Why hire a crane?

[youngdylan]

Don't know if our colonial cousins have landrovers over there?

Amongst the many wonderful things about them is that the box section chassis goes from the very front "bumper" to the back one. This is real usefull for bolting a vice to when out on site.The military ones have two lugs on each bumper (fender???). These are real strong forgings and are use to attach lifting chains when carring them (2Tonne) by helicopter.

It's easy to rig up a boom arm as I've shown and tie it to the rear bumper. I've no idea what the SWL is but I've lifted my 200kg anvil with me sat on it as a "trial by combat" and I regularly use it to install 1/4 Tonne gates. Being landrover and being "bolt on" by design the non military versions have pre drilled holes that these lugs can be fitted to. I'm sure the lugs are readily available or easily fabricated.

The rig comes into its own when when taking gates to site by towing a trailer. At site the trailer is wheeled in front of the 'drover, they're picked up and driven to where they go. It's then easy to manouvere the gates to position because you can see where you're going.

It's a good idea to use wooden blocks to "lock the front suspension" but not essential.

Saved myself a fortune over the years. Modern trucks don't seem to have the chassis going fully front to back but I'm sure most people reading this can weld!

[wolfshieldrx]

Now that there's a truck! Over the pond we have Jeeps. Unfortunately, over the years they have been sanitized and yuppie-ized (I just invented a word ) to the point that they are no longer the work horses they once were. Back in the day...

bart

p.s. great looking gate by the way!

[youngdylan]

Now that there's a truck! Over the pond we have Jeeps. Unfortunately, over the years they have been sanitized and yuppie-ized (I just invented a word ) to the point that they are no longer the work horses they once were. Back in the day...

bart

p.s. great looking gate by the way!

Bart

Yeah they've kinda done that with a lot of the other landrovers in the family. That said they still make the "defender", its a true utility vehicle aimed at farmers etc. Basic one has zero luxuries though some of the top end ones are "ponced up" a bit to sell to the "image conscious"

[Mainely,Bob]

Here in Maine there are folks with Landrovers,during the summer the yuppies bring more and newer ones.

Most of the mechanically inclined folks up here go for the military surplus or the early jeeps(back when they were known by letters and numbers instead of names) and Dodge Power Wagons.
Goober from Vermont has a CJ chassis with a 4 cylinder Wisconsen(sp) engine,winches and poles both front and rear that he uses for near everything.I`ve seen him drive it and run the winches while walking along beside.

The primary difference between those and yours seems to be the ones here make extensive use of the PTO to drive things like winches or hydraulic pumps to get things done.There`s a fellow down the road with a backhoe attached to his rig.

Why for you no got de front winch mon?De life be so much sweeter with,no?

Don`t even get me started about the 1 ton and larger roustabout trucks from the oilfield.They were bought new as cab and chassis and built from there.
The owner of King Drilling used to buy brand new Caddies and take them to be chopped into what looked like El-Caminoes and drive them down the dirt lease roads to the remote locations.Must be nice to have more dollars than sense.

BTW-Ditto the nice gates.

[youngdylan]

Here in Maine there are folks with Landrovers,during the summer the yuppies bring more and newer ones.

Most of the mechanically inclined folks up here go for the military surplus or the early jeeps(back when they were known by letters and numbers instead of names) and Dodge Power Wagons.
Goober from Vermont has a CJ chassis with a 4 cylinder Wisconsen(sp) engine,winches and poles both front and rear that he uses for near everything.I`ve seen him drive it and run the winches while walking along beside.

The primary difference between those and yours seems to be the ones here make extensive use of the PTO to drive things like winches or hydraulic pumps to get things done.There`s a fellow down the road with a backhoe attached to his rig.

Why for you no got de front winch mon?De life be so much sweeter with,no?

Don`t even get me started about the 1 ton and larger roustabout trucks from the oilfield.They were bought new as cab and chassis and built from there.
The owner of King Drilling used to buy brand new Caddies and take them to be chopped into what looked like El-Caminoes and drive them down the dirt lease roads to the remote locations.Must be nice to have more dollars than sense.

