First Build: Tractor Crane for FEL

[PhilCase]

I have a New Holland TC30 that has been a great little tractor for me. A few months ago it was whispering that it wanted a new house. So I'm currently building a 24x56 pole barn for it's pleasure. The next step in the barn build are the roof trusses. I need to lift the trusses and place them on top of the headers since my truss builder does not do building-top delivery.

The FEL on my TC30 can only reach up about 10 ft, so I decided to rig up a crane-like boom to allow me to hoist the trusses up above the building to set them in place. I wanted to keep the rig as simple as possible, with a quick breakdown and minimal tooling. The rig I came up uses a 14 ft pipe to give me a total working lift height of about 22 ft, cost less than $100 total, and only took a couple of hours to rig up. When finished the pipe used for the boom will be recycled into steel corner fence posts. I'll keep the rigging for possible future needs as my wife is whispering about her new house.

I was initially concerned about the hydraulics being able to handled a "leveraged" load on the end of a boom, but I weigh about twice what a single truss weighs, so after this test I'm confident the FEL will live up to the requirements of this task.

A slide-show of the entire build is available for anyone interested.

Phil

 

[jayste]

Very nice. I'll be watching for the truss mounting video!:thumbsup:

 

[Iplayfarmer]

I've thought about doing something similar, except in my head the bucket would be replaced with the boom attachment.

How are you going to hook onto the trusses? Do have have another cable or hook planned for the end of the boom?

 

[mmurphy]

:welcome: We all like pictures! I am curious do you really have powers to hear what your tractor is saying!!!!!! People get t.v. shows for that!!:laughing:

 

[Defective]

I understand that hearing the wife is even more amazing...

 

[jlrsn]

Pretty neat and I would say overbuilt!! I've been going to build me a Boom Attachment welded to a Quick Attach Plate that I bought for my L39. I might only have to use it a couple of times a year so It's been on the back burner with other priorities first. I've lifted thousands of trusses over the years with my helicopters before I retired and I'd usually take a stack at a time.
Good luck,
Jim

 

[kevinj]

I see several safety issues with this set up.

 

[mmurphy]

I understand that hearing the wife is even more amazing...

IMPOSSIBLE!!!

 

[PhilCase]

I see several safety issues with this set up.

The main issue that I'm aware of is that there is nothing, other than the roll bar of the tractor to protect the operator in the event one tilts the bucket too far back causing the boom to want to come back past vertical.

This issue is one that I plan to manage through my own vigilance.

I would be interested in knowing what the other safety issues are that you see?

Thanks,

Phil

 

[mbohuntr]

You may wish to do the physics before you lift. I'm not sure how much you know already, but your front tires are acting as a folcrum, and the weight of the truss plus attachment times the HORIZONTAL distance needs to be less than the total weight times the same distance toward the rear. (not the tractor weight only)
Truss weight x distance foward needs to be less than tractor center mass weight (given as a distance from the Tires)+ attachment weight at center mass x distance. Be safe, do a test for stability first... (I can't wait for the pics either, I've thought about a boom pole attachment for the FEL myself.) I missed the over center possibilities!!! I ran a bobcat once or twice and discovered that!!