Gantry Crane

LSmith · Apr 23, 2004

Hi, All

Since I don't have a FEL, I needed to find a way to lift and transport some pulled stumps and large rocks on my property. I got the idea of a Gantry Crane from the truck that brought my septic tank. I had a single axle trailer with a 2500lb axle that was originally designed to haul several 4-wheelers. I had the gantry frame fabricated by a local professional welder. (While I can weld, I felt a lot safer trusting this kind of welding to someone who does it for a living.). I had a 1-ton chain hoist and a trolley. The Rig works great. I was able to take numerous stumps to the dump and lift and move large rocks on the property. Some of the pics in the album show me moving a large flat rock to the creek side. I placed it to help stem erosion. Here is the link to the gallery: Gantry crane

Hope ya'll like the pics

Lane Smith

EddieWalker · Apr 23, 2004

Nice job. I'd never seen one before. I bet it would also work around the shop moving and loading stuff.

KiotiJohn · Apr 23, 2004

I saw one of these on a Woods Equipement truck when it was delivering an order to my tractor dealer. I was very impressed at how easily it moved the heavy brush mowers way out of the trailer where the dealer could hook up with a skid steer and place it on the lot. You have a nice setup there. Great idea. John

Taylortractornut · Apr 23, 2004

I like the looks of you gantry crane, A few years ago I made one for a fiberglass step and tub company to go on a trailer and on their 1 ton. It was made to set on an off the trailer and truck in sections. When we were in the waste hauling business we looked at some skip loaders they had 2 giant arms on the truck to reach back with cable then cam over to lift the load off the ground. Hows the place coming in Lawrenceburg?

Deerlope · Apr 24, 2004

Is that your solar panel? Can you tell me a little about it like wattage and what you use it for like household applianes and such. or is it just for lighting.

LSmith · Apr 24, 2004

Hi TT, The place in Lawrenceburg is coming on nice, slow but nice. We hope to put a foundation for a shop/barn/apartment in this summer. right now just trying to get the place cleaned up. On the solar panel, I built the system on a skid and it is a 120 watt solar system. I have 6 batteries in the system and am able to power the 12 volt systems on our trailer for about a week with low sun. We also have an inverter system that allows us to use the coffee pot and the microwave. I put the system in as a temporary fix. The power company won't run poles until we have a permanent foundation. I wanted some way to have the comforts of home while we worked on the land. I also have a 100 gal water storage on the hill behind the trailer. I pump water up from the creek and use it gravity feed for showers and flushing the toilet. So far the setup has worked great!

Lane Smith

SPIKER · Apr 25, 2004

MR. SMITH:

Nice trailer gantry crane! I like it a lot. I may have to try something like that for my place. that ROCK looks to be a bit heavy for that 2 wheel trailer though!

I've been pulling the rocks OUT of my stream... mostly big odd shapped ones that were scrapped out of the bottom of lake erie back in ice age!

Mark M /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif