus the cost of the closure itself. [TO CONFIRM: typical permit lead time in Miami-Dade and Broward]
- A window when the street can actually be closed. Which on a busy block is rarely the window you wanted.
- Reach. A crane parked at the only available spot may simply not reach the elevation the load has to arrive at.
For a single 400-pound unit going to one balcony, that is a great deal of machinery and process.
What rope access hoisting looks like instead
The load goes up the outside of the building, rigged from above.
Depending on the building and the load, that means either anchors already on the roof, or a davit arm assembled on the deck with a counterweight base — a system that sits on the roof, reaches over the parapet, and comes apart afterwards.
Technicians control the load at the top and guide it at the destination. The building's interior is never involved: no protecting elevator cabs, no wrapping corridor walls, no moving residents out of a lobby.
Where this is genuinely better
- Balcony deliveries. Furniture that has to land on a balcony rather than come through a door.
- Rooftop equipment. Mechanical units in and out, over a parapet, without tracked equipment on the membrane.
- Glass. Replacement units to a specific floor, handled the whole way rather than staged and re-handled.
- Tight sites. Any building where a crane physically cannot set up.
Where it is not
Be honest about the limits:
- Weight. There is a ceiling, and it depends entirely on the anchor points and the structure you are rigging from. [TO CONFIRM: maximum load Skyhanger handles with a davit arm and with direct anchors]
- Very large volumes. Moving a whole floor of furniture is a crane job, or a lot of trips.
- Buildings with no usable anchor structure. Some roofs need anchors installed and certified first, and that is its own project.
Any contractor who does not tell you where their method stops is not worth the quote.
What determines whether it can be done
Four things, and they can usually be answered on a phone call:
- Weight and dimensions of the load.
- Destination floor and which elevation.
- What is on the roof — existing certified anchors, structure, parapet height.
- What is below — whether the ground under the lift line can be closed for a few hours.
Send a photo of the roof and a photo of the item. Most of the time that is enough for us to tell you yes or no before anyone visits.
Frequently asked
Why not just use a crane?
A mobile crane needs street or lot space for outriggers, a road closure and permit, a window when the street can actually be closed, and enough reach from the only spot available. On an oceanfront tower with no setback or a downtown lot on the property line, that space often does not exist. For a single unit going to one balcony it is a great deal of machinery and process.
How heavy a load can rope access hoist?
There is a ceiling and it depends entirely on the anchor points and the structure being rigged from, so it is answered per building rather than in general. Tell us the weight and the destination floor and we will tell you whether it is a rope job, a davit job, or a crane job.
What can you hoist this way?
Furniture that has to land on a balcony rather than come through a door, rooftop mechanical units in and out over a parapet, replacement glass to a specific floor, and construction material on tight sites where a crane cannot set up.
What do you need to know to quote it?
Weight and dimensions of the load, the destination floor and elevation, what is on the roof in terms of certified anchors and parapet height, and whether the ground under the lift line can be closed for a few hours. A photo of the roof and a photo of the item is usually enough for a yes or no.
Skyhanger II Corp has been hoisting equipment and material on South Florida high-rises since 1986. Heavy equipment, construction material, mechanical units and furniture — up the outside, without closing the street.
(954) 609-7870 · General@skyhanger2.com