3 pt boom poles. which to buy? maximum height?

[Texasmark]

Don't forget about feet x pounds when doing your calculations. The longer the pole the fewer pounds it can lift when considering the lifting ability of your 3 pt which is measured at or 1' out from the sockets.

The upper brace like in the pic really helps to keep from bending the pole and keeping the overall weight of it down so that you can manually handle it. This responds to height x height x height. Deflection resistance goes up as the cube of the distance; a little goes a long way.

Mark

 

[garacuda]

Okay, you asked for photos.......no laughing now.......She's not a beauty queen but she's built like a brick s.......uh, she's solid and stout. I'm going to paint her JD green eventually.

I got it for $45 through Craigslist. I had the shop weld the loop on the end, because all it had was a notch. It looks like it was originally designed and built to swivel side to side, grease fittings and all. But on closer inspection I found where they had welded angle iron stubs on the lower brace to stop it from swiveling. I wonder if someone got a good finger pinch, or worse out if it before they decided it was a bad idea to hang a weight way out on a pole and allow it to swing from side to side. I even at first thought "Hey, I can cut those angles off and it will swivel again", then I thought about it some more and decided that there must have been a reason that the Corp of Engineers fixed it so it couldn't.

I am considering attaching a small winch to it though. I have an old unused ATV winch and an unused boat trailer winch. I'm thinking the hand winch with a block and tackle will be all I need. Anybody else added one to a boom pole.

 

[Buggs67]

Okay, you asked for photos.......no laughing now.......She's not a beauty queen but she's built like a brick s.......uh, she's solid and stout. I'm going to paint her JD green eventually.

She does look stout. And a cost of green will make her a prom queen.

 

[bullbreaker]

That's a heck of a deal for 45 bucks !!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[jmc]

It looks like it was originally designed and built to swivel side to side, grease fittings and all. But on closer inspection I found where they had welded angle iron stubs on the lower brace to stop it from swiveling. I wonder if someone got a good finger pinch, or worse out if it before they decided it was a bad idea to hang a weight way out on a pole and allow it to swing from side to side. I even at first thought "Hey, I can cut those angles off and it will swivel again", then I thought about it some more and decided that there must have been a reason that the Corp of Engineers fixed it so it

Nice find.

I think with the boom near the ground everything is stable because the pivot axis is tilted down toward the load. Then as you raise the 3PH, that original pivot axis will become progressively more vertical and eventually tilt toward the tractor. Once it tilts up beyond plumb it's unstable so that the load would then flop to the side.

 

[PhysAssist]

Garacuda,

Man, that is bulletproof!

Nicely done!

What is that out at the far end with the three tubes?

I was going to ask if she swiveled, and you are too right, that would be scary to have a weight swinging side to side as you drove along.

Then again, if you pinned it in place, you could have the flexibility to move things sideways when your tractor is locked in place, but lock it out when you're rolling into place.

Anyway, she has a certain special thing about her and I'm kinda jealous, though I think she would be a bit much for my little orange tractor.

Thanks for sharing her,
Thomas

Okay, you asked for photos.......no laughing now.......She's not a beauty queen but she's built like a brick s.......uh, she's solid and stout. I'm going to paint her JD green eventually.

I got it for $45 through Craigslist. I had the shop weld the loop on the end, because all it had was a notch. It looks like it was originally designed and built to swivel side to side, grease fittings and all. But on closer inspection I found where they had welded angle iron stubs on the lower brace to stop it from swiveling. I wonder if someone got a good finger pinch, or worse out if it before they decided it was a bad idea to hang a weight way out on a pole and allow it to swing from side to side. I even at first thought "Hey, I can cut those angles off and it will swivel again", then I thought about it some more and decided that there must have been a reason that the Corp of Engineers fixed it so it couldn't.

I am considering attaching a small winch to it though. I have an old unused ATV winch and an unused boat trailer winch. I'm thinking the hand winch with a block and tackle will be all I need. Anybody else added one to a boom pole.

 

[ENC]

Definetly heavy built and long. I'm guessing the implement its resting on is some sort of land leveler.

 

[garacuda]

Garacuda,

Man, that is bulletproof!

Nicely done!

What is that out at the far end with the three tubes?

I was going to ask if she swiveled, and you are too right, that would be scary to have a weight swinging side to side as you drove along.

Then again, if you pinned it in place, you could have the flexibility to move things sideways when your tractor is locked in place, but lock it out when you're rolling into place.

Anyway, she has a certain special thing about her and I'm kinda jealous, though I think she would be a bit much for my little orange tractor.

Thanks for sharing her,
Thomas

Thanks! Even a blind hog finds an acorn every now and then! I've decided I can't swivel it and raise/lower it at the same time, so she's staying locked down. The gizmo under the boom tip was sold to me as a scraper/leveler for a gravel drive. The point is supposed to cut the hump down that forms in the center of a gravel driveway. I haven't tried it yet. I actually bought the thing for the 3 point frame to attach to a small single blade plow and small cultivator that look to have been made for a small Wheel Horse or Cub Cadet garden tractor. Neither of them are 3 point hook ups now, they have a 6" long "C" channel drilled for a pin hitch hook up and I want to fab an attachment of some type so I can use them on my JD 4200 3 point. I had to pay $75 for that one, again, a CL find. Had to use the boom to get it off the truck and it was nearly dark, so they got to spend the night together. Odd that they were both "rust & grey". They were found well over 100 miles apart.

 

[PhysAssist]

The blind hog reference hardly fits, given all the great finds you've made- boom pole, grader, plow, and cultivator- you are apparently a wizard of CL, man!

You are so right that the matching paint color is at least kinda odd, because I thought that the two of them were part and parcel.

That grader [the probable actual name for your gizmo] looks very much like some commercial ones I have seen, but those all seemed to have at least a couple of following blades behind and a little to each side of the front blade and overlapping it, presumably to spread out the gravel it had dislodged from the humps.

That looks pretty well made too, and if you weld a couple of tabs where you're going to have to cut off the back of the three point frame, you could easily reattach it if you ever needed for grading at a later date.

You could even easily attach 2 more blades further back and even make them adjustable for width [and following distance] by using mounts that slip into the existing tubes.

The fab for your plow and cultivator should be even easier if you can bolt the 3-pt frame onto them- you prolly could even do it without any welding, if that's an issue, by bolting a couple of shorter pieces of angle iron [steel] to their frames with spacing to match the 3-pt frame.

Now I gotta go and start doing tempest searches on our local Craig's Lists- what search terms did you use for all your buys?

Thanks, and congrats again!
Thomas

Thanks! Even a blind hog finds an acorn every now and then! I've decided I can't swivel it and raise/lower it at the same time, so she's staying locked down. The gizmo under the boom tip was sold to me as a scraper/leveler for a gravel drive. The point is supposed to cut the hump down that forms in the center of a gravel driveway. I haven't tried it yet. I actually bought the thing for the 3 point frame to attach to a small single blade plow and small cultivator that look to have been made for a small Wheel Horse or Cub Cadet garden tractor. Neither of them are 3 point hook ups now, they have a 6" long "C" channel drilled for a pin hitch hook up and I want to fab an attachment of some type so I can use them on my JD 4200 3 point. I had to pay $75 for that one, again, a CL find. Had to use the boom to get it off the truck and it was nearly dark, so they got to spend the night together. Odd that they were both "rust & grey". They were found well over 100 miles apart.

 

[aczlan]

If you want to make it swivel again, I would add a ram or an electric actuator from one side of the bar that connects to the lower 3 point arms, to the center of the tube. That way you can control where and how far it swings.

Aaron Z