NOVEMBER 2022 Ӏ CRANE HISTORY


ANNIVERSARY


oF THE SpECIES oRIGIN


Key milestones in the evolution of modern mobile and tower cranes, as noted by crane expert and long-time Cranes T


oday contributor Stuart Anderson.


When the first issue of Cranes appeared in 1966 there was already a well-established crane industry. In those days much of the news carried by the magazine focussed on the large and diverse UK crane industry. Even though the US and many European countries also had well-established crane manufacturing companies and cranes were being sold and used all over the world, obtaining news of these activities in those days was a real challenge. Since the 1930s crane hire


(rental) had been well-established in the US and by the 1960s was fast-growing in the UK but much less-so in Europe. Since the turn of the century, earlier steam-powered


Cranes magazine


started in 1966; in November 1972 Cranes became Cranes Today


cranes had given way to petrol (gasoline) and diesel-powered cranes mounted on crawler bases as well as rubber-tyred self- propelled chassis with increasingly sophisticated power transmissions. While most cranes relied upon mechanical transmissions some makers, such as Coles Cranes, Gottwald and others, preferred diesel electric systems. The use of crawler


undercarriages was pioneered by Bucyrus of the US with its type 14 dragline of 1911. It was 1914 when the first gasoline engine- powered excavator/crane was introduced by P&H with their Model 210. As diesel engines emerged, it would be 1932 when excavator/crane market-leader Lorain installed a Cat diesel. In 1934 Eisenwerk Rothe Erde introduced a ball-bearing slew ring as an advanced option to the hook-and-roller swing systems that were the industry norm. In 1941 Manitowoc introduced the 65-ton capacity 3900 as one of the first purpose-designed crawler cranes and in 1945 Lorain’s new TL series was the first with a completely welded upper works (rather than one employing castings and riveting). Although Coles Cranes had


36 CRANES TODAY


been a pioneer with its first truck crane of 1922, across the Atlantic such developments also soared ahead in the hands of companies like Universal (later Lorain), Harnischfeger P&H, Bay City, and Orton & Steinbrenner. The first tower cranes had been


also developed in France by Jules Weitz and Grues Besnard and in Germany by Julius Wolff and Carl Peschke, and Peschke’s son Karl. These were small cranes, typically of one tonne capacity or less, and a reach of between 5 and 16 metres.


EARLY INFLUENCERS American mechanical crane and excavator technology became dominant worldwide during the post-war building boom. In addition to their sales and


marketing efforts, which were far more advanced than those of Europe, US manufacturers spread their influence around the world by establishing joint- venture manufacturing or granting licenses in markets as far afield as Germany, France, Japan, India, Australia, Mexico, Canada and Brazil. Though virtually every


European country by then had its own crane and excavator manufacturing industry, US


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