Crawler Crane
The mobile crawler crane is specific crane designed with either a telescopic boom or a lattice boom. These move upon the crawlers tracks. As this crane is self-propelled, it could move around certain work locations without the need for much set up. Due to their enormous size and weight, crawler cranes are rather expensive and even difficult to transport from one site to another. The crawler's tracks offer the machinery stability and enable the crane to work without using outriggers, however, there are some units that do use outriggers. Furthermore, the tracks provide the equipment's movement.
Early Mobile Cranes
The very first mobile cranes were originally mounted to train cars. They moved along short rail lines which were particularly built for the project. When the 20th century arrived, the crawler tractor changed and this brought the introduction of crawler tracks to the construction industry 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 when crane companies decided that the crawler track market was a safe bet.
The First Crawler Crane
Northwest Engineering, a crane company within the USA, was the very first to mount its crane on crawler tracks during the 1920s. It described the new machine as a "locomotive crane, independent of tracks and moveable under its own power." By the mid-1920s, crawler tracks had become the chosen means of traction for heavy crane operations.
The Speedcrane
The Moore Speedcrane, developed by Ray and Charles Moore of Chicago, Illinois was one of the first attempts to copy the rails for cranes. Manufactured within Fort Wayne, Indiana, the Speedcrane was 15 ton, steam-powered, wheel-mounted crane. During 1925, a company known as Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co, from Manitowoc, Wisconsin recognized the potential and the marketability of the tracked crane. They decided to team up with the Moore brothers in order to manufacture it and go into business.