My reference to Grove’s hydraulic lattice boom crane development (CT August pp13–14) did not mean to imply that the Grove HL Series were the first hydraulic lattice boom cranes developed in the US. But they brought numerous innovations to an all-but-stalled North American market (B-E’s crane and excavator business closed in 1983). The 150-ton Grove HL 150T was legally roadable without undecking, allowing it to compete with truck cranes and ATs in crane rental.
If a planned range of successors to the HL-150 series had not been cancelled after J Martin Benchoff left Grove, it would have placed Grove years ahead of Manitowoc’s resurgence that began with the M-250, and the history of Grove and Manitowoc might have read very differently.
Stuart Anderson, Hagerstown, Maryland
