MD vs CD Electric Wire Rope Hoist: What to Choose
If you are specifying a wire rope hoist for an overhead crane, jib crane, or gantry crane, the MD and CD question comes up early. Both are Chinese national-standard electric wire rope hoists widely used on LD single-girder cranes, MH козловые краны, and BZD jib cranes. The difference is not build quality — it is the lifting motor configuration. CD gives you one lifting speed. MD gives you two. Everything else follows from that.
What CD and MD Actually Mean
CD-series hoists use a single-speed conical rotor motor for lifting. Push a button, the load moves at rated speed — обычно 8 m/min for 0.5–5T units, dropping to around 7 m/min or lower as capacity rises toward 32T. Trolley travel and hook travel are separate single-speed motors.
MD-series hoists add a second, slow-speed lifting motor (usually a low-power conical rotor motor) alongside the main one. The slow speed runs at roughly one-tenth of the main speed — commonly 0.7–0.8 m/min on a hoist whose fast speed is 8 m/min. The operator selects fast or slow via the pendant or remote.
Both series cover 0.5T to 32T in standard catalogues. At Chunhua Кран, MD and CD hoists are built into our LD single-girder (0.5–20T), LH double-girder (5–50T), and MH gantry ranges, and are also supplied as standalone units for retrofits.
When CD Single Speed Is the Right Call
CD hoists win on cost, simplicity, and maintenance. One lifting motor means fewer contactors, fewer brake sets, and a shorter spare-parts list. For many duty cycles that is genuinely enough:
- Standard workshop lifting — moving raw stock, jigs, and finished parts where the hook lands on a clear target and precision is not critical.
- Склад and yard work on LD single-girder cranes at 0.5–10T, where operators position loads by jogging the push-button anyway.
- Low-frequency use — a few lifts per hour, intermittent duty, no delicate assembly interface.
- Budget-driven projects where the extra 15–25% cost of an MD единица cannot be justified by the application.
The practical downside: with only one speed, the operator controls position by tapping the button. That produces inching, brake wear, and motor heating. On a 20T load, a 200 mm overshoot can mean a damaged fixture or a rejected casting.
When MD Two Speed Pays for Itself
The slow-speed motor exists for the last metre of travel. Fast speed covers the long horizontal and vertical moves; slow speed handles final approach, seating, and any operation where the load must not touch down hard.
- Precision assembly and machine loading — aligning a 10T mould or a motor housing onto dowel pins.
- Литейный завод and metallurgical work — where our YZ-series hoists are used, slow speed reduces ladle splash and thermal shock.
- Long lifts — a 30 m lift on an MG double-girder gantry crane wastes minutes at single speed; MD lets you run fast up to the approach zone.
- Fragile or high-value loads — glass, coated coils, precision tooling, finished machined parts.
- Operators with limited experience — two discrete speeds are easier to control than feathering a single-speed button.
On capacities from 16T to 32T, the case for MD strengthens. Inertia is higher, stopping distances are longer, and the cost of a mis-landed load is proportionally larger. The slow-speed motor is a small fraction of the total hoist price at that size.
Matching the Hoist to the Кран and the Duty Class
Speed selection should follow the crane, not the other way around. A few rules we apply when quoting:
- LD single-girder, 0.5–20T — CD is common up to 10T for general work; specify MD from 10T upward if the load is ever positioned precisely.
- LH hoist double-girder, 5–50T — MD is the default for 16T and above in assembly or process bays.
- QD universal double-girder, 5–150T — MD or inverter control; single speed is rarely acceptable at this capacity.
- Jib and KBK light systems — CD or DHP chain hoists are usually sufficient; loads are light and speeds low.
- High-duty applications (FEM 2m/3m, CMAA Class C/D) — step up to inverter-controlled hoists rather than mechanical two-speed, so you get stepless control and softer starts.
Design standards matter here too. Тали quoted to GB/T 3811 with Q345B/Q235B structures and Schneider or Siemens contactors behave predictably; the speed choice is then purely an operating decision.
Cost, Срок поставки, and What to Отправить Us
An MD hoist обычно costs 15–25% more than the equivalent CD единица. Production runs 30–45 days for both, and we quote within 4 hours of receiving your specification. There is no MOQ — a single 2T MD hoist ships the same way as a batch of twenty.
To get an accurate recommendation, send us:
- Емкость (0.5–32T) and lift height
- Application — what is being lifted and how precisely it must land
- Duty cycle — lifts per hour and hours per day
- Existing crane type and span, if this is a retrofit
- Voltage, frequency, and any certification requirement (CE, EAC, GCC/SASO, SONCAP, KEBS)
Контакты Chunhua Кран via WhatsApp at +86 193 9277 7259 or email yuhua0095@gmail.com. Our manufacturing partner, Hefei Chunhua Hoisting Machinery Co., Ltd (founded 2003), has supplied hoists and cranes to more than 60 countries from the Anhui industrial crane manufacturing belt, with a 12-month warranty on standard units.
Short answer: choose CD for simple, low-frequency, budget-sensitive lifting. Choose MD whenever the load must be landed accurately, the capacity is 16T or above, or the lift is long enough that single-speed travel costs you cycle time. If you are unsure, tell us the application and we will size it.