Guides

Upgrade or replace a hoist?

The calculation is almost always set up as a comparison of two prices: modification against list price. That leaves out the items that decide it – the workstation that has to be rebuilt, the operators who have to relearn, and the weeks in which neither is running.

Author: Dr.-Ing. Philipp Schwittek
Reading time: 8 minutes
Updated: 09. September 2026

The key points

The load-bearing structure – column, jib, runway – is the longest-lived part.
What ages is the serial hoist and the control; both are replaceable.
A different make almost always brings changes at the workstation with it.
Increasing capacity is the one case where modification usually fails.
Where modification crosses the threshold of substantial change, the operator becomes a manufacturer.

What actually ages on a hoist

Not the unit as a whole, but clearly identifiable parts of it. Column, jib, runway and foundation last decades if they have not been overloaded or corroded. The serial hoist ages by operating hours and even has a calculated limit in the theoretical service life under FEM 9.755. The control does not age mechanically but through unavailable spare parts. The whole decision follows from that division.

Long-lived: column, jib, base plate, runway, foundation
Replaceable: serial hoist, cylinders, valves, control, load attachment
Wear parts: chain, rope, hook, brake, pins and bushes

The three items no quotation shows

A new unit has a price you can compare. What it costs on top appears nowhere: a different make has different connecting dimensions, often a different headroom and almost always a different operating logic. So the suspension gets adapted, the workstation rearranged and the staff re-instructed. Add the downtime during the changeover – on a unit inside a line, by far the largest item.

Adapting suspension, foundation or rail connection
A new load attachment, because the existing one does not fit
Operator instruction and the first weeks of reduced output
Downtime of the workstation during the change

When modification is the better answer

When the load-bearing structure is sound and it is the task that has changed, not the unit. That is the most common case: a different workpiece needs a different gripper, a higher pallet a longer stroke, a new cell more reach. In all of these the unit stays and what hangs underneath changes. A renewed control belongs here too – it brings smooth starting and usable error messages to a unit the operators have known for years.

When a new unit is more honest

When the capacity has to increase. A jib calculated for one hundred kilograms will not carry one hundred and thirty, and the limit almost always sits in the foundation or the suspension, not in the arm. Likewise when the load-bearing structure itself has findings – cracks at load introduction points, permanent deformation, corrosion around the foundation. And when the modification reaches so far that it counts as a substantial change: a new conformity assessment follows anyway, and the gap to a new unit is smaller than it looked.

The third way: general overhaul

Between repair and replacement lies a general overhaul of the hoist. Once the theoretical service life under FEM 9.755 is reached, the unit is not used up – the hoist is stripped, wear parts replaced, brake and gearbox overhauled, then a load test and documentation, and the counter starts again. The workstation stays unchanged and the operators notice nothing except a unit running like it did at the start.

Overview

What the decision rests on

Situation	Upgrade	New unit
Different workpiece, same load	usually sufficient	rarely needed
More stroke or reach	possible, recalculate	if the structure will not carry
Higher capacity	rarely possible	usually the route
Obsolete control	clearly the route	unnecessary
Hoist at end of service life	general overhaul	alternative
Cracks in jib or foundation	no	yes
Manufacturer no longer supplies	well feasible	not compulsory

Frequently asked questions

Frequently asked questions about Upgrade or replace

From what age is a modification no longer worthwhile?

Age alone says little. What counts is the state of the load-bearing structure and whether the task suits the unit. We regularly see installations beyond twenty years where column and jib are sound and only the hoist and the control have had their day.

Can we increase the capacity afterwards?

Usually not without work on the foundation, and often not at all. The moment grows with reach, and the limit is at the bottom. We recalculate the desired condition and say so when it will not carry – even when the answer is more expensive than the one hoped for.

What is a substantial modification?

A modification that legally turns the operator into a manufacturer – with risk assessment, conformity assessment and CE marking for the modified unit. Typical triggers are increased capacity, a changed function or a new hazard that cannot be simply controlled. The question belongs before the work, not after it.

The manufacturer of our unit no longer exists. Is that the end of it?

No. Unavailable parts can be rebuilt, controls replaced, mounts manufactured again – we come from design engineering, so this is not an exception for us. Safety-relevant parts such as chains, ropes, hooks and brakes we replace only with certified new parts.

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