City Cranes
The term "City Crane" means a small 2-axle mobile crane which is designed to be utilized particularly in tight places where standard cranes are unable to venture. These city cranes are great alternatives to be used through gated places or inside buildings.
During the 1990s, city cranes were initially developed in response to the growing urban density in Japan. There are always new construction projects cramming their ways into the cities in Japan, making it necessary for a crane to have the ability to steer through the nooks and crannies of Japanese roads.
Basically, city cranes are small rough terrain cranes that are built to be road legal. These cranes are characterized by having a 2-axle design with independent steering on each axle, a short chassis, a slanted retractable boom and a single cab. The slanted retractable boom design takes up a lot less space than a comparable horizontal boom would. Combined with the short chassis and the independent steering, the city crane is capable of turning in tight spots that would be otherwise unobtainable 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 can be added so that the crane could reach over and up an obstacle. Conventional truck cranes need separate power to be able to move down and up and do not raise and lower their cargo utilizing any hydraulic power.
Manitowoc built the first ever Speedcrane. It proved to be a successful machine though lots of adjustments had to be added later on. Manitowoc hired Roy Moore as a crane designer to help streamline the design. He understood the industry was moving towards internal combustion engines from original steam powered methods and designed his crane to change with the times. The Speedcrane was redesigned for a gasoline engine.