FEL Tractor Crane *Proof of Performance*

[PhilCase]

Very nice job, Phil!
what's your opinion on skipping the winch altogether, and just tilting the boom tip down to ground level, hooking up the truss, and tilting back up near vertical?
Josh

Great question, here's my take - but your mileage may vary:

I like the winch. It was the final piece of the puzzle allowing for exact placement of every truss where needed, without having to then go back and manually reposition them. With a boom and hook solution, to get that same result you would have to get the boom to the exact correct place in three dimensions for correct placement. With the winch, you only have to be correct in two dimensions, (N/S & E/W), but you can be well above the correct position, then use the winch to lower the truss to the correct (up/down) position. The reason I consider this beneficial is that as you are sitting trusses and get close to a wall, you start to run out of maneuvering room for the tractor. (Remember the walls in my case are already purlined, and my barn has an internal wall also.). The winch allows a steeper crane angle allowing you to work in tighter confines. In my case, I sat the 4th from the last truss from inside the building footprint, then the final three trusses were sat from outside the building by reaching over the top of the building to do so. Without the winch, I would not have had the angles required available to do this.

 

[PhilCase]

Another thing this fellow swears by is wind straps on them trusses.

I'm in the tornado belt. Several barns are lost every year to windstorms in this area. I wouldn't build a barn in the midwest without "Hurricane Strapping" the roof down. Won't help with a direct hit, but it can make a huge difference in a near-miss.

 

[drivadesl]

Thanks for showing this Phil, and a very practical solution to the challenge. I also find myself having to get things like this done alone, so thanks for putting together the links for step by step photos and instructions. I had always thought of needing a boom truck to do this, but now, when the time comes, I will reference this thread for instructions on getting it done by myself. Again great job and thanks.

 

[regularjay]

Dude, I got tired of reading all the naysayer crap in the other thread. I have many varied interests and frequent all sorts of different boards on various topics. In my observation this board is where the product liability lawyers, OSHA inspectors, code enforcement officials and other professional "Debbie Downer" naysayers go to tell folks that they are basically to stupid to breath.

I would never dream of exposing some of my "creative" solutions to one man challenges to the ridicule of the armchair quarterback weenies here. I applaud your unique approach to a problem and your willingness to persevere.

They are the kind of people who would have put out mankinds first fire so no-one would get burned.

Hurrah for you!!!

 

[toy]

Glad it worked out for you, the safety loop at the turnbuckle was a good suggestion and you implemented it. I am glad that the turnbuckles held and didn't have to use the safety loops, but it shows your ability to accept constructive suggestions and that is a big plus in my book. It looked like the boom pipe was off center of the bucket and I wondered about that but I figured that it might be an optical illusion in the picture or it was so you could put the pipe over one of the teeth in your tooth bar. Sometimes working alone requires some creative thinking and boy does it feel good when it works out good. Thanks for sharing.

 

[BruceWard]

Congrats, very well built and executed.

 

[gizmo]

Nice job Phil. I built something about as equally insanely dangerous for lifting steel trusses when I had to work alone. Oh the humanity!

I find that no matter where you go there are legions of safety-****-know-it-alls just waiting to pounce.

However, I will note that once again Harbor Freight lives up to expectations. Never been there, never will.

 

[wldrbob]

hey if your going to work alone build whatever you want..... if theres a chance that using your contraption will hurt or kill your wife, your kids or your best friend sit back and think about it first

 

[wdchyd]

Phil,

when they say..."Necessity is the mother of all Inventions", you hit the nail right on the head...great job...

I'll more than likely use the same concept when I start my new Tractor Barn after I take delivery of my new Kubota later this week....oh BTW here's what happened to my old one...definetly not enough room for a tractor

Bill

 

[59 Sons]

I'm glad I didn't catch the previous thread, but happy to see your ingenuity was met with success. Not having to listen to everyones opinions is my favorite benefit of going up to the propitee to build sumthin. I considered the winch idea on my boom pole, but decided to set multi half truss roof sections pre sheathed instead. Its been indispensable already.