Crane control method and crane

There is provided a crane control method whereby, during automatic transportation of a load along a preset transport route using a crane, it is possible to reliably transport the load along the route; and a crane that can be controlled by the crane control method. A control device (32) calculates target speed signals (VU), (VW), (VR) for designating the target hoisting speed and the target rotational speed of a boom (9) and the target winding/unwinding speed of main wire rope (14) or sub wire rope (16), calculates the maximum speeds (VUmax), (VWmax), (VRmax) of the hoisting and rotation of the boom (9) and winding/unwinding of the main wire rope (14) or the sub wire rope (16), and, if a target speed exceeds the corresponding maximum speed, controls the crane (1) by multiplying the target speed signal (VU), (VW), (VR) by a coefficient and restricting the target speed signal (VU), (VW), (VR) to be less than the corresponding maximum speed.