Link-Belt Cranes Marks 150 Years of Innovation, Leadership and Global Expansion

(Sponsored Content) -- Link-Belt Cranes, with headquarters in Lexington, Kentucky, is a leader in the design and manufacture of telescopic boom and lattice boom cranes for the construction industry worldwide. Link-Belt is committed to the manufacture and service of high-quality products that satisfy customers worldwide.

To that end, Link-Belt has pursued a strategy of growth and investment. It has moved aggressively to seize greater global market share by producing a broader range of products and strengthening distribution and personnel around the globe.

Link-Belt is also home to a family of passionate professionals with a legacy of innovation and cutting-edge technology spanning 150 years. These professionals, in an 818,000-square-footmanufacturing facility and with a culture of continuous innovation, have pushed Link-Belt to be the most modern crane manufacturer in North America.

Sept. 1, 2024, marked the 150th anniversary of the original date William Dana Ewart patented the square detachable “link” in Belle Plaine, Iowa (Sept. 1, 1874). Ewart founded the Link-Belt Company in 1875.

In tribute to these milestone dates, Link-Belt is celebrating across three major industry events: CraneFest 2024, hosted at Link-Belt’s headquarters, bauma 2025 in Munich and CONEXPO 2026 in Las Vegas — the culmination of its landmark 150-year anniversary commemoration.

150 years of Link-Belt

As we embark on a celebration of 150 years as a company, let’s take a moment to provide some context and a brief history of past historical milestones for Link-Belt.

• In 1880, the Link-Belt Machinery Company entered the crane field with its first locomotive-style crane, built at its Chicago facility. Through continuous innovation efforts, Link-Belt developed several new products, including its first steam-powered clamshell crane in 1894 and its first pedestal mount in 1903.
• In 1936, it introduced “Speed-O-Matic” power hydraulic controls to the crane-shovel industry on the K-45. Then, in 1938, it purchased the Speeder Machinery Corporation to form Link-Belt Speeder, where it produced a number of models in both Chicago and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, until 1947. By 1967, in addition to two separate manufacturing facilities in Cedar Rapids, Link-Belt Speeder products were manufactured in Canada, Mexico, Japan, and Italy.
• In 1967, the FMC Corporation purchased the Link-Belt Company. Link-Belt Speeder was spun off and became the Construction Equipment Group. FMC began a rapid expansion and diversification of products with hydraulic excavators in 1967, new hydraulic rough terrain cranes in 1969, hydraulic truck cranes in 1971, tower gantry cranes in 1974 and a new line of large crawler cranes in 1978.
• In 1986, the Link-Belt Construction Equipment Co. was formed as a joint venture between the FMC Corporation and Sumitomo Heavy Industries (SHI). This formalized partnership dated back to 1962, when Link-Belt Speeder first signed a licensing agreement with SHI to manufacture cranes in Japan. By 1989, SHI obtained a 100% share of Link-Belt Construction Equipment. 
• In 1998, Link-Belt Excavators (LBX) and Link-Belt Cranes were split into two separate companies by SHI.
• In 2007, Link-Belt shipped its first telescopic crawler crane.

Facilities

This year, 2025, also marked the 50th anniversary of the consolidation and relocation of company headquarters from Cedar Rapids and Bowling Green, Kentucky, to one 104-acre campus in Lexington in 1975. The original facility in 1975 was 269,000 square feet. Significant additions to production (1988), a parts distribution center (1993), a state-of-the-art formed boom production facility (2008), all terrain crane production (2010), a 30,000-square-foot training and quality assurance center (2015) and a 60,000-square-foot parts distribution center warehouse expansion (2020) bring today’s square footage to 818,189.

A dynamic, highly focused wholly owned subsidiary of SHI since 1989, Link-Belt is a market leader in crane design and product quality standards. Operating principles of SQCDE (safety, quality, cost, delivery, and environment) are adhered to in every aspect of the company.

 

Link-Belt Cranes operates on the principles of continuous quality improvement, ISO 9001, and established values that support its vision of quality, resulting in reduction of waste, better use of company resources and improved employee and customer satisfaction. The Link-Belt Environmental Management System is validated with ISO 14001 certification. The International Organization for Standardization issues this certification as a framework to assist organizations in developing their own environmental management system.

Headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky, Link-Belt is a leader in the design and manufacture of telescopic boom and lattice boom cranes for the construction industry worldwide.

Complete crane specifications are available at www.linkbelt.com.