Tractor towing Boom lift

[JB4310]

Just something to look at if your bored,

I regularly rent boom lifts for my building maintenance business, lately I've used a couple of these tow behinds for smaller jobs.

Not only are they cheaper but are more convenient as I can pick them up myself and move them between jobs, don't have to wait/pay for transport.

Only problem is they are not self propelled, so you have to get them close to the work, disconnect them from tow vehicle so you can deploy outriggers/levelers. it's a hassle to say the least, and since they are so long they are not easy to maneuver with tow vehicle, the tongues and tow frame are all twisted and beat from homeowners trying to get them positioned in their back yards with borrowed pick up trucks.

Anyway I bring a tractor along to help move it around on jobs, not only more maneuverable off road but with the floating 3 pt you don't have to disconnect from tow vehicle

This is the 50 ft model, very capable machine for it's size. I get out the door with it for a little over $300. a day, less than half what a comparable self propelled unit would cost.

I try to get pics that let you feel what it's like to be on one looking down, kinda trying to scare the viewer

 

[JB4310]

some more

 

[dfkrug]

Very interesting, JB. That is a MUCH better rig than I was using during
the summer.

This one was just sold at an auction I went to (for $325!) and I borrowed
it from the buyer. Manual outriggers, instead of your hydraulic, and it
went only 32 feet up. It was pretty scary and the 12v electric-over-hyd
needed some work.

I pushed it around with my loader's trailer tender and I needed to raise the
tongue quite a bit to get it level.

I have a line on a Genie AWP24 vertical telescoping manlift that I hope to
mount on my tractor forks.

 

[JC-jetro]

Great looking set up John, effective and utilitarian. i wished it was a bot heavier at the base. Last picture scare e a bit if all of the sudden there is gust of wind. Do you control the bucket from top with remote? does it have sensors to limit boom extension and angles where you can not collapse the whole rig? In Kansas city couple of guys fell to their death where the boom twisted just like a pretzel. the investigation faulted the inexperienced user and a bit of gusty situation.

JC,

 

[Ductape]

A couple years ago I rented a JLG lift that looked identical....... sep'n it was about a 35' lift. I was painting a big ole house...... and i used my 18hp Yanmar to move it around the house. It worked great. I was able to put it anywhere i needed, and didn't destroy the home owner's lawn. Only small issue i had was that it had so much tongue weight, that i had to frequently use the split brakes to steer the tractor. One day i will own one of those lifts.

 

[JB4310]

Very interesting, JB. That is a MUCH better rig than I was using during
the summer.

This one was just sold at an auction I went to (for $325!) and I borrowed
it from the buyer. Manual outriggers, instead of your hydraulic, and it
went only 32 feet up. It was pretty scary and the 12v electric-over-hyd
needed some work.

I pushed it around with my loader's trailer tender and I needed to raise the
tongue quite a bit to get it level.

I have a line on a Genie AWP24 vertical telescoping manlift that I hope to
mount on my tractor forks.

That's a good price, I've been renting boom lifts for over 20 years, the cost on even used ones was always out of the question, now there's so many of them out there that it may be something I seriously consider in the future.

Great looking set up John, effective and utilitarian. i wished it was a bot heavier at the base. Last picture scare e a bit if all of the sudden there is gust of wind. Do you control the bucket from top with remote? does it have sensors to limit boom extension and angles where you can not collapse the whole rig? In Kansas city couple of guys fell to their death where the boom twisted just like a pretzel. the investigation faulted the inexperienced user and a bit of gusty situation.

JC,

Hi JC, as far as it being heavier, it's actually quite heavy but this type with outriggers does not rely on weight for stability, it's all in the stabilizers. The self propelled models with wheels rely solely on counter weight, they have no stabilizers at all, we use to rent a straight 90 footer, no articulation in the boom, you could go straight out horizontally 90 feet and just 1 inch off the ground, then swing an arc up to 90 ft off the ground. That's called no limit, they don't make the high reach units like that any more since it was so heavy they had to pull a permit with the DOT every time they moved it over the road. That thing would "pop" 5" thick sidewalk slabs like potato chips!!!

Yes they all are operated from the basket, not only boom/basket position but you can drive around the job sight from 135' in the air.
They are not completely idiot proof and you can get yourself in trouble, but there are all kinds of safety features that are supposed to limit dangerous movement. Yes high wind can be a problem but not average breazy day.

A couple years ago I rented a JLG lift that looked identical....... sep'n it was about a 35' lift. I was painting a big ole house...... and i used my 18hp Yanmar to move it around the house. It worked great. I was able to put it anywhere i needed, and didn't destroy the home owner's lawn. Only small issue i had was that it had so much tongue weight, that i had to frequently use the split brakes to steer the tractor. One day i will own one of those lifts.

Yes they are heavy, don't even think about moving by hand unless on hard level surface. JLG makes those 2 sizes 35 and 50. That 20 something HP Ford has all it can do to move the 50 on rough terrain.
JLG is one of the leaders in the industry, you can use these things on worse uneven terrain than the self propelled due to their ability to level themselves, I was parked in some crazy steep holes and this thing would level it self automatically and let you go to work.

 

[Willl]

You go ahead, I'll stay down here.

 

[dave1949]

Thanks for the pics. I learn something everyday on this site.
Dave.

 

[dfkrug]

Manlifts are cheap at the moment, due to the meltdown in construction
nationwide.

This one was at the same auction last MAR, and it went for only $950.
This one had a small Honda engine to power the hydraulics. This one and
the other one I posted both won't work unless the outriggers are out, locked,
and leveled.

 

[czechsonofagun]

Very interesting, thank you. I have this slowly dying huge maple right by the house and this is the answer to my problem. I didn't know they exist actually. If I can gather myself enough to get up on something like this with a chainsaw, I can take the maple down piece by piece.