Crawler Crane
The crawler crane is a specific type of mobile crane that is offered with either a telescopic boom or a lattice boom that moves upon crawler tracks. Because this model is a self-propelled crane, it is capable of moving around a jobsite and accomplishing tasks without a lot of set-up. Because of their enormous size and weight, crawler cranes are rather expensive and even hard to transport from one site to another. The crawler's tracks offer the machinery stability and allow the crane to work without utilizing outriggers, however, there are some models which do utilize outriggers. Additionally, the tracks provide the movement of the equipment.
Early Mobile Cranes
Originally, the first mobile cranes were mounted to train cars and move along specially built short rail lines. When 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 industry. Not long after, excavators adopted the crawler tracks and this further featured the equipment's versatility. It was not long after when crane manufacturers decided that the crawler track market was a safe bet.
The First Crawler Crane
Around the 1920s, Northwest Engineering, a crane manufacturer within the United States, 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
The Moore Speedcrane, developed by Charles and Ray Moore of Chicago, Illinois was among the first attempts to replicate the rails for cranes. Made within Fort Wayne, Indiana, the Speedcrane was a steam-powered, wheel-mounted, 15 ton crane. During 1925, a company known as Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co, from Manitowoc, Wisconsin recognized the marketability and the potential of the tracked crane. They decided to team up with the Moore brothers in order to produce it and go into business.