Features and Benefits of All-Terrain Cranes

20 August 2019

As its designation implies, All-terrain Cranes are designed to roll across any type of ground. Even if the soil is lumpy and loose, that beast of a vehicle won’t have any trouble traversing the rugged terrain. It’s the same with a wet and muddy construction site, with the off-roader capable crane finding its way over the wheel-sucking muck in record time. Sadly, regular heavy lifters simply can’t imitate this feature.

Planning for a Regular Crane Chassis

Not to belabour the point, an ordinary crane can speed down a highway and get between distant construction sites without much effort. What they can’t do is maneuver around a rough piece of ground, not unless there are site provisions in place. This means taking time to cut out a road system and cover it with a layer of traction-improving gravel. If the area is soaking wet, the job’s not complete. To keep the surface above the water, a drainage system needs to be installed as well. That means calling in a pump, perhaps even a generator, too.

Off The Leash All-Terrain Cranes

In a way, conventional cranes are on a rail. They have to stick to their roads. If a new construction area is commissioned, the mobile lifter can’t get there, not until a new road link is opened. Switching over to an All-Terrain Crane, there’s no need for all the roads and road maintenance services. If the vehicle is needed, it heads straight over to a lift zone. If there’s a stretch of lumpy ground between the mobile crane and its destination, that doesn’t matter, the off-road lifter just uses its large knobbly wheels and reinforced chassis to navigate the mire-strewn terrain. Incidentally, if a parcel of ground is dry, it’s easier to drive across, but what if the weather changes? Without roads and drainage, that dirt will instantly become a swampy trap, one that’ll suit an avian crane, not the heavy lifting type.

On dry land or not, without roads and water drainage systems, crane operators find themselves looking up and into the sky. If dark clouds are accumulating, the job’s off for the day. With an All-Terrain Crane, wet weather conditions are surmountable. So expect fewer delays when working with an off-roader. By the way, while this post has mostly been about construction site work, these mighty mobile lifters are equipped with cross-country features. They can work as part of a logging operation or on some other equally important forestry assignment. Back on a disused land strip, perhaps one that held a recently demolished structure, All-Terrain Cranes are employed when the project needs a crane to clear structural waste.