pickup mounted crane

[isaaccarlson]

I am planning a crane build and am looking for ideas or warnings.

I have a 1991 f250 that I have beefed up and it hauls everything for me. It is not uncommon to have 6-8000 lbs on it.
My body is tired of lifting stuff and is telling me I need a crane on the truck. It is a standard cab and 8 foot bed.
I know what I want, but nobody makes it or at least I can't find it. Anything even close costs more than a new car, so I have decided to make my own.
I have scaled down a big log grapple knuckle boom and am in the process of tweaking it to make it fit my purposes. I am still working on it, but here is the rough idea.
Each small square is 3" and the big ones are 1 foot.



It has a reach of over 10 feet with a manual ~2 foot extension. It will pick up 1,000 lbs at 10 feet and 2000 at 6.5 feet. It folds up to fit behind the cab on the truck without sticking out past the sides or top, at least not by much. I may add a grapple in the future.

I am still trying to figure out the base rotator. I will be making a sub frame for it to spread the stress to the truck frame evenly. Outriggers will be used as well.

The idea is to have it run on my power steering pump, if I can keep the pressures low enough. If not, a clutched pump will do nicely.

If anyone sees any design flaws or possible improvements, PLEASE speak up. Don't sugar coat it or worry about hurting my feelings. That is why I am asking.

 

[newbury]

Warning - 3 tons in an F250 is overloaded.
I've used a HF "truck crane" w/ far 1/2 ton capacity.
On sale now for about $150.
I affixed it on 3/4 PT plywood and hook it on to the bed rails for my in bed 5th wheel rails.

 

[bcp]

How are you going to swing it and stop it from swinging? That much load will insist in moving to the downhill side if you aren't near perfectly level.

Bruce

 

[isaaccarlson]

Like I said above, I am still trying to figure out the base rotator. It will be hydraulic in one form or another.

 

[isaaccarlson]

That little harbor freight crane is not going to cut it.

 

[TerryMcQ]

I built a crane for my little B2320 and attached it to the little landpride carryall. It worked for me and maybe you can get some ideas from the picture. It has a lifting capacity of a ton but if that's not enough for you, you can use heavier-duty chain winch and cable winch. The reasons I used 2 manual winches are: 1) I didn't want to get into a electric and or hydraulic project (manual worked great putting up my large dimension timberframe pavilion); 2) I needed the crane to tilt so I could build it in my metal pole bard with 10 foot high overhead doors and get it out with a lift height of about 16 feet with the elevation of my 3-point (had to lift the whole thing with tractor to be mobile, the crane itself stands 17 feet tall vertical; chain hoist reduces that a little);and 3) I wanted to tilt the crane to lowest possible to start the lift, raise it as necessary for whatever I was lifting, and that made it so I didn't have to constantly rely only on one or the other hoist which was beneficial because I didn't know how to calculate the additional load created by the crane being at different angles (I'm no engineer). I just overcompensated with 3/16" rectangular steel tube and 1/2", 3/4" grade 8 bolts, nuts, washers (I'm no welder either!). If the overall height at horizontal position while driving the truck has too much out the rear end, you can make it 2 pieces—upper and lower, just drill 4 extra holes for 3/4" hardened bolts. If you would like more photos, I can share them, just don't know if tractorrbynet lets us put multiple photos in on reply or is there a way to email through the site without you giving up your private email?

I attached several photos. Let me know if they are of any help. To give you an idea of the weight, the timbers were wet (freshly cut from the forest) and the largest (8" X 12" X 16 feet long weighed 600 lbs. and the 8" X 8" posts attached to them were about 150-200 lbs, so lifting the 3 pieces was 900-1,000 lbs. and I did have to lift them completely to move them exectly into place. The 34 foot wide trusses weighed about 500 lbs and had to be lifted 17 feet to get over the top and compensating for the different grade the tractor and crane were on.

 

[4570Man]

Warning - 3 tons in an F250 is overloaded. .

Yeah, but our 1 ton doesn't complain with that kind of load. I'm close to double the GVW with a 5 ton load but it doesn't complain.

 

[TerryMcQ]

Why make it rotate? If you turn the crane to one side or the other enough, you might tip the truk or twist something important. Cant you plan the lift to keep the crane pointed straight aft of the bed, pick the load a little, carefully drive to better flatter ground to raise it as high as necessary? I'm no expert, just trying to think it through. The crane I designed for my tractor, I was able to get to flat ground, lift the load however necessary, and for your use you could go higher with the crane as you lowered your load into the bed. I know the crane is tall but i was't going to put a butt-load of monet into telescoping boom, hydraulics, etc. My crane cost $700. The way I WANTED to bulld it if I were rich enough to own politicians would have cost me several thousand dollars.

