Des Moines Crane Company Since 1959

Our Story

Champion Crane Service, Inc. has served Des Moines and Iowa since 1959. For decades we’ve focused on what contractors and plant managers actually need: reliable cranes, skilled operators, and a crew that treats every lift as if their name is on the ticket.

We’re not a national brokerage parking random iron on your jobsite. We’re a local operated-rental company — crane rental with people who know metro access, Iowa weather, and the pace of real construction schedules.

With humble beginnings, Champion Crane was founded in 1959 by Vern and Winifred Six. Starting with God’s grace, a small Little Giant crane, and a lot of hard work, they built the business from the ground up. Vern and his son Sid worked side by side for many years until Sidney and Helen Six took over in 1975. Sid and his son Ben carried that same partnership forward until Ben and Mindy Six took the helm in 2016. Through generations of hard work and God’s providence, our fleet of yellow Champion-branded cranes has become a familiar sight from downtown Des Moines across Iowa and the Midwest.

And through it all, none of it would have been possible without the safety, hard work, and dedication of every member of our team, and the trust placed in all of us by our amazing customers.