Picked up a knuckle boom!!

[Hooty481]

Well I picked up my first knuckle boom from a guy in Tennessee. It is a Morgan model 40 which is originally a Fassi F40.22. Morgan modified it to bolt to a ship and installed a winch. Unit requires 6gpm and 3000psi to run and it appears to have seen hardly any use what so ever.

I am still tossing around the idea of how to power the winch. The two options that are in choice is a gas motor pump similar to a log splitter. The other option is the transfer case PTO to a pump. It seems to me that the price is going to be close to the same.

T-case pto 350. Hydraulic pump is gonna run around 125-150.

new harbor freight 13hp Honda clone 299. Pump will be the same price.

Seems really a no brained to go with the pto power unit.

I will be mounting this in the bed since the mounting has been changed to a 2,x2,x1" piece of flat steel. The plan is to mount a 3'x3'x1" piece of flat steel in the bed first and to clamp it to the rails of the truck going through the bed. If I see the need to box in the rails of the original truck bed I will do so. After the plate in mounted then just bolt the plate on the crane to the plate in the truck.

Open to all ideas and suggestions. Would love to post picture but I can't from my iPad. I would gladly email them to someone if they would post them for me.

 

[rideoffroad]

keep us posted i would like to have a knuckle boom.

 

[cranetruck]

If it looks anything like this, you'll need a lot more than a steel plate in the bed for a mount.

 

[quickfarms]

The crane needs to be mounted to the frame. There are several ways to do this. Most are mounted to the frame either ahead of or behind the bed. Another option is to remove a section of the bed and mount the crane to the a frame. Mounting to the bed only works for very small cranes.

 

[gimpyrobb]

Hooty, I'd re-consider running an other motor rather than the truck's motor. You'll get wet stacking if not careful.

 

[Hooty481]

.

 

[Hooty481]

Cranetruck that is the crane that I have but it has had a winch installed.


It is only rated for 2000 lbs at 10ft and a 1000 lbs at the full 20ft reach.


The crane has been modified by Morgan crane to mount to a ship. I believe if the 1" steel plate will hold that is on the bottom of the crane now that when I mount the other 1" steel plate in the bed of the truck it will hold as well. The piece that is in the bed of the truck will be mounted to the frame rails but with the bed between it. I will put a piece of heavy steel between the rails on the truck. I don't see that it will be any difference but I could be wrong. My brother just bought a 34 ton crane truck with a 68ft boom. It is mounted about the same way except the bed is not between the crane and the frame.


Gimpy just wondering what you mean exactly by wet stacking?

 

[Ford Mechanic]

The plate on the bottom of the crane will hold, he's refering to the actual sheet metal that makes up the bed floor. I't not strong enough and will flex alot and possibly tear with much leverage it will be exerting on the floor. The frame is lots thicker, stronger, and less likely to flex.


I'm also curious to what wet stacking is....

 

[73m819]

Wet stacking is when you idle a diesel and not hot enough, you will get UNBURNT fuel in/out of the stack, this will wash the rings/cylinders, the engine does not stay hot enough just idling to burn ALL the fuel, even if warmed up before.

 

[quickfarms]

You have two issues with mounting the crane to the bed.

The first issue is the bed us not designed to handle the concentrated twisting load that the crane will apply to the bed. This can be remedied by doubling the frame and bed and connecting them together. The problem with this is that the frame will flex, even on the street. The next problem is that the frame and bed move independently if each other, this movement is small but by tying the two together you will develop some huge loads.

 

[Hooty481]

More than likely the truck will be running at 1000 to 1200 rpms. So I don't think it will be a problem.

 

[gimpyrobb]

Google "wet staking".

Everyone that owns a military wrecker and those that have added a boom and use the pto, wish they had a "pony motor" for the boom. You said it yourself, they cost about the same, might as well do it right.

 

[Hooty481]

Here she is. Finally got around to learning how to post a picture.

 

[Hooty481]

I the wet stacking still a problem if the engine is running about 1000 rpms?

 

[cranetruck]

With any kind of load on the engine, I kept the rpm at 1,200-1,500 to minimize wetstacking and I put many hundreds of hours on my HIAB over a 15 year period.
Having a dedicated small engine for the crane offers more uses for the crane IMHO.
A good solid run on the highway now and then will "clean the pipes" for sure and the multifuel likes to run hard.

 

[HonkyCat]

Congrats on the crane purchase!! I have never run a Fassi myself, but would be interested in folks opinions of them. I have run IMT, Effer, and PM with PM being my favorite so far. We just got a few new trucks in our company with Hiab cranes and the drivers seem to be pleased with them. I want to do this very mod after I recover my deuce. Hoping to find a remote controlled unit if possible... nice to get away from the control panel and see what yer doing...

So... not to hi-jack... I was wondering what your plans for outriggers is going to be? On a ship it would make sense to stretch the torsional forces of a crane over a wide, flat area since the construction of a ship is... well for a lack of a better word... an exoskeleton. To combat the transfer of these torsional loads on a truck (frame) mounted crane, they usually have the outriggers built into the superstructure and then a couple more smaller outriggers at the opposite end of the frame for stability. On a crane like this, outriggers do not need to lift the whole truck off of the ground (although strong outriggers will)... they need to support the crane, reduce torsional forces, and, when placed on suitable footing, provide support for loads being transported off of the side of the truck. You will need to re-modify this crane for frame mount... the bed is not a good mounting area. Plan on doubling the existing frame or mounting the crane on it's own length of frame layed on top of the existing frame. Some good advice here from other posters.

Just curious if you have any experience running a crane like this... I don't want to come off like a know-it-all... just don't want to see anybody get killed... or your truck in the least!!

Can't wait to see this mounted up... keep us posted!!

 

[cranetruck]

My HIAB was a 1972 military version and the hydraulic pump was reduced in capacity to about 50% of what would have been commercially available at the time. This was done to slow the unit down and to limit the lifting capacity, all for safety reasons, no doubt.

 

[Hooty481]

Here are a few more pictures of the crane. I plan on getting some more pictures of the base and winch tomorrow.

 

[cranetruck]

Ref your m35 image, is it just the perspective or are the front tires larger than the rears? If so, expect problems in six-wheel drive...no interaxle differentials here.
Nice crane, study the mounting requirements and follow instructions and you'll be in good shape.

 

[Hooty481]

The front tires do look bigger but they are all the same size.

As for the out riggers I have not got any yet or decided how I want to mount them. That will be after I get the crane mounted.