 

[Oldpath05]

That's a good drawing, just cant figure out how it works and cant wait to see it work. As far as a beef up F250 frame, I'd put 8000 lbs on that all day long, and for crane ideas, might have to resort to the video college YouTube.

 

[bcp]

Like I said above, I am still trying to figure out the base rotator. It will be hydraulic in one form or another.

Thought you meant the pivot itself, not the power mechanism.

What degree of swing?

Bruce

 

[redman135]

I don't see any mention about a stabiliser leg. At 2000 lb lift I think you will twist something if you go without.

 

[isaaccarlson]

I am planning on ~240* rotation. The drawing shows the jib in 3 positions, including 2 with the extension out. The third position is with the jib "parked".

I will be using this to load logs, and other heavy things, so it needs to swivel and have maneuverability.

 

[isaaccarlson]

TerryMcQ - Thanks for the pictures! I might use that in the future, but right now I need a crane that is mounted to the truck. I haul a lot of firewood and other heavy stuff and can't load it by hand. Some of the chunks of wood I bring home weigh 2500 lbs. It is much easier to chop them up at home rather than out in the boonies.

The crane will let me do more, faster and easier. Don't worry about the truck, it will be fine. My dad got scared one day when I kept piling it higher. He kept asking if the truck would take it. I told him it would haul whatever he could put on it. We ended up with a few trees on there, and the truck didn't care.

I decided to measure my engine hoist, just out of curiosity, and was surprised to find out that my crane is only doubling what the hoist will lift.
It will lift 2,000 lbs at 3 ft and 1,000 lbs at 5 ft. The crane will do 2,000 at 6 feet and 1,000 at 10 feet.
That doesn't seem too bad to me. If people are using those HF cranes on their factory truck beds that are made of sheet metal, then I should be fine with a sub frame and outriggers. There are straight boom cranes for pickup trucks that will lift the same amount as mine and those don't twist the truck in half.

It would take 18,000 ft lbs to start tipping my truck. My crane will make about 12,000 ft lbs. Not even close to tipping, but deserving of an outrigger for sure.
I have a friend who used to work in the heavy machinery field and he has some background with designing solid stuff. I showed him my plans and he said if I could get it built, it would be one mean machine. That meant the world to me. He is a very kind man and has a big heart, but he is very good at telling you when you are doing something stupid or have a bad idea. This is one of the first ideas he has signed off on, and without any hesitation.

I feel good about moving forward with the rest of the plans and am eager to begin construction. If anyone has any suggestions, just let me know.

 

[lennyzx11]

In the post log business as a kid, I saw axle stubs used as the rotator mechanism. It was a 3/4 or one ton axle with full floating bearings about a foot tall. The crane mounting plate fastened to the lug nut studs facing straight up. This allowed a brake to be applied to stop or slow the rotation either hydraulically or via the emergency brake cable.

 

[Xfaxman]

Lots of pictures here: pickup mounted crane - Google Search

 

[PAGUY]

Why not a tow behind crane set up similar looking to the tow behind bucket hoe sold by HF?

Beefed up materials - hydraulic mechanism (swing and lift) and portable to work sight and unload sight. The plus is that you only need it when required otherwise stored on your property till needed.

PAGUY

 

[Zerk]

Have you thought about one that plugs into the trailer reciever? It might not get the weight your want. I have one and it is around 300, I figure I would push it if I ever got a real big bear. I bought it for my side by side, which also has 2" reciever.

I have a viking, which is made in US. I was unhappy that it was to tall for my 9 foot garage, and had no way to adjsut height. I think it can be modified will some holes. Also doesn't turn as easy as I would like, no bearing. Some grease on the pipe might help, but then a mess when taking apart.

I'd like to build a gantry crane for my barn. Maybe not a crane but a structure. Maybe electric hoist, maybe just chain fall.

 

[isaaccarlson]

I have looked at everything I can find and none of it will do what I need it to. I need to be able to lift at least 2,000 lbs quickly and easily, over and over again, and place it on my truck or on my trailer or in another truck or even just in another place. I own a farm and a crane is a valuable tool on a farm. I have googled everything I can think of and nobody makes what I am looking for.

 

[schmism]

I have googled everything I can think of and nobody makes what I am looking for.

they are called service cranes.
first hit on google
Tiger Cranes | Providing lift for the world

2K capacity, 10' reach

14K capacity 30' reach

there are like 8 others in between

the product is out there. how you plan on mounting it to your application, which is severely underrated, is on you.

 

[Xfaxman]

This is another style that you might consider, with an added base rotator: Ag Krane