Welcome to CAG Field Notes

Crane Advisory Group is launching Field Notes — a short-form blog written for owners, EPCMs, engineers and contractors who need straight answers about overhead cranes.

Why we're writing

Most published crane content is authored by companies that sell cranes, parts, or installations. That's fine — but it's not advice. Our clients pay us for the recommendation we would make with our own capital, and this blog is the public-facing version of that conversation.

What to expect

Expect posts on CSA B167 compliance, procurement pitfalls, modernization vs. replacement decisions, and lessons from recent site work across the Western Americas. No fluff, no sales pitch — just what we'd tell you on a call.

The topics we cover

The library is organized around the decisions overhead crane and material handling owners actually face. On the procurement side, that means writing a specification that reflects real duty, keeping bids comparable on one technical basis, and catching duty-class and spare-parts gaps before a purchase order is issued. On the operations side, it means preventive maintenance programs, inspection frequencies tied to service conditions, deficiency tracking that stands up to an audit, and spare parts strategies built around lead time rather than part price.

We also cover the capital decisions: when to modernize an overhead crane and when to replace it, what a modernization outage really involves, and how to build the condition and cost evidence that finance needs before releasing capital.

Who it's for

Maintenance and reliability managers, plant and project engineers, procurement leads and EPCM teams working in mining, oil and gas, steel, foundries, manufacturing, power generation and pulp and paper. If you own overhead cranes and answer to both production and safety, this is written for you.

How we work

Crane Advisory Group is independent. We do not sell cranes, hoists, parts or service contracts, and we hold no manufacturer agreements. That means the recommendation you get is the one we would make with our own capital — which is also why the imagery on this site is representative rather than brand-specific.

If there's a topic you want us to cover, send it to advice@craneadvisorygroup.ca, or book a CSA B167 compliance advisory to talk through a specific crane or program.