The all-terrain crane is considered within the crane business as being a luxury kind of a mobile hydraulic crane. It has the status of being similar to driving a Hummer or a Range Rover on pavement. All-terrain cranes are considered to be a hybrid between a mobile truck crane and rough terrain crane. Another remarkable quality of this machinery is its multi-functional ability to be able to navigate through all types of off-road terrain. Among the main selling characteristics of this specific crane is that it travels equally well at top speeds down highways.
The First Rough Terrain Crane
The very first rough terrain crane was put on the market by Grove during the year 1959. The crane was intended for use and designed to handle various tasks on construction sites. The crane's tires have the industrial strength that is capable of handling all kinds of tricky terrain and can move small loads in carry mode. In the 1970s, Grove introduced the 4 axle Super-RT 1650 model. This particular unit has an 82.8 meter or 270 foot 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 most remarkable equipment of the company through 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 roads with any other traffic. Japan was the only nation in the globe that would make an exception to this rule. Furthermore, another problem happened when the lowered boom on the crane tended to block the driver's left and right views, which depends upon how the cap was positioned. All these problems with the crane's design ended up being severe and dangerous and lead to a lot of accidents with RT cranes, specially when turning. Therefore, flatbeds, low-loaders, lowboys were adopted as the primary way of moving rough terrain cranes.