Crawler Crane
The mobile crawler crane is specific crane made with either a telescopic boom or a lattice boom. These move upon the crawlers tracks. As this crane is self-propelled, it can move around particular work locations without the need for a lot of set up. Due to their huge weight and size, crawler cranes are fairly pricey and even hard to transport from one place to another. The crawler's tracks provide the equipment stability and allow the crane to function without using outriggers, although, there are several models that do utilize outriggers. In addition, the tracks provide the equipment's movement.
Early Mobile Cranes
Originally, the very first mobile cranes were mounted to train cars and move along specifically designed short rail lines. Once the 20th century arrived, the crawler tractor changed and this brought the introduction of crawler tracks to the construction business as well as the agricultural business. Not long after, excavators adopted the crawler tracks and this further featured the versatility of the machine. It was not long after before crane companies decided that the crawler track market was a safe bet.
The First Crawler Crane
Around the 1920s, Northwest Engineering, a crane company in the USA, mounted its very first crane on crawler tracks. It described the new equipment as a "locomotive crane, independent of tracks and moveable under its own power." By the middle part of the 1920s, crawler tracks had become the chosen means of traction for heavy crane uses.
The Speedcrane
Developed by Charles and Ray Moore of Chicago, Illinois; the Moore Speedcrane was amongst the first to attempt to copy rail lines for cranes. Manufactured within Fort Wayne, Indiana, the Speedcrane was a steam-powered, wheel-mounted, 15 ton crane. During 1925, a company called Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co, from Manitowoc, Wisconsin recognized the tracked crane's marketability and potential. They decided to team up with the Moore brothers so as to manufacture it and go into business.