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. Since this crane is self-propelled, it can move around certain 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 offer the equipment stability and enable the crane to work without utilizing outriggers, although, there are some models that do utilize outriggers. Furthermore, the tracks provide the machine's movement.
Early Mobile Cranes
Originally, the first mobile cranes were mounted to train cars and move along specifically built short rail lines. Once 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, the crawler tracks were adopted by excavators and this further featured the versatility of the equipment. It was not long after when crane manufacturers decided that the crawler track market was a safe bet.
The Very First Crawler Crane
Around the 1920s, Northwest Engineering, a crane company 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 mid-1920s, crawler tracks had become the preferred 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 replicate the rails for cranes. Manufactured within Fort Wayne, Indiana, the Speedcrane was 15 ton, steam-powered, wheel-mounted crane. During 1925, a company called 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 to be able to produce it and go into business.