5 ft. Boom - Cheap and easy

[Wheels2]

Got around to building a little boom for my GC2400. One pin in the receiver and I can carry it in one hand.
Saves my creaky back.

Harvey

 

[Boeing]

Please allow me to caution you........
The "EXTENDED" arm that you now have with this boom is a problem. First it GREATLY increases the lift "moment" thus greatly REDUCING the weight that can be lifted.....(Try extending your arm with a phone book in your hand) AND....
More importantly, if you hook up to something heavy it will likely RAPIDLY lift the rear end (rear wheels) of your tractor...THROWING YOU FORWARD, POSSIBLY INJURING YOU........
I have chained small, 3" sapling stumps directly to my bucket (no arm or extension) raised the bucket only to almost LAUNCH myself out of the seat as the rear of my Kabota came rapidly off the ground.
Nuff said..........:confused3:

 

[Wheels2]

The extended arm is not a problem as you have no idea what it will be used for.
250 lbs into the back of my F-150 would be max. I weigh that much so testing was easy.
Keep your seat belt fastened to prevent injuring yourself when exceeding the capablities of your tractor.

Harvey

 

[Ductape]

Nice work. No doubt it will come in handy.

 

[rekees4300]

Nice project Harvey. :thumbsup: Might be good idea to put some weight on back of tractor.

 

[Artisan]

Nice Harvey...

Got anything in mind to move w/ it or just makin' cool stuff?

 

[colinc]

Nice project! I just might have to steal your design

 

[Whatswrong]

My thought would be feather the hydraulic don't just lay into it and when the rear end starts to lift you know it is to heavy ,don't add rear weight you could bend the front axle ,I've seen that happen.That looks like a light duty tractor do a light duty job and save your back and there should be no problem .Most problems happen when the nut on the steering wheel is too loose.

 

[swick1]

I built one for my 1026r that extends to 8 ft. I calculated the Max load to be 250 lbs with caution and backhoe for counterweight. I haven't broken anything but I keep it very low and go about 1 Mph

 

[jenkinsph]

handy little boom, noce simple design. Don't overload your tractor with it.

 

[pat32rf]

Trying to pick up a load that is too heavy in the extended boom is NO different than trying to lift a load in the bucket that is too heavy. The hydraulic pressure will raise until either the hi limit lets go or the pump peaks out. Either way the loads on the front axle will be the same and so will the tendancy to lift the rear axle.
Things can get touchy however if you get the load higher or farther out front than normal and then have it start to swing.......

 

[k0ua]

And adding weight to the 3pt will remove weight from the front axle. Imagine 5000 lbs on the 3pt, where would the front axle be.. In the air of course. This is a gross exaggeration to help prove a point. But the point being if you add weight to the 3pt it will lever up the front of the tractor around the fulcrum of the rear axle. So add weight to the 3pt.

James K0UA

 

[kubotakid USA]

Please allow me to caution you........
The "EXTENDED" arm that you now have with this boom is a problem. First it GREATLY increases the lift "moment" thus greatly REDUCING the weight that can be lifted.....(Try extending your arm with a phone book in your hand) AND....
More importantly, if you hook up to something heavy it will likely RAPIDLY lift the rear end (rear wheels) of your tractor...THROWING YOU FORWARD, POSSIBLY INJURING YOU........


Your not in touch with what he is doing. Also, OSHA is not welcome.here.

kubotakid USA

 

[Leejohn]

I never had good luck with the boom poles on the front loader. Anything over 4' it seems not to be able to lift much weight. I do use one when I pull a motor out of a boat, but it's only about 3' long. it well go out to about 6', I haven't tried it all the way out, but I don't think it would pull the motor very good. I like them on the 3pt if you can get the hight you need.

 

[Wheels2]

Thanks for all the comments and info. This thing is for very light duty such as, rear mount grader blade, 80 lb. generator etc.
Note there is another lift point 1/2 way on the boom which could lift a little more and is handy to tie the load to stop it swinging around.
I use it slow and carefully so I don't expect any problems. ( My 73 year old back is quite happy about it too.)

Harvey

 

[KennyG]

Trying to pick up a load that is too heavy in the extended boom is NO different than trying to lift a load in the bucket that is too heavy. The hydraulic pressure will raise until either the hi limit lets go or the pump peaks out. Either way the loads on the front axle will be the same and so will the tendancy to lift the rear axle.
Things can get touchy however if you get the load higher or farther out front than normal and then have it start to swing.......

I think the key is your last sentence. Geometry makes a huge difference. The hydraulics and weight distribution on my 2320 are such that I can't get in much trouble lifting from the ground with the loader if I have my box blade on for ballast. However, I once tried to pull a bush out of an elevated landscape terrace so the lift started about 5 or 6 feet above the ground. Things got real exciting real quick and I learned a lot about lifting geometry. I'm going to get some serious ballast before I try anything like that again.

 

[Raspy]

That's a very good design.

I did something similar and used it to lift heavy I beam posts for my new house. But your's is made a lot better.

When you get to your limit on lift just curl the bucket to get the boom more vertical before the load is lifted. Curling the bucket will not lift as much as raising the bucket.

I like it. Very simple and well thought out.

 

[Raspy]

Please allow me to caution you........
The "EXTENDED" arm that you now have with this boom is a problem. First it GREATLY increases the lift "moment" thus greatly REDUCING the weight that can be lifted.....(Try extending your arm with a phone book in your hand) AND....
More importantly, if you hook up to something heavy it will likely RAPIDLY lift the rear end (rear wheels) of your tractor...THROWING YOU FORWARD, POSSIBLY INJURING YOU........
I have chained small, 3" sapling stumps directly to my bucket (no arm or extension) raised the bucket only to almost LAUNCH myself out of the seat as the rear of my Kabota came rapidly off the ground.
Nuff said..........:confused3:

I think a bit of common sense will keep him from "launching" himself. And he has really improved the capability of his tractor. Any implement can be dangerous if used incorrectly.

 

[danceswithdirt]

Love the boom and really like the idea behind it. I use my tractor like a spare man. If it's heavy enough to make me strain...go get the tractor. The more useful your investment the better. You could exceed the limits of machine or operator with or without the boom, steep terrain, uneven load, weather etc. Take your time, learn your equipment, enjoy. Your back will love you for it. 73 and finding ways to "Git ur done". My hats off to you sir.

 

[grnspot110]

Nice design that should work fine within it's limits!