Yeah, I use an electric winch now. Sure makes life easier if for no other reason than it stops the chains getting tangled in the work.

They've got PTOs but we don't seem big on using them over here. Actually maybe some of the more anorak inclined off road enthusiats use them but they're a world all of their own. It's just a tool to me!

[ArtWerkz]

Nice set up.
Over here you would probably have to have an engineered drawing to build it and 5 permits and ND testing certificates, flaggers, riggers, a crane operator with an "A" ticket and a reference letter from God to use that on a job site.
Yes, nice gates indeed.

[Sam Thompson]

There's a PTO on Land Rovers, the hydraulic pump and reservoir for the winch sit behind/under the driver's seat. There's also a hole in the rear chassis member for the shaft to escape. LRs, unfortunately don't have brakes.
What do you call shear legs in the US?

[youngdylan]

Rs, unfortunately don't have brakes.

I second that!!!! Actually I've got a newer 300TDi now which is a world of difference to my old series3. I can now stop ...... usually.

[youngdylan]

Nice set up.
Over here you would probably have to have an engineered drawing to build it and 5 permits and ND testing certificates, flaggers, riggers, a crane operator with an "A" ticket and a reference letter from God to use that on a job site.
Yes, nice gates indeed.

It's kinda getting that way over here (doing work for a local council is a HUGE B**LACHE) but a lot of gates on that scale I do are private commissions

[Double Y]

Nice set up...but be careful with that truck...it looks like some joker put the steering wheel on the wrong side! That could be dangerous :lol:

[ArtWerkz]

It's kinda getting that way over here (doing work for a local council is a HUGE B**LACHE) but a lot of gates on that scale I do are private commissions

Now that's farkin' funny...hee hee

[HWHII]

I love your set up! Thats what I call making the most out of what you have. I have seen set ups like that here in the southwest and they usually hang of the back of the truck. Water well service trucks mostly. Now you have me thinking front end?

[youngdylan]

I love your set up! Thats what I call making the most out of what you have. I have seen set ups like that here in the southwest and they usually hang of the back of the truck. Water well service trucks mostly. Now you have me thinking front end?

Harold

I guess rear is better regards counter balancing cos the engine is at the front, but being able to see where you're going when manouvering to withina few mm is more important to me!

I regularly lift 1/4 Tonne gates with no trouble but it does pull the front suspension down a lot, I guess the rear suspension on most trucks is a lot stiffer.

[Sam Thompson]

Here's an earlier version:



I believe that this is the model currently issued to our army.

[Dillon Sculpture]

That is a sweet set up, could really use one of those tomorrow, day late and a dollar short. I have a home built A frame on wheels I guess will have to do, thanks for sharing.

[Sask Mark]

Harold

I guess rear is better regards counter balancing cos the engine is at the front, but being able to see where you're going when manouvering to withina few mm is more important to me!

I regularly lift 1/4 Tonne gates with no trouble but it does pull the front suspension down a lot, I guess the rear suspension on most trucks is a lot stiffer.

Would it be hard to fit the front end with air shocks? Just pump a few more psi into them when you have a heavy load on the front end. For normal driving you can drop the psi for a smoother ride.

My father-in-law does this with his truck when he tows his race car trailer, and I believe Larry (Monster Metal) does this with his truck too.

[youngdylan]

Would it be hard to fit the front end with air shocks? Just pump a few more psi into them when you have a heavy load on the front end. For normal driving you can drop the psi for a smoother ride.

My father-in-law does this with his truck when he tows his race car trailer, and I believe Larry (Monster Metal) does this with his truck too.

How's the committee to free Larry going?

[Nakedanvil - Grant Sarver]

Yeah, ya can't even rent a "cherry picker" anymore. Too many people would boom way out to the side and try to pick up way too much and, well you know the rest...........

[youngdylan]

That is a sweet set up, could really use one of those tomorrow, day late and a dollar short. I have a home built A frame on wheels I guess will have to do, thanks for sharing.

Yeah, A frames are useful but the ground needs to be very flat/level. This set up works on just about any ground the landrover will drive over ..... building sites!

