Building a 3 point boom pole?

[paulinkansas]

I'm building a boom pole. I plan on welding the horizontal portion to what I refer to as the "upright support". The upright support is the vertical portion that is between the 2 lift arm pins and connects at the top to the top link.

What is a good angle between the 2 pieces? If it's 90 degrees, the pole would be horizontal. If it's 135 degrees, the pole would point up at a 45 degree angle. The top link can be shortened/extended to change the angle of the pole, but what would be a good general angle to have the 2 pieces welded together?

 

[jbooth]

Paulinkansas, This is Jiminkansas. How about using an a-frame mounted on the lower links and a chain on the upper link. Sort of like on a winch truck with a poles. With the chain you could make the pole adjustable to any angle by just rehooking/shortening the chain. You also could get by with lighter material if the chain is hooked near the apex of the a-pole. Would also need a horizontal bar or chain across the lower end of the poles to keep from spreading/damaging the lower links. Might also do a search on boom poles on this site. There is a lot of info available. Where are you located. I am about 60 miles south of Topeka. Good luck on your build.

 

[ninefinger]

Do not need a boom pole but I do want to build one just because it looks like a fun project. Also being a bit simple minded I would not even considered not building the A frame at anything other than 90 degrees with tabs welded toward the tractor for the top link to pin to. You pose a very good question and I am clueless. I will watch this thread for some of the really smart people here to chime in with some good advice. As jbooth said search "boom pole". I do not ever remember an angle stated but the posted pictures may answer your question.

 

[Runner]

I think I used about a 10 degree upward angle on mine (100 degrees or so between the upright and the boom).

 

[bobodu]

Whatever angle you choose is gonna matter less than how long you set the top link.

 

[J_J]

I just took a reg boom pole and adapted it to the front of the Power-Trac, and it works quite well.

 

[paulinkansas]

Here's how I made my own. Took a 26 inch piece of 2x3x.25 angle iron and welded 2 lift pins to the inside corner, $8.

Next, I was able to find the top horizontal portion of a boom pole at a salvage yard ($10). I had to weld on the round verticle support. It's 2.5 inch pipe, and about 16 inches long. It looked pretty weak, so I added a bottom support in the center (with an additional lift hole) and welded 2 more flat pieces to the round tubing on both sides. It's 1/4 x 4" flat stock.

I had to heat up the flat stock until it was red hot then pound it with a hammer until it was following the contour of the round pipe.

Next, I used some more of the 4" flat stock to make the attaching point for the top link. It's about 16" above from where the bottom link pins would be.

Next, I welded the boom to the bottom portion of angle iron (the piece that connects to the lift arms).

Next, I tried to heat up the side reinforcement arms so that I could pound them flat. Didn't work. So I cut them at an angle so that they line up with the angle iron and the horizontal pole of the lift.

Add a little bit of green paint, and it's done.

All the hard materials costed me about $50, and I have about $20 of the metal leftover. The can of enamel paint was about $10. For the tools I used an angle grinder, drill press with a step bit, mig welder, and a circular saw with a metal cut off wheel.

 

[ninefinger]

I think you wound up with a fine looking boom pole.

 

[mojoinco]

I took a bunch of left over pipe from a fencing project (probably old oil field pipe ~2 1/2"?). I made an upside down T, with the upright (as I recall) ~~26". I just slit the pipe top enough to drop the end of the top link in and slid a pin in. The cross piece (lower links) I welded a pin to the end of each side. I made the cross piece to the Cat 1 width.

Then welded the boom pole just below the top link, with ~3'-4' pieces coming up from the cross piece and back to the boom pole as support.

I ran a 'stressed' rod across the boom, resting it across a mid-block and welding one end. Then I clamped it down (attempting to 'tighten' it up) at the other end.

It's strong enough that my 180# pound son went for a ride on it (the fool -- he got on it and I of course had to raise it up and go for a spin across the prairie). That was a few years after I made it. I made it to lift the far end of a two section chain harrow up. I just welded a vertical rod at the end to hook the chain over,

 

[Runner]

Nice work, Paul. Excellent value for your money too.