Obsolete Mobile Crane Parts And Their New Modern Counterparts

A crane is a type of machine, generally equipped with a hoist rope, wire ropes or chains, and sheaves, that can be used both to lift and lower materials and to move them horizontally. It is mainly used for lifting heavy things and transporting them to other places. It uses one or more simple machines to create mechanical advantage and thus move loads beyond the normal capability of a human. Cranes are commonly employed in the transport industry for the loading and unloading of freight, in the construction industry for the movement of materials and in the manufacturing industry for the assembling of heavy equipment.

A crane mounted on a truck carrier provides the mobility for this type of crane. This crane has two parts: the carrier, often referred to as the Lower, and the lifting component which includes the boom, referred to as the Upper. Increased production requirements may demand more capacity, faster operating speeds, better controls, or automation. Reliability may have deteriorated resulting in unscheduled shutdowns and increased production costs. Mobile cranes parts may be obsolete, resulting in high mobile crane spare parts costs and long lead times. Inspection may show excessive wear or non-compliance with current safety standards or practices.

Generally, these cranes are able to travel on highways, eliminating the need for special equipment to transport the crane unless weight or other size constrictions are in place such as local laws. If this is the case, larger cranes are equipped with either special trailers to help spread the load over more axles or are able to disassemble to meet requirements

·         Sidelifter crane is a road-going truck or semi-trailer, able to hoist and transport ISO standard containers. Container lift is done with parallel crane-like hoists, which can lift a container from the ground or from a railway vehicle.

·         Rough terrain crane. A crane mounted on an undercarriage with four rubber tires that is designed for pick-and-carry operations and for off-road and "rough terrain" applications. Outriggers are used to level and stabilize the crane for hoisting.

·         All terrain crane. Mobile crane parts of these types of crane are made for land contact and with the necessary equipment to travel at speed on public roads, and on rough terrain at the job site using all-wheel and crab steering.

·         Pick and Carry Crane is similar to a mobile crane in that is designed to travel on public roads, however pick and Carry cranes have no stabilizer legs or outriggers and are designed to lift the load and carry it to its destination, within a small radius, then be able to drive to the next job. Pick and Carry cranes are popular in Australia where large distances are encountered between job sites.

·         Carry deck crane is a small 4 wheel crane with a 360 degree rotating boom placed right in the center and an operators cab located at one end under this boom. The rear section houses the engine and the area above the wheels is a flat deck. Very much an American invention the Carry deck can hoist a load in a confined space and then load it on the deck space around the cab or engine and subsequently move to another site. The Carry Deck principle is the American version of the pick and carry crane and both allow the load to be moved by the crane over short distances.

·         Telescopic Handlers are like forklift trucks that have a telescoping extendable boom like a crane. Early telescopic handlers only lifted in one direction and did not rotate, however, several of the manufacturers have designed telescopic handlers that rotate 360 degrees through a turntable and these machines look almost identical to the Rough Terrain Crane. These new 360 degree telescopic handler/crane models have outriggers or stabilizer legs that must be lowered before lifting, however their design has been simplified so that they can be more quickly deployed

·         Crawler is a crane mounted on an undercarriage with a set of tracks (also called crawlers) that provide stability and mobility. Crawler cranes range in lifting capacity from about 40 to 3,500 short tons.Crawler cranes have both advantages and disadvantages depending on their use. Their main advantage is that they can move around on site and perform each lift with little set-up, since the crane is stable on its tracks with no outriggers. Caterpillar tracks are also far better at traversing soft ground without sinking in, as they spread the weight out over a great area. Thus a crawler crane can move about an unprepared job site with less risk of getting stuck in soft ground. In addition, a crawler crane is capable of traveling with a load. The main disadvantage is that they are very heavy, and cannot easily be moved from one job site to another without significant expense. Typically a large crawler must be disassembled and moved by trucks, rail cars or ships to its next location.

·         Railroad crane has flanged wheels for use on railroads. The simplest form is a crane mounted on a flatcar. More capable devices are purpose-built. Different types of crane are used for maintenance work, recovery operations and freight loading in goods yards and scrap handling facilities.