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New Thread on the Forklift Crane Build

6K views 36 replies 11 participants last post by  JD4044M 
#1 · (Edited)
Came up with a better idea for the Boom Crane on how to build it. I have this Portable 2 ton well built engine crane in my shop my Father in Law left me. I got to thinking it is a Crane already and I could use parts of it to mount to the Forklift Forks also. Not ruin the Cherry Picker but this one is made out of 6' x 3" x 1/4" Box Steel base and a Top Boom made of 5' x 3" x 2" x 3/16" box steel. The base has a Section welded onto it for the Hydraulic Jack Base that would fit right into the Channel Iron on the Forklift Adapter and long enough to bolt to the frame too. That would give me a section of 3" Box Steel sticking past the Fork Tips 2 feet.

The Top Boom would extend the boom another 5 foot further making a boom tip 12 ft from the nose of my tractor or 7 foot past the Fork Ends!! The steel is strong enough to do the job just need to make a splice point for the boom top to become ridged. Could do that with a section of solid steel inside the tube and keeping it pined together. That part I will think more on. Don't need much more steel to finish the project and it will serve 2 jobs instead of just a boom inside my shop for lifting. Neat part is the End Section can flex up higher right at the tips and be supported. Here is a few pictures of the Crane as it sits and it is Trussed in the right spot too!

Could also build another boom to slide into the Base from this Crane and make it the length I want and shove more inside the base for more strength. This is a BIG Cherry Picker not some cheaper Harbor Freight one. Just steel for the Boom Assembly will add up in cost and I have it already in this just need to re/work it a little. Room
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This is what goes on the Fork Tips the Lower Booms Jack Base would set in and bolt to sticking strait out from the tips. Hardware accessory Metal
There are 2-1/2" diameter Grade #8 Bolts that go thru the tips of the forks to keep it from shifting. This part is now JD Green and so will the boom be painted JD Green! Should look factory when finished and save me a chunk of change in the process building it.
 
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#2 ·
:munch:
 
#3 ·
This is what the Original Hoist Jack hooks to on the Main Hoist Upright brace. This is what will sit down into the 4" wide Channel Steel on top of the fork tips. I will weld something in the channel to hook like the jack did when I drop the back down onto the Forklift Frame to bolt in place. It is starting to get to easy now something is not going to fit or line up when I try to build it. Tomorrow I will take off the snow pusher blade and put the Forklift Attachment on and see how it is all going to come together? Red Rust Pink Brick Wood
 
#4 ·
Sounds like a neat project can’t wait for updates.
 
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#5 ·
I like it! Make sure you post the pics when you do the test fit.
 
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#6 · (Edited)
I will post as it goes along. It is a Poor mans Hoist but made out of a good and strong one! My Father in Law would crap seeing me do this with it! He was a top design Engineer for Boeing. Did the design for the 12 doors hinges on the 747 which included the escape chutes slides. He told me how he cam up with a high pressure cylinder that had a pin to pieced the cylinder top seal to blow the door open and fill the chute and not require voltage or hydraulic power to work the emergency escape method. He got a paten for the system and sold it to Boeing to use. My Daughter has the original wooden model of the hinge and paten papers. I have a Piolets Owners Manual to Fly the 747 and a complete blueprint to the structural build on it. He worked on the First Air Force 1 for Nixon too and more stuff about it put away. That why it was so hard to build stuff with him he was a perfectionist!! He could tell me what the steel needed to be, how thick, safety ratio you name it on building the boom. I do miss his knowledge but I kept his notes and books on the subjects. Spent 34 years doing stuff with him married to his Daughter! I wired 2 of his new custom homes he had built. Like a second Dad to me that I never had growing up, he died when I was only 11 years old.
 
#8 ·
Did the Mock Up now I know what I need to buy in steel

I slipped the Spreader Bar I made on the Forks and bolted it on. Fit great it still needs the pulley mount welded on under the middle of the channel steel. Took the Engine Hoist Base and sat it on the Spreader Bar Frame and it fit just right into the Channel Steel and left me room to make a bracket for bolting to the Fork Lift Frame. I will weld a lip the old Jack Base will slip under to keep it from lifting up or sliding to the sides. It will lock into it then bolt up to the Forklift frame. On that end I will use Box Steel to go into the Base about 12 inches and have a 4" x 1/2" Thick angle iron lip that comes up under the Frame and bolts to it. That way weight on the Boom pushes it up into the frame and down onto the Channel Steel.

The Spreader Bar bolts to the Fork tips with 2 - 1/2" Grade 8 bolts thru the forks. Each Sleeve has 12" of weld holding them to the Channel Steel. Full Length Welds under the Channel. That was a project to drill them out being tempered steel forks! Went thru a lot of bits doing it but there even and in the thick part. I can lift with just the Spreader Bar using the loader hydraulics or Winch Cable going up to it since the forks can go up 9 ft and be level still. That will be my strongest lift on them or slide it back to the frame for even more lift power. On the Main Boom Base I will add a 10 ft long 2" x 1/4" Box Steel extension I can slide in and out of the Base. I measured it and it would give me 17 ft from the nose of the tractor Max and still have some inside it.

