Put the M816 to work.

[Gamagoat1]

Workin' Cap'n Hook today. Took him fishen and he caught a Cat.
I'm "restoring" this old D4 for a friend and had to move it. This is the easiest way. The front of the wrecker raised about 2 inches with the 5 thousand pounds or so on the hook.

 

[Crash_AF]

Lookin good... It looks like you're loving having the 816 back at work.

I'm moving a 25' van trailer that has a broken pin tomorrow to the scrapper so I'll have some working pics tomorrow.

We need to get together and compare notes sometime Mike... there are some things on my 816 that I need to get squared away and looking at another truck would help me figure out how to get it there.

Later,
Joe

 

[Gamagoat1]

If you're up this way you're sure welcome. What parts do you need??

 

[Alredneck]

Looks like having fun with the ole wreckers! Thats a sweet first pic the colors go well with the storm clouds in the back ground!

 

[Crash_AF]

Re: RE: Put the M816 to work.

If you're up this way you're sure welcome. What parts do you need??

Shot you a PM... in addition to that list, I need some windshield wipers... LOL My truck is missing the blades and blade holders, only the arms are left.

Later,
Joe

 

[Gamagoat1]

RE: Re: RE: Put the M816 to work.

Alredneck,
Thanks, we were rushing a little, or I'd have taken more. That little funnel cloud kept coming down and then going back up, so I wanted to get it done before we ended up in OZ with the Wizard.

 

[Crash_AF]

Here are some pics of mine at work today... and the trailer being ripped apart which was really cool to watch...

Later,
Joe

 

[m816]

Hi Capt. I was just looking at your picture of your M815 with the dozer on the hook. Just speaking from lots of wrecker experience, USE THE OUTRIGGERS. They are there to protect the truck both from frame bernding and flipping the damn thing over. It is really comon sense. Even if you don't screw them all the way down they will protect from a roll over. A stable platform is a safe platform.

 

[Crash_AF]

I think he was carrying it into the garage to work on it so the outriggers wouldn't work, but I would have used the shipper braces while moving it instead of carrying it on the hydraulics. Of course, if I thought a tornado was going to drop down in the immediate future I would take shortcuts too.

Later,
Joe

 

[Capt.Marion]

...Even if you don't screw them all the way down they will protect from a roll over. A stable platform is a safe platform.

Is that saying get them close to the ground, but leave yourself some room so you can move around (albeit slowly) and have them there in case you start to roll? Or just keeping them not all the way down while you're stationary?

 

[Gamagoat1]

First, the purpose of this drill was to move the Cat not pick it up, therefore, the use of the outriggers would not have been possible, The boom had to be turned so the shipper braces could not be used. The cat is so light, at this point, that, little strain was put on the boom, cable or hydraulic system. All was taken into consideration before the job was carried out. All safety considerations given and Way below it's rated capicity. I LOVE MY TRUCK.

 

[bulldog_mack13]

Wow Joe that old trailer would have been nice to have behind a old B model Mack lol , wow now I see what they did to your pin , Jay

 

[Recovry4x4]

In the CR-53 Ops Manual for the M108 and M62, it explains the capability of the truck. I know the M543 and M816 are horses of a different color, but the AW book shows the cranes are rated at 20% less than they can work at. That means my M108 can lift 9600# at 8 ft radius. Still amazes me considering its 55 years old.

 

[Gamagoat1]

They are incredible machines! Even today with all the modern changes and new designs, the same wrecker body is used. The hydraulics are beautifully designed for the years they were used. and are designed to lift and load weights without the shipper braces or boom jacks. It is wise to use the outriggers when possible. It's all spelled out in the manuals, and I'll bet they were designed to be used much heavier than the manuals indicate

 

[cattlerepairman]

I'll bet they were designed to be used much heavier than the manuals indicate

I operated a wrecker crane for several years and can only concur. While it was not an M816, but a commercial application, the same principles apply. It had 26 ft max. reach and 20 metric t (44k lbs) lifting capacity. However, we regularly went way beyond that for rescue operations. I often had the impression that the engineers that designed the wrecker crane, with a heavy sigh, designed the expected abuse already into their blueprints.
I was grateful for that - on more than one occasion.

We always employed an "outrigger rattler" on the opposite side of the load. A guy would shake the outrigger. As soon as the outrigger was hardly loaded anymore, but before it was about to lift off, it would be so loose that you could rattle it. That gave the operator the exact moment for when to expect "liftoff" - invaluable when operating beyond listed capacity in a side lift, but without the desire to roll the crane truck into the ditch...
Oh, man..the times....looking back, I am sometimes thinking.."WHAT WERE WE THINKING!!"

The replacement crane was (or is) a Liebherr mobile crane LTM 1070. 4 powered axles, specialty chassis (looks abit like a HEMTT).
It is computer controlled and has sensors galore. It still has an override switch and the "outrigger rattle" works as well...

That brings me to the universal statement of wrecker crane operation: Any wrecker crane, of any given design and capacity, will have too short a reach and insufficient lifting capacity.

 

[Gamagoat1]

A-Men
Side lifts can be dicey if not watched closely. I'don't want the world looking at the underside of my wrecker, unless they are invited.