Crane Ideas?

I chose the straight up version like that from northern tool for the following reasons:

1. Straight vertical, it can be bolted right next to the side wall for better stiffness AND better clearance with the rest of the bed.
2. The handwinch allows one to set the boom height, THEN lift the load (like a tire) and then swing the load into the bed. You can't do that as easy and the taller models with a full height lift have more pumping for a given amount of lift.

Problems are that the winch is limited in strength and you have to mind the bearings for the cable.
You can't change the boom length under load at all.

We have one of the Northern tool cranes on our 2 trucks you can see a picture of it on the thread called Addition to Ironhorsethegeneral. Our daughter painted it for us. We can still use the troops seats if needed. The hoist is only as good as what the base plate is mounted on.

Ok, excluding fancy bomb hoists and HIAB's, there are, more or less, 3 choices on the market.

There is the Harbor Freight/Northern tool tall one, which is what Ryan Gill and I have. It features a hand winch on top and a hydraulic ram to lift the boom. We'll call it #1 and I will caption the pics as such.

There is a shorter version, such as what Armyman30+years has. It does not have a winch, simply a chain to which you can attach a chain hoist, etc. to. We'll call it #2 and I will caption the pics as such.

Then, there is the Cummins tools version, which is what Mangus580 has. I actually bought one of these first and tried it out and decided that although it was by far the nicest of the three, it didn't really suit my needs. We'll call it #3 and I will caption the pics as such.

#1

Pros:
A. Since the vertical post is straight, you can mount the baseplate right next to the wall of the bed, thus leaving more room for wide cargo. You can also get it close to the rear edge of the bed as well, thus allowing more reach with the boom (extended) or more weight capacity with the boom retracted.
B. Uses a pin/clip to keep the mast from rotating, better than the screw/friction arrangement on #3.
C. Hand winch and hydraulic ram lift offer multiple means of raising and lowering cargo.

Cons:
A. The hand winch that is included is only good for about 400 lbs., as I stripped it picking up a Deuce front winch at Aberdeen. Of course, better and stronger replacements are avilable at Northern, Harbor Freight, etc.
B. Can not use troop seats
C. Does not have a bearing for the mast to rotate on, so under a heavy load, it may not rotate as freely as desired (although it does offer a zerk fitting for lubrication).

#2

Pros:
A. Since the vertical post is straight, you can mount the baseplate right next to the wall of the bed, thus leaving more room for wide cargo. You can also get it close to the rear edge of the bed as well, thus allowing more reach with the boom (extended) or more weight capacity with the boom retracted.
B. Uses a pin and clip to keep the mast from rotating, better than the screw/friction arrangement on #3.
C. Due to it's shorter height than #1, it may be possible to retain usage of the troop seats.

Cons:
A. Does not include hand winch like #1, although it could be added.
B. Due to the boom being so much closer to the bed floor, the ultimate height cargo can be lifted to is limited more than cranes #1 and #3.
C. Does not have a bearing for the mast to rotate on, so under a heavy load, it may not rotate as freely as desired (although it does offer a zerk fitting for lubrication).

#3

Pros:
A. The biggest plus for the Cummins style is it's rotation method. The boom and mast head sit on a tapered roller bearing, much like a front wheel bearing. This allows an extremely smooth rotation at all times, but especially under load. I really miss this feature most of all.

Cons:
A. Mixed bag. The spine is angled back for balance and strength, but this also means that you have to move the baseplate further in from the bed wall and further back from the rear edge, thus cutting into cargo space and effectively making the boom shorter or reducing it's lifting capacity (if you have to extend the boom).
B. No hand winch, although you could add one.
C. Can not use troop seats.

K-booms don't come cheap any more...

http://cgi.govliquidation.com/auction/view?id=1206816&convertTo=USD

Excellent write up Clinto. Good pro/con comparisons. Thank you very much!

Thanks Clint that is good enough to put in a magazine. Not that my crane is the best by far but the load shown being picked up is above the limit of the crane and I was only picking it up high enough to get it on the M 200 so I could weld it to it and make the dolly. The crane lifted my 5KW generator and the GP medium in a cargo net nicely onto the deck of the bed. It was $49 at harbor frieght and the troop seats work fine when it is lowered.

Clinto,

Thanks for taking the time to do such a detailed comparison!!

