Within the crane industry, the all-terrain crane is a luxury model of a mobile hydraulic crane. The reputation of this crane is similar to driving a Range Rover or a Hummer on pavement. All-terrain cranes are considered to be a hybrid between a mobile truck crane and rough terrain crane. One more remarkable quality of this particular machinery is its multi-functional ability to be able to navigate through all types of off-road terrain. Amongst the main selling features of this crane is that it travels equally well at high speeds down highways.
The First Rough Terrain Crane
The first rough terrain crane was put on the market by Grove in 1959. The crane was intended for application and designed to deal with many tasks on construction sites. The industrial strength of the crane's tires could handle all types of tricky terrain and is able to transport small loads in carry mode. During the 1970s, the 4 axle Super-RT 1650 model was introduced by Grove. This specific model has a 270 foot or 82.8 meter height under hook in production, in addition to a 135 ton lifting capacity. At the end of the day, the rough terrain crane would become the company's most remarkable machine over the years.
The Crane's Disadvantages
Amongst the major drawbacks of the rough terrain crane was the problem that it was not capable of being driven on public highways with any other traffic. Japan was the only country within the globe that would make an exception to this rule. Additionally, another problem happened when the crane's lowered boom tended to block the left and right views of the driver, that depends on how the cap was positioned. All the issues with the crane's design ended up being both severe and dangerous and result in numerous accidents with RT cranes, specially while turning. Thus, lowboys, flatbeds, low-loaders were used as the main way of transporting rough terrain cranes.