City Cranes
The term "City Crane" means a small 2-axle mobile crane that is designed to be utilized specially in tight areas where standard cranes can not venture. These city cranes are great choices for use in buildings or through gated places.
City cranes were initially developed during the 1990s as a response to the increasing urban density in Japan. There are continually new construction projects cramming their ways into the cities in Japan, making it vital for a crane to have the ability to navigate the nooks and crannies of Japanese roads.
Essentially, city cranes are small rough terrain cranes which are built to be road legal. These cranes are characterized by having a 2-axle design with independent steering on each axle, a slanted retractable boom, a single cab and a short chassis. The slanted retractable boom design takes up a lot less space than a comparable horizontal boom would. Combined with the independent steering and the short chassis, the city crane is capable of turning in compact spots that will be otherwise unaccessible by other types of cranes.
Conventional Truck Crane
Traditional truck cranes are mobile cranes with lattice booms. This boom is much lighter boom than is found with a hydraulic truck crane boom. The many sections on a lattice boom are able to be added so that the crane could reach over and up an obstacle. Traditional truck cranes require separate power to be able to move up and down and do not lower and raise their cargo with any hydraulic power.
Manitowoc built the first ever Speedcrane. It proved to be a successful machine though lots of adjustments needed to be added later on. Manitowoc hired Roy Moore as a crane designer to help streamline the design. He knew the industry was changing towards internal combustion engines from original steam powered means and designed his crane to change with the times. The Speedcrane was redesigned for a gasoline engine.