Demolition work routes a truck crane selection through three hard numbers before brand is even discussed: required lift capacity at the working radius, hook tip height with the auxiliary jib extended, and outrigger spread versus the ground bearing pressure of the slab or compacted pad. On the 2026 export inventory, the configuration that keeps showing up is a 25 t to 35 t telescopic boom carrier on a multi-axle Dong Feng or International chassis, with XCMG QY25K5-I, QY70K-I and 35 t class machines representing the bulk of the listings [S2][S3][S6].
For a contractor deciding between new, used and rental, the decision is driven less by the boom chart and more by roadability, out-of-service downtime for structural inspections, and the availability of consumable spares. E.K Industry alone lists 86 truck crane SKUs against 98 crawler crane SKUs in their used inventory as of July 2026, with XCMG, SANY, ZOOMLION, Kato and Tadano as the most common Japanese and Chinese brand stacks [S3]. Used International-brand truck cranes in the 7400 series also continue to surface on US dealer feeds, with five machines indexed by Construction Equipment Guide and an auction date of 2026-05-20 [S4].
Three selection numbers that come before the brand
Working radius in demolition is dominated by two duties: swinging a wrecking ball or breaker attachment at the tip of a 30 m to 44 m boom, and lifting cut steel sections, concrete panels and a demolition hammer on a sling. The lift chart in the cab is a table of gross capacity versus radius and versus counterweight, and a 25 t class carrier (XCMG QY25K5-I, for example) typically posts roughly 70 percent of its maximum at a 3 m radius and roughly 25 percent at full main-boom extension with four-part reeving [S2][S6].
Tip height is the second gate. A 35 t truck crane on a 4-axle carrier can usually stand a main boom in the 38 m to 44 m range, with a 8 m to 15 m swing-away jib adding another 9 m to 16 m of reach, which is what brings a 10-storey building into the envelope. Below that envelope a tracked high-reach demolition excavator is the cheaper tool per metre of reach, which is why truck cranes are kept for the lifting and reach overlap zone, not for pure top-down work [S3][S6].
The third number is outrigger spread versus ground bearing pressure. A 70 t class carrier such as the XCMG QY70K-I sits on a full counterweight of roughly 14 t to 18 t plus the lifted load, and the outrigger pads typically apply 12 t/m² to 18 t/m² when the load chart is run at 360 degrees. Over a typical 4-inch (100 mm) asphalt cap on a demolition site that is a feasible pressure; over a hollow plank deck or a suspended slab it is not, and matting or a dump truck chassis loaded with spoil laid under each outrigger is the field fix [S2].
Size class map: 25 t, 35 t, 70 t and 100 t+
Below 25 t the carrier is usually a 2-axle to 3-axle commercial truck with a rear-mounted knuckle boom, sometimes called a 随车吊 (truck-with-crane) in the Chinese market, and is only useful on light strip-out work where the demolition hammer and slab weights stay under 10 t per pick [S8].
The 25 t to 35 t class is the workhorse. Okorder's 35 t truck crane datasheet shows working-performance parameters including a roughly 38 m main boom, 4-section telescoping, hydrostatic outriggers, and an overall machine weight in the 32 t to 35 t range [S6]. Machmall's spare-parts catalogue for the QY25K5-I and QY70K-I lists the same generation of XCMG carrier, with the QY25K5-I being the second-hand export favourite because parts, load charts and operator manuals are still in stock [S2].
From 50 t upward the machine starts behaving like a small all-terrain crane, with 5-axle to 6-axle carriers, full-power booms of 44 m to 56 m, and a truck-mounted crane configuration that the Chinese export listings group together with rough-terrain and all-terrain units. The QY70K-I is the boundary case: it is still roadable as a single load on most Chinese and EU road permits when the boom is stripped, but the operator has to plan axle-group weights against any local bridge formula [S2][S3].
Above 100 t the truck crane is functionally an all-terrain crane with a 7-axle or 8-axle carrier, and the boom is typically pinned in three sections of 60 m to 80 m. These units exist on the second-hand Chinese export market but are not the typical demolition pick: a 100 t truck crane is paid for the reach and capacity but loses 30 percent of its productivity on a demolition site compared with a reach truck-style high-reach excavator configuration on crawler tracks, because the carrier has to be re-leveled every time the boom slew approaches the outrigger limit [S3].