It's easy to attach/detach: just 2 pins on the front and the guy rope (what do you lot call it?) hooks onto the towing attachment on the rear. Sling it on the back of the pick up to carry it around. A quick back of the envelope calculation says it could be good for 1/2Tonne but I've set myself a limit of 1/4Tonne. Guess there may be safety nazi or insurance issues using on a public road but so far I've been able to park my trailer on private driveways and do the lifting from there.

[youngdylan]

Yeah, ya can't even rent a "cherry picker" anymore. Too many people would boom way out to the side and try to pick up way too much and, well you know the rest...........

.... sadly I do know the rest. I've never used one myself but I had a friend was in one when it was ran into by a bus (of all things). The guy he was working with sadly killed. It's put the fear of god (can I say that) into me about those things.

Someone above mentioned "shearlegs". They're a sort of tripod with the legs linked along the bottom. Easily assembled, cheap to make and can lift a suprising amount but they don't easily move.

[SGropp]

I built a couple of big timber frame buildings using a front mounted A-frame boom like that. It was mounted on the front bumper of an ex military 6x6 personnel carrier. The boom was raised and lowered with a winch mounted in the bed. The load was raised with the bumper winch through a snatch block at the apex of the boom.

This was a good rig and we did a lot of work with it.

One time we picked up a large diesel engine. The load swung off to the side and broke one leg of the A-frame [ 3" steel pipe ] dropping it to the ground.

The broken leg was replaced with a new piece of pipe.

We picked up another load that was theoretically within capacity. Again the load swung to the side, putting a tremendous twisting motion on the front of the truck. The whole frame of the vehicle was bent so far out of line that the winch linkages would not operate. We had to lower the boom and the load to the ground using the hand winch in the bed of the truck .

After a few minutes the frame of the truck snapped back into position with a loud pop.

That truck never would drive straight after that.

[Sam Thompson]

.
Someone above mentioned "shearlegs". They're a sort of tripod with the legs linked along the bottom. Easily assembled, cheap to make and can lift a suprising amount but they don't easily move.

Shearlegs is another word for an A-frame. We once erected an arch over the entrance to a pub car-park using a tripod, there were only two of us; it was difficult trying to control the legs... The blokes in the bar really enjoyed it.

[youngdylan]

Shearlegs is another word for an A-frame. We once erected an arch over the entrance to a pub car-park using a tripod, there were only two of us; it was difficult trying to control the legs... The blokes in the bar really enjoyed it.

Sam are we talking about the same thing? Picture shows what I've always called shear legs, could be using the wrong term?

[HWooldridge]

This is what I use - an M37 is only a bit bigger than your landrover. I typically don't use a gin pole but have skidded stuff all over the place by hooking the winch cable to convenient anchor posts using a snatch block.

[Frosty]

We call those "Jib Booms' this side of the pond and we've been using them for a long time. Heck, they were probably mounting them on covered wagons during the westward migration.

Most decent sized pickups still have real frames under them though I wouldn't put money on it today.

For myself, instead of renting a cherry picker, or should I say wishing I could rent one, I usually rent an excavator or "Sky lift" (off road forklift) either will lift anything I need lifted, if not. . . Well, lets just say I can rent a mighty BIG excavator.

Believe me, if you're belted in the bus would lose in a collision with a Cat 350 excavator. One of the things I like best about excavators besides being extremely intuitive to operate is the armor. Few pieces of heavy equipment are as thoroughly or heavily armored as an excavator. Believe me it's easy to pick something that's caught on something and then have it snap loose and be thrown straight back at the cabin. This can be anything from a bucket of rocks and boulders, to half a ton of concrete curb, to a hearty length of iron sewer pipe, to a 1,000gl. buried fuel or WORSE sewer tank, to a big honkin tree, to . . . Well, you get the idea. Armor is a GOOD thing, about the worst you have to worry about is getting it shiny side down, so wearing the belt and maybe a helmet in hazardous situations just about covers your nut.

Of course having a jib boom on a street legal rig is sooooo handy.

Frosty the Lucky.