Hydra Crane Fuel Tank, Hydraulic Oil and Engine Oil Capacities in India

A hydra crane’s fuel tank holds between 38 and 270 litres of diesel, and its hydraulic oil tank between 65 and 175 litres, depending on the model. Engine oil sits in a much narrower band of 7 to 12.5 litres. Those are the figures published across the pick-and-carry cranes sold in India today, and on most of these machines the hydraulic tank is the bigger of the two.

If you own or drive a hydra, these three numbers decide your daily diesel bill, your oil-change cost and how long you can work before heading back to the pump. This page lists them model by model, and explains why a 25 Tonne crane can have a smaller tank than a 15 Tonne one.

What is the diesel tank capacity of a hydra crane?

Most Indian pick-and-carry cranes carry 45 to 76 litres of diesel. The Escorts HYDRA 14 and HYDRA 15 sit at the small end with 38 litres, the widely used ACE XW machines hold 45 to 76 litres, and the road-going Indo Power 15FN series jumps to 195 litres. The largest tanks belong to the Terex Franna FR17 and FR20 at 270 litres each.

That is a seven-fold spread across machines of broadly similar lifting capacity, and it is not a mistake. A pick-and-carry crane — the machine everyone in India calls a hydra — is built to lift a load, carry it a short distance across a site or yard, and set it down. It is not a highway vehicle. A yard machine refuels from a barrel every day or two, so a small tank saves weight and cost. The Franna and the Indo Power FN series are built to drive between sites on their own wheels, so they carry a working day’s diesel and then some.

The practical reading: judge tank size against how far your machine travels, not against how much it lifts.

Hydra crane fuel, hydraulic and engine oil capacities by model

These are the published service capacities for every pick-and-carry crane sold in India that lists them. “NA” means the maker does not publish that figure — confirm it against the machine’s own service book rather than assuming a number from a similar model.

Specifications are as per the current August 2026 listings. Several well-known machines, including the ACE F-series (F150, F250, F270, F350) and the Escorts F-series, do not publish service capacities at all — for those, the service book that came with the machine is the only reliable source. Do not borrow a figure from a similar model; tank sizes vary between variants of the same tonnage, as the table above shows.

Why is the hydraulic tank bigger than the fuel tank?

On most of these cranes, it is. An ACE 12XW carries 45 litres of diesel and 125 litres of hydraulic oil — nearly three times as much oil as fuel. The ACE HXP 150 and HY130 are the same. Indo Power’s 16T holds 60 litres of diesel against 140 litres of hydraulic oil.

The reason is what the machine actually does for a living. A hydra lifts, slews, telescopes its boom and steers on hydraulic power, and all of that oil has to circulate, shed heat and settle. A bigger tank means cooler oil, and cooler oil means seals and pumps last longer. The diesel engine, by contrast, is doing comparatively little work — it is turning a pump, not hauling a load down a highway.

This changes how you should think about running costs. A tank of diesel is a daily expense you notice. A hydraulic oil change is a once-in-a-while expense you forget to budget for — and at 125 to 175 litres a time, plus filters, it is the larger bill. The hydraulic system maintenance guide covers change intervals and what contaminated oil does to a pump.

How much engine oil does a hydra crane take?

Between 7 and 12.5 litres. The ACE 12XW and HY130 take 7.0 litres, most of the ACE XW range takes 8.0 to 9.5 litres, and the Indo Power 15FN and 15FNT take 12.5 litres — the largest published figure in the segment.

Two litres either way sounds trivial until you are buying oil in the wrong quantity at a rural pump on a Sunday. Carry the exact figure for your machine, and remember that the number in a spec sheet is usually the refill quantity including the filter. Top up to the dipstick mark, not to the number.

Oil change intervals matter more than the volume. The construction equipment service schedule sets out the hour-by-hour checks, and greasing points, grades and intervals covers the boom and slew bearings that fail first when they are missed.

How far can a hydra crane work on one tank?

There is no honest single answer, and any site that gives you one is guessing. Diesel burn on a pick-and-carry crane depends on how much of the day is spent lifting under load, how much is idling between lifts, and how far the machine travels between jobs. A crane doing heavy repetitive lifts all day will empty a 45 litre tank far quicker than one that lifts twice and waits.

What the table above does tell you is planning information. A 38 to 45 litre tank on an Escorts HYDRA or an ACE XW means a machine designed around daily refuelling on site — you need a diesel arrangement at the yard. A 195 or 270 litre tank on an Indo Power FN or a Terex Franna means the machine can be sent to a job an hour away and work a full shift without a fuel stop.

If you are hiring rather than owning, ask who pays for diesel and whether the machine arrives with a full tank. That single line settles more rental disputes than any other. Compare live pick and carry crane models and prices before you commit either way.

What these machines cost

Service capacity is one line on a spec sheet; here is where the machines sit on price, so the numbers above have some context. Prices are the ranges listed against each machine, ex-factory and inclusive of GST.

At the compact end, the ACE Rhino 90C and Rhino 110C are listed at ₹12 – 14 Lakh and the ACE HY130 at ₹15 – 17 Lakh (indicative, as of Aug 2026). The mainstream 14 to 16 Tonne machines — ACE 14XW, 15XW, 16XW, Escorts HYDRA 14 and 15 — run from about ₹18 Lakh to ₹26 Lakh. The 20 to 25 Tonne class sits around ₹28 – 34 Lakh, and the road-going Terex Franna FR17 and FR20 are the dearest in the group at ₹45 – 50 Lakh.

A hydra is a registrable wheeled machine, so on-road cost adds transportation, RTO registration, TCS, warranty, insurance and FOC charges where applicable on top of the listed figure.

Before you shortlist on price alone, read the crane load chart guide — a 20 Tonne rating is a maximum at minimum radius, not a promise at working reach, and buying on the headline tonnage is the most expensive mistake in this segment.

Where to read next

If you are new to these machines, pick and carry cranes in India, hydra and farana explained is the place to start, and hydra crane boom height, turning radius and size covers the dimensions that decide whether a machine fits your site at all.

For the mechanical side, hydra and farana crane parts and components names everything you will be ordering spares for. On safety and paperwork, crane safety rules, checks and operator training is the one to read before a machine goes to work.

Buying decisions sit in the crane buying and rental guide, and if a used machine is on the table, the used hydra crane buying guide lists the checks and the hour readings that matter. The wider types of cranes guide puts pick-and-carry machines alongside mobile cranes and the rest of the family, and everything we have written sits in the crane guide.

Ready to shortlist? Browse live crane models and current prices and connect with a dealer near you. The engine those capacities feed is covered in the hydra crane engine power guide, which sets out HP by tonnage class and why horsepower does not track lifting capacity.

Before you buy

Prices, specifications and features are indicative, vary by variant, location and date, and should always be confirmed with the official OEM or authorised dealer before any purchase decision. DesiMachines is not liable for decisions taken on the basis of information that may have changed after publication. Figures on this page are taken from our listings at the time of writing.