Tractor FEL Crane *Update*

[wayne48]

No guts-no glory! Good luck.

 

[Scotty370]

If nothing else, your photo-documentery is first class! I concur with the others, that the turn buckles give me some heartburn! I'm planning to mimic your design to a point. Looks like we've got simular toothbars, and I thought that I only had five teeth that would leave one dead center, but not the case, I've got six also. I'm thinking that I'm likely to weld a 3" wide,2'long,3/8" plate to the base of my lift pipe horizontally, and then capure two teeth (one on each side of center) with square holes, so my beam is directly centered. I assume that you don't have welding equipment. That would be an asset, but, a nicely thought out concept! Keep the dialoge & pics comming! We'll all learn something:thumbsup: !! ~Scotty

 

[glastron23]

Philcase.. nice work.... PLEASE be very careful.... PLEASE take into account of the hydraulic pressures that will be developed INSIDE the FEL cylinders as the weight is extended out from the bucket.....
let's see if anyone wants to figure out the INTERNAL pressure at the base of a 4 inch cylinder is if you have the weight of 300 pounds in the center of the bucket? lets say that from the FEL mounting pin to the cylinder pin is 4 feet, and from the cylinder pin to the bucket pin is 4 feet..... (lets do this at 90 degrees for easy calculations.)
NOW let's extend the 300 pounds of weight out another 10 feet for a total of 14 feet from the cylinder pin to the weight center???
what are the internal pressures of the cylinder????
what is the cylinder rated for???
what are the hoses rated for??
what are the valve blocks rated for???
can you see a problem being developed as the weight is extended ???
let's hope you never find out. Jim

 

[Bedlam]

I have a rig very similiar i used with no troubles but instead of the cables I used chains. I didnt have a winch. either had to drive in lowest gear to place the trusses.

 

[glastron23]

Come on AKKAMAAN... JJ....Wayne county... let's help them out before they kill them selves or heaven forbid some one else.....

 

[mbohuntr]

Ya know I had to try... Lets see...4" cyl area = Pi X r(sq) = 12.56 sq inches.

300lbs at 18 ft = 5400ft lbs (8' from bottom of cyl to end of bucket.)

5400 lbs /12.56 sq in = 430 psi...2 cyls...215 psi???

A 2" cylinder will be 1719 psi assuming my numbers are correct. but the weight will be between two cyls. so... 860 psi???

The valves would get the full pressure...right???

Take into account I struggled in physics.... These numbers are by no means to be assumed to be correct. I was origionally concerned with the geometry as the tractor weight is probably close to that with loaded tires.

 

[The Haymaker]

Whaaaaaa? Nobody has told him he's gonna put an eye out?!

 

[mbohuntr]

Hey Glastron... I was looking at the hydraulic forum and I followed your link.

I'll be darned... I was right on the cylinder pressures...If my professor could see me now !!! :laughing:

Thanks for the link.

Haymaker...your killin me!!!!! good one!!!

Ok... From now on, safety glasses, safety shoes, and hardhats are MANDATORY!!!! :laughing:

We're rootin for ya Phil, just PLEASE be careful. And GET PICS !!!

 

[ray66v]

If you think this is scary, I have seen this done on a larger scale. By a crew that did it every day.

They used a crane jib like device, (no winch), attached to a large TLB FEL, lifting 40' trusses, for a 14' ceiling.

 

[carpenter383]

I like the idea and especially the determination to find a way to do this by yourself!
My main concerns are tractor stabillity and over-stressing the fel with the winch.
Put as much weight as you can on the 3ph! A longer pole attached to the 3ph instead of the fel would be a little more "sure footed"
Be carefull winching too hard (if the truss gets snagged) cause the winch will lift more than the fel is capable of lifting, which will stress the fel more than it's designed to take.
Also be careful of the truss swinging side to side!
Good luck! Can't wait to see the action pics!

 

[jimgerken]

1. As said before, please don't curl bucket back and swing pipe onto your head.

2. Those turnbuckles appear to be extruded aluminum. If so, they are way too light for overhead lifting. Look for something forged steel.

3. That plastic coated cable has killed a few people. It must be stripped of plastic and clamped on the cable bare. The plastic will creep, and provides effective lubrication, so encourages it to slip.

4. Presentation is excellent!

 

[alchemysa]

I guess you've had fun building it but I think you've gone to a heap of effort and expense to achieve something thats pretty easy. The usual trick is to just hang them in position, upside down, then swing them upright as needed. Those trusses don't look heavy. It probably wouldnt take much more than an hour to hang them all up, spaced out, and ready to rotate. It takes two people of course but you'll likely need two people anyway. And I think your method is going to take a LOT longer.

 

[UltraFlame]

Got to give you props, it seems to work great but most importantly it looks like you had fun creating it. Great step by step pics.

 

[wldrbob]

all you needed to do was tilt your bucket ahead and you could get rid of those turnbuckles altogether .or better yet a chain and a hook on your bucket to adjust it with

 

[Gale Hawkins]

If you think this is scary, I have seen this done on a larger scale. By a crew that did it every day.

They used a crane jib like device, (no winch), attached to a large TLB FEL, lifting 40' trusses, for a 14' ceiling.

Ray some here just do not understand this is a daily activity. My BIL just welded a short piece of pipe onto the back of his bucket and slides a long pipe the next size larger over the stub welded to the bucket for his construction needs on a simple task like the pole barn in this tread.

 

[wldrbob]

using a rig like that is not a thing you want to use on a fulltime basis i sure wont work under it anyway.ive put up quite a few barns and steel buildings and none of my crew would be asked to work under or around that thing.

 

[PhilCase]

1. As said before, please don't curl bucket back and swing pipe onto your head.

2. Those turnbuckles appear to be extruded aluminum. If so, they are way too light for overhead lifting. Look for something forged steel.

3. That plastic coated cable has killed a few people. It must be stripped of plastic and clamped on the cable bare. The plastic will creep, and provides effective lubrication, so encourages it to slip.

4. Presentation is excellent!

Thanks Jim,

Yep, boom over-centering is a concern, to be managed via vigilance.

As mentioned earlier, the turnbuckles will be safety cabled during work for protection in the event of failure.

I appreciate your insight on the cables plastic sheathing and will strip the clamp points before work begins.

Thanks for the feedback!

Phil

 

[PhilCase]

PLEASE take into account of the hydraulic pressures that will be developed INSIDE the FEL cylinders as the weight is extended out from the bucket.....

Thanks Jim:

Initially I had the same concerns, but I now feel pretty good on this front. In load tests, with weights that are 2x truss weight, I'm still able to lift the load when fully extended.

The truss setting process will require a boom angle of ~55-60* in order to provide height required. Nowhere near fully extended.

 

[PhilCase]

I like the idea and especially the determination to find a way to do this by yourself!

Put as much weight as you can on the 3ph!

Was originally going to go with a mower, but movement restriction issues inside the footprint of the building dictated using the box blade. With 2x test loads, I found no problems with any tilting propensities, or loader hydraulics limitations.

Working (or not) videos next week.

 

[wldrbob]

YouTube - garys ginpole take a look at this one lol