Crawler Crane
The mobile crawler crane is specific crane made with either a lattice boom or a telescopic boom. These move upon the crawlers tracks. Since this crane is self-propelled, it could move around particular work sites without the need for a lot of set up. Due to their enormous size and weight, crawler cranes are rather pricey and even difficult to transport from one place to another. The crawler's tracks provide the machine stability and enable the crane to function without utilizing outriggers, although, there are several units that do utilize outriggers. Also, the tracks provide the movement of the equipment.
Early Mobile Cranes
The first mobile cranes were originally mounted to train cars. They moved along short rail lines that were specially made for the project. When the 20th century arrived, the crawler tractor changed and this brought the introduction of crawler tracks to the agricultural business as well as the construction industry. Not long after, excavators adopted the crawler tracks and this further featured the machine's versatility. It was not long after when manufacturers of cranes decided that the crawler track market was a safe bet.
The First Crawler Crane
Northwest Engineering, a crane manufacturer in the United States, was the very first to mount its crane on crawler tracks in the 1920s. It described the new machinery 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
The Moore Speedcrane, developed by Ray and Charles Moore of Chicago, Illinois was one of the first attempts to replicate the rails for cranes. Manufactured within Fort Wayne, Indiana, the Speedcrane was a wheel-mounted, steam-powered, 15 ton crane. In 1925, a company called Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co, from Manitowoc, Wisconsin recognized the tracked crane's potential and marketability. They decided to team up with the Moore brothers in order to manufacture it and go into business.