Truck cranes & crane trucks

Truck cranes and crane trucks in South Africa: what they cost

Updated 4 November 2026

A truck crane in South Africa costs about R 104,000 for a small bed-mounted crane, R 262,000 to R 503,000 for a truck-mounted unit of 6 to 25 tonnes, and from about R 1,022,000 for a used 25-tonne machine. Capacity, boom length and condition change the price a lot, so the quickest way to current figures is a request on BlaBlaPrice.

What to check before you buy or hire

Ask for the rated capacity at the boom length you will really use, not only the maximum, because capacity falls as the boom extends. For a used unit, ask for the year of manufacture, the recorded hours or kilometres, the load chart and an inspection report. A knuckle-boom loader crane, such as the PALFINGER units sold widely here, is a different machine from a telescopic truck crane, so name the type you need.

Season and timing

Summer in South Africa runs from December to February, and building work often peaks in the weeks before the holidays, so late November and early December are busy for lifting capacity. Book a few weeks ahead for those dates. Winter, June to August, brings cold and rain to Cape Town, so plan an outdoor lift there around the forecast.

Delivery and how prices are quoted

Sellers quote the machine, and delivery to the site is a separate question. Say which city the lift is in: Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, Durban or Gqeberha, because the distance changes the travel cost. Use the units these listings use: payload in tonnes, boom length in metres and load to lift in kilograms. Ask whether the price includes tax and transport. Public tenders for ad hoc crane-truck hire have run for several years at a time, so for hire, give the lease term in months or years.

What to write in your request

Name the machine type (telescopic, knuckle-boom or truck-mounted), whether you want to buy or rent, and the condition you accept: new, used or refurbished. Add the payload, the boom length, the load to lift, the city, the lease term, the earliest year you would accept and your budget. The more of these you give, the fewer questions sellers need to ask back.

Send your request on BlaBlaPrice in your own words, with a photo if you have one. BlaBlaPrice reads it, asks about the missing details, and looks through sellers' websites and price lists in South Africa before it shows the prices and businesses it found. Registered sellers reply in the chat with their offer, price, terms and delivery, and your contacts stay hidden until you choose to share them. You can compare options in heavy equipment or tipper trucks, and read how BlaBlaPrice works.