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Crawler Cranes
Crawler cranes are immense track-based vehicles with an attached crane. The tracks provide weight dispersal, allowing the crawler crane to be more stable and to lift more weight than a rubber-wheeled crane of the same size, and also allows the crane to operate on uneven or soft ground, crawling slowly and not sinking in as a crane mounted on a standard vehicle with tires.
The continual track propulsion system found on most crawler cranes dates back to the late 1800s. Wide steel tracks provide a solid base for the crane, increasing ground contact and allowing easy maneuverability on the job site.On top of the tracks is the cab, control area and engine, and stretching above the crane (up to heights of several hundred feet for larger cranes) is the boom. A jib may extend almost horizontally from the boom, allowing objects suspended by cables running through the boom and jib to be lifted and moved at a distance from the center of the crane.
Crawler cranes are among some of the most massive cranes. The largest crawler cranes can lift hundreds of tons of weight, which is made possible by counterweights attached to the crane that also weigh hundreds of tons. Many crawler cranes must be disassembled and the parts moved from one jobsite to another by truck, train or freighter.
In addition, a crew of five to ten men assisted by a smaller crane can take up to twenty hours to assemble a crawler crane, This can mean heavy costs for transportation and labor, so crawler cranes are generally used only by very large companies that do industrial construction or which need to move heavy objects on a routine basis.
The main advantage of crawler cranes is their ability to move extremely heavy loads to incredible heights, maneuver them into position, and lower them with precision into place. The reach and load capacity of crawler cranes make them highly desirable for use, and a wide range of sizes is offered by companies like Manitowoc (which manufactures many crawler cranes sold around the world). Units include relatively small cranes that lift 70 tons or so to mammoth versions that lift up to 2300 pounds and take two dozen trailers to move.
The Wisconsin based Manitowoc crane company has become famous for their signature red lattice boom crawler cranes, manufacturing 16 models. Another company which manufactures crawler cranes on a global scale is Sany, a Chinese company with manufacturing bases in America, Germany, India and Brazil.
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