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. Because this crane is self-propelled, it could move around certain work locations without the need for much set up. Because of their huge weight and size, crawler cranes are rather expensive and even difficult to transport from one place to another. The crawler's tracks offer stability to the machine and allow the crane to function without utilizing outriggers, although, there are several models that do use outriggers. Additionally, the tracks provide the movement of the machine.
Early Mobile Cranes
The very first mobile cranes were initially 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 agricultural business as well as the construction business. Not long after, excavators adopted the crawler tracks and this further featured the versatility of the equipment. It was not long after when manufacturers of cranes 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 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 Charles and Ray Moore of Chicago, Illinois; the Moore Speedcrane was one of the first to attempt to copy rail lines for cranes. Made within Fort Wayne, Indiana, the Speedcrane was 15 ton, steam-powered, wheel-mounted crane. In 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 manufacture it and go into business.