Front End Boom/Crane

[Viny]

So, I'm converting my Kubota LA1001 FEL to a Skid Steer quick attach. With this, I'm going to return my bucket to straight bucket use. It's currently in Frankenstein mode with bolt-on forks and a grapple for brush work. I'm also going to use the grapple and forks and build a dedicated brush grapple that should be more efficient.

Now I'm looking around at the possibles pile and considering taking an old engine cherry picker and adding a SS plate and turning it into a front end boom/crane. I also have a truck winch that plugs into a 2" tow receiver that I could add with little effort. So, it occurred to me that I could replace the manual hydraulic cylinder on the cherry picker with one I could plug into my existing tractor hydraulics and have that be adjustable as well.

So, I've done some searching on this forum and haven't found any projects quite like this one. I'm particularly interested in figuring out the considerations specific to adding this hydraulic cylinder. Of course I have the size of the existing manual one, but what else is important to know and not screw up? I assume the system pressure of the tractor is an important number to go figure out. What else can anyone think of?

Of couse, Safety is the number 1 consideration. I'm only thinking of this to lift items of a few hundred pounds at the most...

 

[texasranger556]

Is there a particular problem you are trying to solve with an adjustable boom pole? Typically boom poles are welded solid and the bucket retract cylinders are used to move the pole up and down along with the loader lift cylinders. I'm not sure what a third axis of movement would gain you?

 

[texasranger556]

In thinking about it, if you also made a 3 point SSQA adapter plate, I could see some convenience in a boom pole with a cylinder on it.

 

[Viny]

No not really. At this point, this is as much a thought experiment as anything else. I'm about to have this new flexibility with respect to the front end of the tractor and I have this engine picker that has the manual cylinder already. I want to get it out of my barn and have it be more useful. It doesn't have much value, and I am interested, and would imagine others might be interested in learning about the considerations involved in adding a diy hydraulically controlled implement. I totally agree with your notion of beginning with the end in mind, but I'm merely trying to make some stuff less lazy and I might stumble onto something very useful...!

 

[BukitCase]

Typical cherry pickers (if they're rated at 2 ton) use an 8 ton jack; if your tractor's hydraulics are at (say) 2500 psi, you'd get 8 ton from a 2.85" diameter cylinder - if you stick to that size (again, depending on system pressure) and figured out a mount that did NOT compromise the existing design on the cherry picker, it'd probably live long enough for you to find out just how useful that extra range could be -

Knowing myself, that'd probably come in handy - seems like I'm regularly wanting "just a couple more inches, little more reach, etc... Steve

 

[downsizingnow48]

Interesting thoughts. I also have an old 2 ton engine hoist that is seldom used but always in the way. And I was also thinking about some kind of boom pole for the tractor. But I never put the two ideas together until this thread, thanks. I have a SSQA and auxiliary hydraulics on the loader so rigging it up would not be a lot of work as these things go.

 

[lpigott]

You can buy SSQA boom poles ready to go the work way cheap than your time is worth cobbling something together. Check the ones out at Palletforks.com

 

[2458n]

The length of your new jib is going to change the weight the front axle has to support. Tipping or crushing front axle bearings is a real possibility. Duplicate something that is already sold and you should be okay. Let someone else do the engineering for you. Service trucks with cranes on the side always come back with ruined booms because the winch is rated for fully re tracketd. When extra length is added the winch is strong enough to bend the boom.

 

[j250trxr]

 

[Reb954]

I made this stinger for moving a safe into my house. I also have a shorter stinger but don't have a picture of it.

 

[downsizingnow48]

Many thanks to texasranger556 for giving me the idea to do this. Following up on the post above. I mounted an old engine hoist on a SSQA plate and replaced the jack with a cylinder run by the tractor hydraulics. It is very handy and was easy to make.

 

[texasranger556]

Many thanks to texasranger556 for giving me the idea to do this. Following up on the post above. I mounted an old engine hoist on a SSQA plate and replaced the jack with a cylinder run by the tractor hydraulics. It is very handy and was easy to make.

Credit goes to Viny. I just asked him what he planned to do with it

Looks like you could get stuff into a second story window with that thing! I bet running over a rock or pot hole with the rear tire ramps up the pucker factor with your load swinging back and forth. Be safe!

 

[downsizingnow48]

OK thanks to Viny too! And you are right, easy does it, or could get out of hand. For most things I carry them dragging on the ground a bit for stability, but not my wife's big old secretary.

 

[Xfaxman]

I made one from square tubing, that fits on the forks:

 

[Roadking52]

I looked at the first picture before I saw your info, and said to myself, that’s gotta be Wyoming. Are you anywhere close to Jackson?

 

[Reb954]

I looked at the first picture before I saw your info, and said to myself, that痴 gotta be Wyoming. Are you anywhere close to Jackson?

I assume you mean me? Yup, about 75 miles from Jackson.

 

[Roadking52]

My daughter lives in Jackson, so I’m in the neighborhood a lot. I thought the background looked familiar.

 

[bdog]

Many thanks to texasranger556 for giving me the idea to do this. Following up on the post above. I mounted an old engine hoist on a SSQA plate and replaced the jack with a cylinder run by the tractor hydraulics. It is very handy and was easy to make.

That looks nice but what is the real benefit of the cylinder? If the arm was fixed in the highest position couldn稚 you just tilt the bucket up and down to lower it?

 

[downsizingnow48]

Well I agree pretty much with what you say. The cylinder is not essential, the boom could work without it, just like any other boom folks have made. I put the cylinder on with some ideas in mind. First I wanted to preserve the engine hoist functionality, so swapping the hydraulic cylinder for the muscle-powered jack seemed like the right thing to do. Second the cylinder operates slower than the curl function on the bucket, so easier to control. Third I am going to mount my Remington electric pole saw on it for tree trimming. I figured the slow-moving cylinder would be easier to engage the saw than the curl motion. The last thing is stability. For lifting heavy stuff on and off trailers or pickups, I plan to put the loader on the ground and do the lifting with the cylinder. The B21 gets pretty wobbly with a weight hung out, either front on the loader, or back on the backhoe. These are some specialized needs, that might not be important for many folks, but add up to why I put on the cylinder.

 

[flingwing1969]

I needed to be able to lift my metal trusses onto the 9' studs of my new metal shops (two of them) so I built this little gem in about an hour and it worked like a charm - not much additional lift in it but it sure did the trick exactly as desired.

I welded a 2" receiver onto my forks base and that's where the crane's base fits into the tractor. The boom is simply a piece of pipe, bent slightly to provide the lift height I needed. I welded 4 small chunks of rebar onto the pipe where it fits into the receive to make it "square" instead of round and didn't drill it or otherwise try to fix it into the receiver - the weight of the load and the cables running back to the forklift plate hold it in place nicely. I welded a length of rebar along the top of the pipe across the bend to provide added strength and it straightens out nicely with a load on and when it's under tension.