Tom

Be sure to check your local salvage yards. I bought a crane off an old Good Year tire service truck for $50. This is no toy. Electric/hydraulic and very well built. Also very high capacity. The scale (appearance-wise) is about right for my 5-ton, too. It will take a bit of work to get it looking good again, and unfortunately it requires cutting a hole in the floor where the base goes through and mounts to the frame. But it will lift almost anything, and with very little effort on my part.

Tom, I have a gantry hoist which has been mounted on an M103 trailer. They are for sale and listed in the classified section. http://www.steelsoldiers.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=PN_zClassifieds&file=detail&cat=5&de=399

Clinto
You still have #3?

rdixiemiller said:

Clinto
You still have #3?

Click to expand...

Nope, thats where mine came from.

Hey clinto, got to thinking and I think I have something to do with the stripping of the crane gear. We were trying to lift the back of the car at first because of a strap that was still connected to the winch. The crane may pick up more than 400 lbs, if I would disconnect it from the car first!

Dennis

I have a Cummins crane that I modified and added a hand winch rated at 1400Lbs and a 2nd boom extention with shive. It extended the reach tremendously, and made it easy to put stuff where you want it in the truck bed instead of just over the tailgate. Obviously adding to the boom reduces capacity so use common sense, but the combination works great! The boom is still telescopic so it folds up for storage and higher capacity lifts. Ill post picks when the monsoon stops.

crane

Here is my modified crane. Excuse the non green mounting.... I am useing it for a project on my ATV trailer, but it will return to its normal place on the deuce. Fully extended it picks about 300lbs without trouble. It can be removed from its base and still use the troop seats as well. just have a plastic bag ready to cover the greasy end!

crane

More.... hit wrong button.....

In the full "up" position there is about 9' of working height.

Seems like with all those people standing around, you would have enough manpower to load a winch! I mounted my duece winch on my M211 by my lonesome in the middle of nowhere (yes, it had the cable and chain/hook on it). I was sore and frustrated, but I did it!

For the bed of my deuce I made a simple hoist with a section of Rohn 45G tower with an eye at the top and a come along, to remove it I just pop out the bolts in the base plate- plus if I need to I can re-mount it somewhere else by drilling a few holes.

Another option is two pieces of vertical pipe that one fits inside the other with holes that line up in both that you can stick a pin in to get it to the right height to clear the bed (you could even modify a truck crane to have a telescoping boom on the vertical pipe with different "inserts" to adjust the height). If you want it to spin, put the larger diameter pipe on the bed, the longer skinnier pipe fits inside it (make it as long as you want it), then pull it out of the base when you no longer need it.

I am currently tinkering with a in bed winch and gin pole set up on the rear edge of the bed (A-frame). I am using two come-alongs for the moment, one adjusts the pitch (with a chain safety) and one lowers and raises the load (for more head room, use a block at the peak of the A-frame). Lug-all winches (come-alongs) are pricey, but they can easily pick 4000# (or more depending on which model) unlike those chinese made ones they try to pass off nearly everywhere (stamped metal is no good!). To remove the A-frame, drop the A-frame to the ground and pull the pivot bolts (using the chain to reposition the winch occasionally). Or you can lay the A-frame in the bed of the truck, but it can be difficult to raise back up. It is heavy, but I overbuild (4" galvanized pipe, 20' long x 2 each).

Of course, the more thinking I do, the more I realize I should just go buy a cool 5 ton deuce with a crane on the back. It has been pre-engineered to do everything I want to be able to do, without all of the fabrication and thinkin'!

I have also used hydro jacks (and car jacks) with dunnage/cribbing to raise a really heavy load, inches at a time. Then again, I have used the biggest hydro crane in Wyoming to stack a 380' guyed tower, all in one day! I also have access to a triple fall erection hoist that has three drums of 3/4" cable, 6000' + of cable per drum... but weighs over 3700#'s.

Just me thinking out loud...I am a freelance thinker after all.

Harbor Freight has the short style crane (#2) on sale right now.

It looks like most have their crane mounted on the passenger side, I'm starting on mine and wondering the pros and cons of one side of the bed vs the other?

Looks like the major Pro is highway safety while changing a tire.. I most often see that from guys that have gone Super Single and need to store their tire in the bed of the deuce.

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