Use old 35' bucket as a crane?

[MartinsTreeSvc]

We have our 60' and our 37' buckets. But a local guy has a 35" steel boom bucket for sale for a grand. Pony motor for hydraulics. Now I NEVER use my buckets to pck up anything! But wondering if I take the man basket off this one to convert it with a hook to use my grapple to pick up things. Not at all for use in removals. Just pick up manageable logs on ground. Looks more stabble than the grapples they use on the dump trailers. Any thoughts plz!

 

[TheJollyLogger]

What's the weight rating?

 

[TheJollyLogger]

OK, this one is kind of renting space in my head... and I was never a big bucket guy, but did do a fair amount of crane work, so here goes...

I think a typical bucket truck has a wll in the 350 pound range, maybe 400? But that obviously means it is safe for 400 lbs even stretched out to max extension 3' above the ground, so more vertical obviously it is capable of much more. But of course the higher the stick the smaller the reach... so log movement from a to b with a 35 foot stick is not going to be very impressive. Honestly, once you get your rig set up I don't see you being able to move a 4-500 pound log more than 40-50 feet, and maybe less, depending on the orientation of the truck and obstacles in the way... sorry, just having a hard time picturing it.

 

[muddstopper]

I would estimate that by the time you remove the bucket and install a grappel, you would be at,
or close to, the max weight rating for the crane. And if not at the max weight rateing, even a small log or grapple full of brush and you would be over weight. I wouldnt do it.

 

[sean donato]

May not be as easy to find, but I've often contemplated getting an old turret grapple off a small log truck and retrofitting it to a trailer. Even the smaller one have very good reach and can lift some serious weight.

 

[muddstopper]

May not be as easy to find, but I've often contemplated getting an old turret grapple off a small log truck and retrofitting it to a trailer. Even the smaller one have very good reach and can lift some serious weight.

If it was reach I was looking for, I would look for the boom off a sheetrock truck. Long extendable reach and heavy reach ability. Of course, it would probably just be cheaper to buy a used knuckleboom.

As for mounting a boom on a trailer, I have some ideals

 

[sean donato]

If it was reach I was looking for, I would look for the boom off a sheetrock truck. Long extendable reach and heavy reach ability. Of course, it would probably just be cheaper to buy a used knuckleboom.

As for mounting a boom on a trailer, I have some ideals

Most these days are pretty close to the same thing. A Robotech 915 is good for bit over 6k stretched fully out. Most std pal fingers are 4k and 7k lbs. For whatever reason I can't find fully extended specs, but like every crane the further out you go the less you can pick.

 

[pdqdl]

The problem I see is that very few aerial lifts are engineered to reach the ground. You will find that it doesn't make it to the ground in many positions, and will lack strength in some of the contorted reaches you will find the machine in.

On top of that, you'd have to buy insurance for an old beater truck that would have limited utility. Any truck with an aerial device bolted on will have limited capacity to transport materials. Having a truck dedicated to the sole purpose of moving some tiny loads around doesn't sound like a good idea.

Your money would be better invested in a small loader to manage logs. You would pay for a new machine with the savings on efficiency.

 

[ZinTrees]

im guessing if its 35ft and steel, its probably a 2 section telescopic?
what PD said, buy a mini skid or articulated loader, maybe even a mid size tractor, lift more, move further, cheaper to operate and not be in a gray area of legality

 

[tree MDS]

im guessing if its 35ft and steel, its probably a 2 section telescopic?
what PD said, buy a mini skid or articulated loader, maybe even a mid size tractor, lift more, move further, cheaper to operate and not be in a gray area of legality

Lol… he said gray area of legality!

 

[ZinTrees]

Lol… he said gray area of legality!

riding the crane ball is a gray area tooooo

not allowed to unless its the only safe option, which it is 9 times out of 10 because trees dont have a load chart

 

[TheJollyLogger]

I can only imagine what an OSHA inspector would do if he drove by and saw a rig like that.

 

[dbl612]

The problem I see is that very few aerial lifts are engineered to reach the ground. You will find that it doesn't make it to the ground in many positions, and will lack strength in some of the contorted reaches you will find the machine in.

On top of that, you'd have to buy insurance for an old beater truck that would have limited utility. Any truck with an aerial device bolted on will have limited capacity to transport materials. Having a truck dedicated to the sole purpose of moving some tiny loads around doesn't sound like a good idea.

Your money would be better invested in a small loader to manage logs. You would pay for a new machine with the savings on efficiency.

first logical comment i have read

 

[MartinsTreeSvc]

never ended up even going to look at it. we doo have a thomas mini and love it. just going to wait to find a decent crane. thanks guys. But MUDDSTOPPER I am interested in the deas for the crane on trailer!

 

[muddstopper]

My ideal for a trailer lift is based off this design.


Since I was going to mount it on a hyd dump trailer, I figured on making a hyd swing to make the boom turn. Those booms are hard to push by hand if loaded heavy. For a swivel base, I had a old 44000lb truck axle housing I was coing to cut in half and use the axle hub with its big bearing to let things turn easier. I also planed on using a lot heavier tubing than what those factory lifts are made of. I would mount a winch on the boom to winch up logs, (firewood size, not saw mill timber). Since I would be mounting the boom on the trailer tongue, I would probably go with a 8000lb winch, and that would probably be enough to turn my trailer over if the log didnt want to move. The boom lenght would be a single piece of tubing long enough to reach the center of my trailer bed. It would be stronger than I need to build it, but I was going to use parts and metal I had on hand so cost would be minimal. I would use the hyd pump for my dump lift to power the lift on the boom as well as the swing which would use a couple of small cyl to do the turning. One pushing and one pulling so the swing speed would be the same in either direction. I would add a couple of D03 electric control valves so I could make it work with a remote.. Nothing fancy, but a little costly if you have to go out and buy everything. , Just for info, if you can find a scraped bucket truck, the electric control valve for the lift would work great for your lift.