The all-terrain crane is considered in the crane industry as being a luxury kind of a mobile hydraulic crane. It has the status of being similar to driving a Range Rover or a Hummer on pavement. All-terrain cranes are considered to be a hybrid between a rough terrain crane and mobile truck crane. One more great quality of this specific machinery is its multi-functional ability to be able to traverse through all kinds of off-road terrain. Among the main selling characteristics of this particular crane is that it travels equally well at high speeds down roads.
The Very First Rough Terrain Crane
Grove introduced the first rough terrain crane to the market in 1959. The crane was designed for the intended use of being a multi-purpose device for use on construction locations. The crane's tires have the industrial strength that can handle all kinds of tricky terrain and could move small loads in carry mode. During the 1970s, Grove introduced the 4 axle Super-RT 1650 model. This model has an 82.8 meter or 270 foot height under hook in production, along with a 135 ton lifting capacity. At the end of the day, the rough terrain crane would become the most notable equipment of the company through the years.
The Crane's Drawbacks
Among the major disadvantages 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 nation in the world which will make an exception to this rule. Furthermore, another problem happened when the crane's lowered boom tended to block the left and right views of the driver, depending upon how the cap was positioned. These issues with the crane's design ended up being both severe and dangerous and result in a lot of RT crane accidents, specially when turning. Therefore, low-loaders, lowboys, flatbeds were used as the main way of moving rough terrain cranes.