New, used and rental: the 2026 sourcing reality
E.K Industry, an 11-year-active Chinese used-equipment exporter indexed in July 2026, lists 86 truck crane SKUs, 98 crawler crane SKUs, 16 Kato and 17 Tadano units, plus 5 XCMG, 12 ZOOMLION and 13 SANY truck crane references on the public storefront [S3]. That is a market where the average second-hand truck crane is cheaper than the equivalent crawler crane on a per-tonne basis, but with the well-documented caveat that the lifting charts degrade faster than the structural steel on a high-cycle machine.
International-brand truck cranes in the 7400 series (a 2012 example with a 33,000 lb GVWR chassis and a National boom configuration was listed on 2026-05-13) show up at the US dealer channel with auction dates 05/20/2026 and a financing channel attached. International is selected where fleet operators want on-road performance and upfit flexibility for medium- and heavy-duty crane installations, and the dealer feed exposes 5 indexed units at the time of capture [S4].
For consumable spares the Chinese export channel is the dominant one. Machmall's QY70K-I and QY25K5-I consumable parts list is the example case: turntable bearings, boom-pad wear strips, outrigger pads, hoist cable and slewing-ring grease are kept as stock items, while major structural items such as boom sections are still order-on-purchase [S2]. A demolition contractor running a fleet of three or more XCMG units can treat those part codes as in-stock; a single-machine owner pays a premium.
Who a truck crane is for, and who it is not for
Use a truck crane on a demolition project when the pick is a heavy discrete load (a generator, a steel truss, a concrete panel, a hammer attachment on a truck scale-style weigh-in), when the machine can be set up 20 m to 40 m back from the face, and when the site has paved or compacted ground that will hold 12 t/m² to 18 t/m² under the outrigger pads. Use it when the building is below roughly 10 storeys and the boom can reach the top with a 8 m to 15 m jib. [S2]
Do not use a truck crane when the work is top-down floor-by-floor removal above the boom envelope, when the slab is suspended or hollow, when the haul road cannot carry a 35 t to 70 t machine, or when the cycle time on repeated picks drops below roughly 6 minutes per cycle, which is the threshold where a truck-mounted crane on tracks is more economic. Do not specify it when the operator cannot produce a current third-party annual structural inspection and load-chart test, which is the regulatory baseline in the EU, US and most provincial Chinese markets.
Decision comparison: demolition tool vs truck crane on five criteria
The decision on a demolition project is rarely truck crane versus nothing; it is truck crane versus a tracked high-reach excavator with a boom and shear configuration. On five criteria the comparison reads: (1) reach in metres, where a 70 t truck crane tops out near 60 m on main boom and 75 m on a jib versus a high-reach excavator going past 28 m to 30 m and to 40 m-plus for specialist carriers; (2) mobility, where a truck crane drives on the road under its own power at 60 km/h to 80 km/h and a tracked carrier has to be hauled; (3) setup time, where a truck crane needs 20 min to 40 min for outriggers and counterweight versus 5 min to 10 min for a tracked carrier; (4) ground pressure, where a tracked carrier spreads 5 t/m² to 8 t/m² and a truck crane concentrates 12 t/m² to 18 t/m² per outrigger; (5) per-cycle cost, where a truck crane wins for one-off heavy picks and a tracked carrier wins for repetitive shear work above 6-min cycle rates [S3][S6].
Selection algorithm in practice
Selection on a demolition lift is a four-step process documented in the construction-crane literature: read the heaviest pick with rigging weight, look up the gross capacity at the working radius and slew angle in the load chart, apply a 75 percent utilization factor for picks over people or unstable structures (or whatever the local standard mandates, typically OSHA 1926.1400 series and the equivalent European EN 13000 family for mobile cranes), and finally check the outrigger reaction against the ground bearing capacity. Wu Di's 2012 paper on mobile crane selection formalized the same four steps in algorithmic form, iterating over boom angle, jib offset, and geometric clearance to the load [S5].
For the 2026 demolition market, the practical output of that algorithm is rarely a 100 t truck crane; it is most often a 25 t to 35 t QY-series XCMG or an equivalent second-hand Japanese unit (Kato NK-500, Tadano GR-550EX-class) sourced through a Chinese exporter such as E.K Industry or a US dealer such as Construction Equipment Guide [S2][S3][S4][S6].
The 2026 trackable signal is spare-parts lead time: with Chinese OEMs holding roughly 8 to 14 weeks on major structural items and 2 to 4 weeks on consumables, a fleet owner running mixed-brand machines should standardise on one platform family [S2]. The second signal is the auction channel: the 2026-05-20 auction of the 2012 International 7400 truck crane and the steady 86-SKU floor of used truck cranes on the E.K Industry storefront suggest that 25 t to 70 t capacity is the market's working price band, and that prices will stay soft through 2026 [S3][S4].
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