What an earth is a Davit Crane used for?
That is a very good question! It is very unlikely that you will have come across the humble Davit Crane but it is a very, very useful tool that is used mainly on ships to lower down smaller boats or ships such as dinghy’s and lifeboats. So, it’s probably a good job that you haven’t come across them as if you had if might be because you need to be evacuated from a ship! Davit also relates to a single arm crane that helps to move goods from the quayside onto the waiting trader. How does the Davit system work and what other uses does it have? If you need a modern Davit Crane then a visit to https://www.gmh.co.uk/transition-piece-davit-cranes/ will give you the options.
As we can see above, the Davit Crane system takes on two forms. The first we shall look at is the one used to lower ships like lifeboats. This is the radial Davit and it features two arms that extend outside of the ship. The load is suspended between the two radial arms and, should the need arise, the boat or container is full, it is slowly lowered down to the surface below. This can still be on dry land or have a splash down into the sea. This requires quite a degree of control so that the load stays level between the two radial arms.
The second type of Davit is a single armed winch system. This time several ropes and tied to the edges of the pallet and products are placed upon it. The winch system raises the pallet and the winch moves the load either from the ship to the land or vice versa. To be fair the Davit in its traditional form of rope, wooden pallet and tackle has moved on considerable since those days.
In these modern times it is move likely that the use of a gravity Davit is the most common. High tensile wire is used instead of rope as it can take heavier loads and is not susceptible to fraying. One of the issues with the radial davit was it was too slow, especially if the people on board needed to be got off quickly and you did not want to tip them out into the sea. Now the roller davit allows for the lifeboat to roll straight off the ship and land in the sea or the fixed davit which is like the radial but quicker and with better balance.
