gin poles with a twist

[rjmack]

Rjmack, here's how we rig them up around here. I've seen some one ton's rigged this way and have held up quite well. Poles attached at the rear of the bed, chains attach the poles to the headache rack at the base and the winch is mounted down on the bed in the middle behind the cab.

thanks, i see what you're getting at but i think thats a little heavy duty for what i need. also, i was hoping to be able to pick up loads and set them on the deck for transport. i think lifting from a point behind the rear axle kind of concentrates the load, working with a lighter frame i was hoping to distribute the load over a greater area... obviously that didn't quite go according to plan, but i think i'm going to stay with the original placement of the boom, swap the deck to a heavier frame and work from there.

there is a second winch mounted low at the back that i was planning on using.

here's a basic idea of what i would like to do. btw, everything you see on the deck comes off with the deck.

I think a quick post mortem on your setup reveals that your series of snatch blocks made a pretty good block and tackle arrangement. As if winches don't pull hard enough on their own, that block and tackle magnified it by about 4 times or so. Sorry if you already knew that.

no need to be sorry:laughing: i built it like that on purpose. i also plan on building a jib for it as i have a small building i want to lift and put a concrete foundation under, so i wanted to make sure that part of the machine was up to par from the beginning.

what i didn't figure on was blowing the bearings out of the carrier on the two snatchblocks at the headache rack. i'm guessing they let go about the same time as everything else but not really sure.

the originals are 3" i'm thinking to replace them with 4"

Must be a midwest oilfield type idea. That is the same way we rigged our trucks in KS. I couldn't tell for sure, but it appeared the top snatch block also was removable in the picture.

my needs are generally a lot more short and squat than long and skinny, so it's sort of a different application.

 

[kebo]

Nice project, looks like it will serve your needs well for not too much of an investment in time & money. Guess now you can call it "superpickerupperdodge" lol!!

Btw, I gotta ask.... WTH is that bastardized vehicle parked next to the truck in the very first picture????? And what do you call it???

 

[rjmack]

Nice project, looks like it will serve your needs well for not too much of an investment in time & money. Guess now you can call it "superpickerupperdodge" lol!!

thanks

Btw, I gotta ask.... WTH is that bastardized vehicle parked next to the truck in the very first picture????? And what do you call it???

the truck was full of steel so i had to clean it off before i could build the jin poles. i guess you could call that minivan a poor man's gator.

these kinds of things tend to happen when you buy a plasma cutter

 

[Iplayfarmer]

the truck was full of steel so i had to clean it off before i could build the jin poles. i guess you could call that minivan a poor man's gator.

these kinds of things tend to happen when you buy a plasma cutter

Thanks to Kebo for asking. I saw that too and had to smile. It seems like a very good value/price ratio.

On the subject of the superpickerupperdodge... It really surprises me that the frame would bend like that rather than just pick up the front end of the truck. Did you have the front end tied down or weighted somehow?

 

[rjmack]

It really surprises me that the frame would bend like that rather than just pick up the front end of the truck. Did you have the front end tied down or weighted somehow?

well, there is the weight of the snowplow on the front, but i suspect the same thing would have happened without it.

i'm not sure what precipitated what... firstly, everything was maxed right out. i put remote plugs on the deck for both winches, so when the going gets tough, i can stand back and run it from a (presumed) safe distance. there was a huge BANG! i caught the sight of flying chains out of the corner of my eye and kind of ducked. there were a few more bangs as the chains landed and the boom bounced back down. (it kind of flew up in the air a bit). the first thing i noticed was the truck looking like it was sitting low to the ground, probably because of the way the deck was tiliting, so i checked the tires. they were good. then i realized the frame had been bent. it took a while to realize the snatchblocks were buggered up too. i am assuming that it happened at the same time.

basically, there was a sudden and violent release of quite a bit of energy. i think that's how the frame damage came to be... i doubt it would have been possible just slowly loading the boom until the winch was maxed out. then again, the bottom line is that i really don't know exactly what happened.

i know the boom doesn't look like much, but i think the bracing at mid point provides more strength than one would generally assume. all i can think of is something like the analogy of an extended tape measure... you can slowly pick it up, but if you give it a quick snap it will buckle. i think there was some kind of sudden 'snap' against the frame that it just couldn't hold against.