The Manitowoc Story

PART 1

In my historical article on Link-Belt cranes and excavators (November 2019 CP&M), I observed that of the more than 100 American crane and excavator manufacturers established in the 20th century, only the names of three can still be found on current machines sold today. The three surviving names are Link-Belt, P&H and Manitowoc. Link-Belt is Japanese owned and P&H machines are manufactured by Komatsu Mining Corporation, a subsidiary of Japanese giant Komatsu Ltd. That leaves Manitowoc, the only American crane and excavator company that survives as an American-owned company and still proudly carries its name on its products.

Like many other American excavator and earthmoving equipment manufacturers, the company took its name from the city where it was established, in this case Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Others include Bucyrus, Erie, Bay City, Lima, Lorain, Marion, Cleveland,