Appreciation post: Mobile crane vs crawler crane for tight urban jobs

I see a lot of guys on here swearing by crawlers for city work, but after spending 6 months on a high-rise job in downtown Seattle last year, I'm team mobile all the way. Crawler might be steadier on soft ground, but when you're working a block squeezed between a parking garage and a coffee shop, that setup time kills you. I ran a 55-ton Grove RT and could get rigged and ready in 20 minutes while the crawler guy next to me was still laying mats. Has anyone else noticed the crawler hype is more about old habits than actual efficiency?

3 comments

3 Comments

kelly_craig29d ago

Isn't it funny how we stick with the same tools just because that's what we learned on?

mary_martin2229d ago

Isn't it crazy how much of our trade runs on "this is how my dad did it" energy? You hit on something real there, Kelly. I think a lot of guys get locked into one machine and never stop to question if it's still the best fit for the job, especially with all the new tech out there. The crawler guys will swear by traction and lift charts, but they forget that setup time is a real cost on a tight urban site, maybe even more than a little wobble on pavement. Old habits die hard, I guess, but so does profit when you're burning an hour laying mats every morning.

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charles44219d ago

My old boss had a saying: "If it ain't broke, you're not looking hard enough." He'd run a 20-year-old dozer until the tracks fell off because he knew every squeak and rattle in the cab. That same thinking kept him from trying a compact track loader for a year on jobs that would've saved him days of work.