Crawler Crane
The mobile crawler crane is specific crane designed with either a lattice boom or a telescopic boom. These move upon the crawlers tracks. Since this crane is self-propelled, it could move around particular work locations without the need for much set up. Due to their huge weight and size, crawler cranes are fairly costly and even difficult to transport from one location to another. The crawler's tracks offer the machinery stability and allow the crane to function without the use of outriggers, although, there are several units that do utilize outriggers. Additionally, the tracks provide the machine's movement.
Early Mobile Cranes
The first mobile cranes were initially mounted to train cars. They moved along short rail lines which were particularly built for the project. Once the 20th century arrived, the crawler tractor changed and this brought the introduction of crawler tracks to the agricultural industry and 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 before manufacturers of cranes decided that the crawler track market was a safe bet.
The Very First Crawler Crane
Around the 1920s, Northwest Engineering, a crane manufacturer 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 operations.
The Speedcrane
Developed by Ray and Charles Moore of Chicago, Illinois; the Moore Speedcrane was amongst the first to attempt to copy rail lines for cranes. Made in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the Speedcrane was a wheel-mounted, steam-powered, 15 ton crane. In 1925, a company called 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 so as to produce it and go into business.