First Build: Tractor Crane for FEL

[jlrsn]

but at the end of the day that is a piece of pipe held to a little tractor with dog run cable

sizzami,
I'm surprised to see what you replied! With respect to putting my tractor on a hi-rise rooftop I never had the need but I've put almost everything imaginable on top of buildings. I had no boom restrictions so I could lift an item, or hundreds of items in the same day to places a land crane could never dream of, no matter if it was over 500 or more feet high, or onto a mountaintop from a valley below 100 miles away, or onto a ship under full power out in the ocean going up the coast. I've lifted with Aerial Cranes (my specialty!), Gantry Cranes, Jib Cranes, Tower Cranes, Truck Cranes, Old Manual Cranes, in short I've lifted items my whole life. When it comes to lifting I could write nonstop for days as to what I have lifted in over 50 years both in the military and in civilian life both here in the states and internationally. Regarding lifting with a dog run cable as you stated, I've precision lifted many thousands of items on the bottom of a 125', 150' or up to 250' 7x19 steel cable. Those were my main lift cables and I never dropped or damaged a load or injured anyone!

Up until I read your last reply I had a chance to view all your TBN postings showing your projects and your shop and I was respecting you for what you are, and what I used to be as a kid, a farm fabricator or modern day blacksmith where weight was not a factor and no structural analysis was used. My thoughts were that even though your projects had good looking welds, were functional, and were painted pretty they were overbuilt!! They reminded me of the old farm equipment that I worked with as a kid in the 40's. To make that statement regarding a dog run cable only shows your lack of formal training and worldliness.

I learned well before you were born to not make statements like what you made. I also learned when to let well enough be!! Understand that you nor I are the safety police. Metal Piping or Wood Lifting Booms with side and upper cable bracing were the norm long before the cranes in use today.

Lets quit this petty fault finding and get back to enjoying this Forum. I look forward to seeing your next projects!!
Jim

 

[Gale Hawkins]

The cables are overkill for the weight that is being lifted and no further rigid structure is needed. An additional cable restricting the upwards motion of your FEL would take care of lifting too high over center. When you tested your setup with you sitting on the end of the boom you didn't account for your weight sitting in your seat which will be an added counterbalance. You can make this as difficult as you want it but I would just put a hook on the end of your boom and lift the trusses into position with the FEL. Have someone unhook your truss when in position. You're complicating the operation with a block and tackle. I've lifted thousands of loads with both helicopters and cranes and have never dropped a load or injured anyone!!
Just do it!!
Jim

I am with Jim on this one and that was before I read about his lifting experiences.

Just keep people from under the load using ropes. I do not see how you are going to even past 45 degrees to say anything about 90.

Look forward to the roof raising video soon. Great job and you will not be rushed or concerned about the weather as would have been the case if you had hired a crane and operator.

 

[sodamo]

Here's some pics of my attempt. Boompole w/extension on quick hitch on FEL quik attach. I also used a 12vdc cable winch that I could control from tractor seat. Put up a bunch of wooden beams, positioned some 4K gallons tanks, placed over 8K sf of roof panels. Always took our time, checked everything and put safety first. This was my only "crane" for entire house build.

Best of luck with your project

David

 

[Deerlope]

I have a New Holland TC30 that has been a great little tractor for me. A few months ago it was whispering that it wanted a new house. So I'm currently building a 24x56 pole barn for it's pleasure. The next step in the barn build are the roof trusses. I need to lift the trusses and place them on top of the headers since my truss builder does not do building-top delivery.

The FEL on my TC30 can only reach up about 10 ft, so I decided to rig up a crane-like boom to allow me to hoist the trusses up above the building to set them in place. I wanted to keep the rig as simple as possible, with a quick breakdown and minimal tooling. The rig I came up uses a 14 ft pipe to give me a total working lift height of about 22 ft, cost less than $100 total, and only took a couple of hours to rig up. When finished the pipe used for the boom will be recycled into steel corner fence posts. I'll keep the rigging for possible future needs as my wife is whispering about her new house.

I was initially concerned about the hydraulics being able to handled a "leveraged" load on the end of a boom, but I weigh about twice what a single truss weighs, so after this test I'm confident the FEL will live up to the requirements of this task.

A slide-show of the entire build is available for anyone interested.

Phil

Cable is notorious for stretching and the way you have that pipe haphazardly placed over that tooth you have no more than an accident waiting to happen. It will be work but just not my way to do things.