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. As this crane is self-propelled, it can move around particular work sites without the need for much set up. Because of their enormous weight and size, crawler cranes are are hard to transport from one location to another and are fairly costly. The crawler's tracks provide the equipment stability and allow the crane to work without utilizing outriggers, although, there are several units which do utilize outriggers. What's more, the tracks provide the movement of the machine.
Early Mobile Cranes
Initially, the very first mobile cranes were mounted to train cars and move along specially made short rail lines. When the 20th century arrived, the crawler tractor changed and this brought the introduction of crawler tracks to the agricultural industry and the construction industry. Not long after, the crawler tracks were adopted by excavators and this further showcased the machine'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 company 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 middle part of the 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 one of the first to attempt to replicate rail lines for cranes. Made within 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 tracked crane's potential and marketability. They decided to team up with the Moore brothers to be able to manufacture it and go into business.