National Crane's NBT50L and NTC Series: A Boom Truck That Doubles as a Truck Crane

Boom trucks get bought by crane and rigging contractors for one reason above all others: they move under their own power from job to job without a permit escort or a separate carrier truck, which a rough-terrain or all-terrain crane almost always needs. National Crane's NBT50L leans into that advantage, and its NTC50L and NTC55L siblings push it a step further with a configuration most boom trucks cannot match.

The NBT50L is described by Manitowoc, National Crane's parent company, as the next evolution of the proven NBT50 and NBT55 series, carrying a redesigned superstructure and boom that genuinely changed the numbers, not just the trim.

What Changed From the NBT50/55 Series

The NBT50L carries a 151-foot (46-meter) main boom, with a maximum capacity of 50 US tons and a maximum tip height of 158 feet on the base boom configuration. Add the new 36-foot offsettable lattice jib, a first for National Crane on this platform, and tip height extends to 179 feet, genuinely useful reach for utility, signage, and mid-rise construction lifts that would otherwise need a bigger, less roadable crane. Beyond the numbers, the redesign added a 20-degree tilting cab for better sightlines on tall lifts, a removable counterweight system to manage transport weight, and internal anti-two-block wiring that keeps a known safety feature from being an exposed, damage-prone cable run on the boom's exterior.

The NTC50L and NTC55L: A Genuine Truck-Crane Hybrid

The NTC50L and NTC55L take the same boom and superstructure and add something most boom trucks do not offer at all: four separate outrigger setups, including a 20-foot "truck crane" footprint built specifically for jobs where a standard boom truck's outrigger spread simply will not fit. That matters on urban infill sites, tight residential lots, and any job boxed in by property lines, parked cars, or an active roadway where you cannot spread outriggers to a full-capacity footprint. You lose some rated capacity at the tightest setting, which is the honest tradeoff, but you gain the ability to actually set up and make the lift at all on a site a full-size crane could not access.

Who This Platform Actually Fits

Electrical and utility contractors setting transformers and poles, sign and HVAC rooftop-unit installers, precast and structural steel crews on mid-rise projects, and crane and rigging subcontractors who bid a mix of tight urban work and more open commercial sites are the core audience for this platform. The appeal is the same across all of them: one truck that drives itself to the job on a standard license without a pilot car in most states, sets up fast, and on the NTC variants can actually configure itself around whatever footprint the site gives you instead of turning down the job.

• 151-foot main boom, 50-US-ton capacity, 158-foot tip height on the base NBT50L boom

• 179-foot tip height with the optional 36-foot offsettable lattice jib

• NTC50L/NTC55L add four outrigger setups including a 20-foot truck-crane footprint for tight-access jobs

• 20-degree tilting cab, removable counterweight, and internal anti-two-block wiring carried across the redesigned platform

How This Compares to Going Bigger

If your bid mix regularly calls for more than 50 tons of capacity, National Crane's own NTC80 steps up to 80 US tons on a similarly roadable platform, trading some of the NBT50L's nimbleness for real additional lift capacity. Deciding between the two comes down to the same question every crane buyer should ask before signing: what does your actual bid mix call for most often, not what covers the one outlier job you might take twice a year. Oversizing a boom truck purchase to cover a rare job means paying to move and maintain more crane than you use on every other job you take.

The Rent-vs-Own Case for a Boom Truck

A crane and rigging subcontractor who rents a boom truck job by job is paying a premium every single time, and is also at the mercy of whatever the rental yard has available on short notice when a lift gets scheduled with little warning. If you are bidding boom truck work regularly, even a few times a month, owning the machine means you control your own schedule and you are not losing the job to a competitor who already has a truck sitting in their own yard. Ownership also lets you configure the truck exactly how your typical jobs need it, rather than taking whatever configuration the rental fleet happens to stock.

The flip side is real too: a boom truck this size is a serious capital investment, and a contractor who only needs this capacity a handful of times a year is usually better served renting than tying up capital and depreciation on equipment that sits idle most of the time. The honest answer depends on your actual utilization, not on which option feels more professional.

Financing a Boom Truck or Crane the Right Way

Heavy lift equipment financing on a crane or boom truck like the NBT50L or an NTC-series unit is a different conversation than financing a skid steer, because the dollar amounts are bigger and the duty cycle is often more irregular, driven by bid cycles rather than steady daily use. BFC works with crane and rigging contractors, both startups and established fleets, nationwide and across credit profiles, to structure equipment financing or leasing around how your bid calendar actually runs rather than forcing a flat monthly payment that ignores the feast-or-famine nature of lift work. As with any equipment financing decision, treat specific payment or rate numbers as illustrative only until you apply for real terms, and confirm any Section 179 or bonus depreciation strategy with your own tax professional before you count on it in your bid pricing.

Ready to Talk Financing?

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