Treadmill Crane

Treadmill Crane
Availability
Introduced in	The Age of Kings
Civilization	See table
Age	Castle Age
Research
Researched at	University
Food	300
Wood	200
Research time	50 seconds
Effect
Villagers construct buildings 20% faster

Treadmill Crane is a technology in Age of Empires II that can be researched at the University. Once researched, the construction speed for all buildings is increased by +20%. Treadmill Crane helps players to establish forward bases more quickly or build structures close to enemy territory, especially Castles or Town Centers, which can otherwise take a while to complete.

Despite not having access to Treadmill Crane, the Spanish have the fastest builders in the game due to their civilization bonus that gives them +30% working speed. However, they do not benefit from their bonus in Wonder Race games because Wonders are built at a fixed time for all civilizations.

Technology availability

Available	Unavailable
Aztecs Berbers Burgundians Burmese Celts Incas Italians Japanese Koreans Lithuanians Magyars Malians Mayans Portuguese Saracens Sicilians Tatars Teutons Turks Vietnamese Vikings	Britons Bulgarians Byzantines Chinese Cumans Ethiopians Franks Goths Huns Indians Khmer Malay Mongols Persians Slavs Spanish

Civilization bonuses

• Italians: Researching Treadmill Crane is 33% cheaper.
• Portuguese: Researching Treadmill Crane is 30% faster.

Team bonuses

A team containing Malians: Researching Treadmill Crane is 80% faster.

Changelog

The Age of Kings

• Treadmill Crane cost 200W/300S.
• Goths: Can research Treadmill Crane.
• Japanese: Cannot research Treadmill Crane.
• Vikings: Cannot research Treadmill Crane.

The Conquerors

• With patch 1.0b, Treadmill Crane costs 300F/200W.
• Huns: Can research Treadmill Crane.

The Forgotten

• Goths: Treadmill Crane removed from their technology tree.
• Huns: Treadmill Crane removed from their technology tree.
• Vikings: Treadmill Crane added to their technology tree.

The African Kingdoms

• Japanese: With patch 4.8, Treadmill Crane is added to their technology tree.

Lords of the West

• With update 44725, Franks, Khmer and Slavs can no longer research Treadmill Crane.

Trivia

• The treadmill crane depicted in-game is also a counterweight crane. It uses the same counterweight model from the Trebuchet albeit smaller.
• The Western European, Central European, Mediterranean, and East Asian Lumber Camps have a Treadmill Crane. The Eastern European and Native American ones also have one but without the treadmill. However, a European style treadmill crane would have been unknown to the Mesoamericans and East Asians in reality.
• Serjeants are not affected by Treadmill Crane.

History

“

The construction of castles, cathedrals, and other major building projects required the invention of new techniques, as well as the re-discovery of ancient technologies. A critical tool known to the ancients but lost to the Europeans of the Dark Ages was the crane. The simple crane was a long pole with block and tackle gear that was used to pull loads to a height. The treadmill crane was an improvement over the simple version. It used a large circular treadmill upon which men walked. Gears converted the horizontal circular motion into vertical turning, providing power to wind ropes around a drum and pull up heavy loads. A variation of the treadmill crane employed a capstan that men could push against, like those used on sailing ships to raise anchors.

”