Certain to order cranes? Yes (9)
I believe the answer is:
necessary
'certain' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'order cranes? yes' is the wordplay.
'order' is an anagram indicator.
'cranes'+'yes'='cranesyes'
'cranesyes' anagrammed gives 'NECESSARY'.
'to' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for necessary that I've seen before include "Required to be done" , "Inescapable" , "Essential, as scenery may be" , "Indispensable, essential" , "Fundamental" .)