ANNIVERSARY


CRANE HISTORY Ӏ NOVEMBER 2022


j Lorain’s larger-sized truck-


mounted Moto-tower cranes of 50 to 150-ton capacity became rental favourites. While these proved particularly popular in North America, European tower cranes had failed to make a breakthrough – mainly due to lack of local support and concerns over their electrics. Even so, in 1961, Harnischfeger P&H struck a deal with Liebherr to handle the North American marketing of large tower cranes produced in Liebherr’s plant in Killarney, Ireland. It didn’t work. In 1961 the Killarney plant had opened as Liebherr’s first overseas plant, to make tower cranes, quickly followed by a plant in Spring, South Africa, also making tower cranes. Across Europe, however, Coles


found significant success amongst crane hirers with tower versions of its larger-sized Ranger, Zealous, Valiant, Gargantua, Centurion and Colossus truck models of 30-to 170-tonnes capacity, while Demag and Gottwald developed luffing jib models of their larger truck cranes. In 1972 Priestman Brothers took a misjudged stab at the UK pre-fab market with a tower version of its 32-tonne BC 72 crawler crane which proved too small for the market. Technical limitations in


hydraulic and automotive components severely limited hydraulic crane development throughout the 1970s and into the 1980s, thus prolonging the life of mechanical lattice boom truck and crawler cranes. In fact, during the late 1960s sales of lattice crane worldwide continued to grow – reaching 12,000-15,000 a year. At that time telescopic boom cranes were still limited in capacity and reach. During the late 1960s, Germany’s leading lattice truck crane manufacturers were already producing 300-tonne capacity cranes and developing


500-tonners. The lifting performance and length of lattice booms had been significantly improved with the development by US Steel of T-1 alloy steel in the early 1950s. Using T-1 US manufacturers,


particularly Manitowoc and American Hoist, introduced 200 ton crawler cranes during the late 1960s. By the late 1960s, German’s Gottwald was building 300-tonne capacity truck cranes available with strut or tower configurations. From the early years the US lattice boom crane and excavator industry had been quick to exploit overseas market opportunities and to capitalise on this. They, and several UK crane makers, established joint-venture manufacturing subsidiaries or licensed manufacturing operations overseas. From the 1930s onward they established manufacturing operations around the world – often in countries protected by tariff barriers and import controls, or with limited foreign currency availability.


TELESCOPIC CRANES Starting in the 1950s Japan had rapidly taken to the telescopic truck crane concept, creating strong domestic demand dominated by three suppliers: Tadano, Kato and Unic. In that regard these


manufacturers produced only ‘the crane’ soliciting the vital support of the country’s strengthening truck industry to provide its vehicle. The first purpose-designed crane carrier chassis were built by Mitsubishi Fuso and Nissan in 1960 and 1961 respectively and during the mid-1960s Kato. Tadano then added carrier-mounted truck cranes to their (commercial) truck- mounted crane lines. In 1969, Japanese domestic demand for (carrier-mounted) truck cranes


The production lines being installed at Liebherr-Werk Ehingen


quadrupled to 1,100 units and, in 1970, hit 1,500. Mitsubishi and Nissan were the


first large-scale commercial truck builders to produce specialist crane carrier chassis. At that time, only a few of the world’s crane makers produced their own carriers - Coles of the UK and P&H of the US being notable exceptions


In the US with many more


manufacturers fighting for market share, Grove, Pettibone and P&H became the leaders whilst, in Europe, Coles Cranes was by far the strongest supplier. In Europe the struggle for the


world’s tallest mobile crane was won, hands down by Leo Gottwald of Dusseldorf with its 400-tonne capacity MK 600 introduced in 1968. A mobile (rather than truck- mounted) crane on eight-axles, the MK 600 offered boom lengths to 100m or tower lengths to 83m plus a 75m luffing jib for maximum heights of 160m.


During the 1970s, telescopic cranes gradually took over as the preferred type of mobile crane in the small-medium capacity classes (10-100-tons).


In Germany Leo Gottwald established market leadership with its well-engineered lattice and telescopic boom truck cranes. In 1966 Gottwald introduced its 18-tonne capacity AMK 45-21


f CRANES TODAY 47


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