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LiftHigh Crane Opens for Business
The name on the door, the building and the cranes may be new, but the leadership team— with combined industry experience totaling more than 100 years— brings unparalleled expertise to the Houston-based crane rental start-up.
LiftHigh Crane aims to fill what its founder sees as a growing need for reliable, experienced crane service across multiple markets. In an in-depth discussion with Crane Hot Line, industry veteran Mike Appling Jr. explained the new company’ s vision and plans:
What motivated you to start LiftHigh Crane?
Our focus has been on creating a crane rental company run by crane people. We felt that by assembling the right team from leadership to office personnel, crane operators and riggers that the work would be there. Our vision is to be the trusted leader in lifting services, recognized for exceptional safety, reliability and efficiency. We envision a workplace where our employee partners thrive as our greatest asset and where we continually foster lasting customer relationships built on trust, excellence and shared success.
Do you specialize in any lifting, rigging or project types?
We handle everything from straightforward to complex and precision lifting projects. Our team combines custom engineered lift planning, advanced rigging strategies and the latest crane technology to ensure every job is done safely, efficiently and on time.
We have already executed multiple tandem lifts where the customer was extremely pleased with the coordination between our operators. The confidence in our operators allowed us to do jobs that were definitely a bit out of the box.
What kinds of customers are you serving?
Our operations are mainly regional, and we are focused on commercial, cell tower, battery plant, data center and light industrial jobs. Our biggest challenge has been keeping up with the customer demand. The original goal was to be at 10 cranes by the end of 2025, and we may end up being closer to 20.
What cranes are you currently operating?
We’ ve initially invested in new, state-of-the-art Tadano and Liebherr all-terrain cranes— rated from 60 to 770 tons— equipped with the latest lifting innovations, advanced hydraulics and cutting-edge control systems.
Mike Appling Jr., Owner / CEO, LiftHigh Crane
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September 2025 • www. cranehotline. com