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. Since this crane is self-propelled, it can move around certain work sites without the need for much set up. Because of their enormous weight and size, crawler cranes are fairly expensive and even difficult to transport from one site to another. The crawler's tracks offer the machinery stability and enable the crane to function without utilizing outriggers, however, there are several models which do utilize outriggers. In addition, 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 designed short rail lines. When the 20th century arrived, the crawler tractor evolved and this brought the introduction of crawler tracks to the agricultural industry as well as the construction business. Not long after, excavators adopted the crawler tracks and this further featured the equipment's versatility. It was not long after before crane companies decided that the crawler track market was a safe bet.
The Very First Crawler Crane
In the 1920s, Northwest Engineering, a crane manufacturer within the USA, mounted its first crane on crawler tracks. 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 uses.
The Speedcrane
Developed by Ray and Charles Moore of Chicago, Illinois; the Moore Speedcrane was one of the first to attempt to copy rail lines for cranes. Manufactured within Fort Wayne, Indiana, the Speedcrane was a wheel-mounted, steam-powered, 15 ton crane. During the year 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 so as to manufacture it and go into business.