Manitowoc Cranes began as a business venture by Charles West and Elias Gunnell.

[1] After observing the Moore Speedcrane, manufactured in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Charles West thought cranes were a way to expand the business and use his shipyard's machine shops.

Eventually, after listening to customer feedback, Moore redesigned the crane and installed a gasoline engine.

Another major change was the replacement of the wheels with a crawler base that allowed for better traction.

[1] The Moore Speedcrane Company continued to introduce new models with innovative features; however, this put them deeper into debt.

In 1928, when it was apparent that Moore was not going to be able to pay back the debts owed to Manitowoc, they began to manufacture and sell Speedcranes with its own sales force.

In 1994, Manitowoc acquired Femco Machine Company, a manufacturer of crane parts.

The primary purpose of this division was to re-enter the manufacture and marketing of smaller lattice boom crawler cranes, (130 tons and under capacity); a size class that had been dropped from Manitowoc Cranes product line a few years earlier.

The announcement to acquire Grove Worldwide was made in March 2002 at CONEXPO in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The company began in a small, rented two-car garage in Shady Grove, Pennsylvania.

National Crane was founded in Nebraska by Marlo Burg in 1947, and began by manufacturing roadside weed sprayers.

Tai'an: In 2008, Manitowoc began a joint venture with TaiAn Dongyue Heavy Machinery Company, which was founded in 1972.

Charlieu: Potain self-erecting cranes and mechanisms for all cranes[citation needed] La Clayette: factory closed 2010; training centre closed 2013 Moulins: Potain tower cranes[citation needed] Wilhelmshaven: Grove all-terrains, Grove GTK 1100, Manitowoc 15000[11] Wilhelmshaven underwent an expansion in 2008.

Pune manufactures Potain tower cranes (under license)[citation needed].

TIL Limited, a company headquartered in Kolkata, also markets Manitowoc cranes like Grove.

[13] Fânzeres: Completes painting, assembly, testing and shipping of Potain tower cranes.

[citation needed] Port Washington, Wisconsin: In 2006, Manitowoc acquired this factory with the addition of Exactech.