I know my lifting power will go way down but then I can raise it by tilting the boom back and bringing the tip closer to the nose but way high in the air to lift stuff like my well pump and put things up on the roof or lift a small beam in place. I should be able to get about 20 ft max of lift and still be tilted some to keep the boom solid in place. Going to town to get the rest of the steel this will be a easy project to finish up. I will also get some strap steel for shim material on the Second Boom for a tighter fit inside the 3" x 1/4" Box Steel Base sitting on the forks. Machine Machine tool Vehicle Tool
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#9 · (Edited)
If I need to for more strength on the extended Boom being out so far I can add a section of 5/16" Chain or Cable from the Forklift Frame down to the tip on a angle then most the weight will be in tension on the chain/cable for better support and no bounce. When the Boom is extended that far the loader can't lift that much weight so the Box Steel should be fine for what I want to do with it. I will do a load test just to be sure it all holds before it is put into use where I can get myself in trouble using it! I can just slide out the 2nd 10 ft long 2" box steel boom and put a pulley on the old hinge pin at the tip of the base. Then it will lift 2,000 lbs or more with out a problem bending.
 
#10 ·
Done Welding and tired!

It can go 20 ft in the air and up to 16 ft away from the nose of the tractor. Needs painting to look better but the welding part is done. Going to do a live load test with at least 500 lbs on the tip with people and let them bounce on it. The steel won't bend but wondering if it will lift that much out 16 ft? The boom sides back and forth 3 ft and can slip out if needed but it makes the Main Base real strong inside the 3" Box Steel. I am tired but tomorrow I can do some tests on it in the daylight it was getting dark out fast! Sky Vehicle
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#12 · (Edited)
What size tractor is this going on? I know if I got that far out on my 2520 I would be lucky to pick up very much weight. You might want to read through this thread. Expensive lesson . It looks like you have done some nice work I hope it does what you want it to. Merry Christmas.
 
#13 ·
My tractor is a 4044M and the roll back power is over 4,000 lbs on the bucket. It is designed to carry 1,000 lb bales of hay on spears and rive with them. I can see no reason I would ever carry a load 17 ft from the nose of my tractor off the boom due to the fact shock load on the boom hitting bumps with any real weight could damage the boom near the end. This is built for lifting things and if you lift at the forks or 10 ft out it will put the same force on the loader arms it is just weight. If the forks can't lift the weight having it stick out 10 ft is not going to be any different it still won't lift it. Now if your boom is not designed to support what the loader can lift it will just bend the boom but not damage the loader. Shock load is a different story it can put extreme loads on things. Look at it like a hammer and a nail. You can set a sledge hammer on top of a nail and it will hold it up but take a 12 oz hammer and hit the nail you can drive it in the wood. Put a spring on top of the nail and you would really have to whack it hard to over come the spring using up the energy to drive the nail in. It is like a bumper that can move they don't bust the frame. Make that bumper to strong it will just bend the frame. Rolling with a load can damage your loader if you have it at max weight and hit bumps it will bend things and blow hoses and relief valves can only release fluid so fast. There more for when the pump it at it's limit in a lift to give the pump a safe way of dealing with a non compressible fluid to not damage the pump. I can't see how a flexing piece of wood which is using up the energy in the flex damaged your loader or blew seals? There must have been another reason because loaders are designed to carry stuff way heavier and drive around with it. A loader has limits but you won't be able to lift it. But then again if it is at the limits and you hit a bad bump you can break things. If you drive the forks into the ground and stop the tractor it is like the big hammer hitting the loader and something has to break in the process if all movement stops at once. Kinetic energy has some real power to bust stuff. My tires are like shock absorbers and so is the boom they all flex a little to absorb the shocks. Drive a bulldozer once and pick up speed and see how the ride is on rocks you can bust the tracks fast doing it. Don't take this wrong but common sense is needed when working with heavy equipment and there are lots of things you do not want to do or you may break stuff or even injure of kill your self in the process.
 
#14 ·
I have a safty link on the boom

Extended loads on the boom will put a lot of strain on this part at the base of the boom bolted to the loader frame. This part is not near as strong as the Loader Frame, Loader Arms and Fork Lift Frame. It would break, tear or bend before the other steel would. It is a weak point in the boom and intended to be that way. It can take anything the boom will hold but not near as strong as the Forks are that the boom sits on top of. It is thinner steel but yet still very strong of a attachment point and I would be doing something really stupid to break, damage or bend this point. Green Blue Water Reflection
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#15 · (Edited)
More I read the more I learn on doing this boom. There is a ton of math to learn long hand but there are on line calculators you can use to find loads put on steel of different angles too. This was a good article for why and how to figure a simple Portable Crane Engine Hoist. The math is harder then anything I have learned in the past but it still can be used just takes longer to figure it out. Design and Development of Portable Crane in Production Workshop: Case Study in BISHOPTU AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY, Ethiopia

More stuff to see for calculations you may need one day to learn.https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=crane+capacity+calculation+formula&chips=q:crane+capacity+calculation+formula,g_1:jib+crane+design&usg=AI4_-kQj7U43m1YbKSWyGWuMObcHTgrnKw&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi45JeL8dnfAhWM11QKHaVQAKIQ4lYILCgF&biw=1373&bih=728&dpr=0.95#imgrc=uc-HM4KEIdycpM:
 
#17 · (Edited)
Got most of it on the tractor except the chain and scale. I will have that in a few. Looks better all green and together on the forks. Later I will post the lifting using the scale to test the chain angle set up. A couple pictures till later. Electrical wiring Technology Wire Architecture Electrical supply
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Now I can also use the tape to see how far up and out it goes for est. loads by math at certain points to not over load any one part to much. The higher up it goes the more it can lift being closer to the Center Of Gravity on the loader frame back.
 
#18 ·
Darn Rechargeable battery's are dead and the scale needs charging to use it! It almost worked and went dead but the chain is on the boom not attached where it will go yet being in the middle of the frame. I want to use the sides and "Y" into one chain going to the boom tip for more strength and not bending the back frame. This will give me a ratio for weight on chain from a loaded tip weight lifting. Once I have that then I can put the scale on the tip to do my tests on it. The chain is Pre Stressed to a point to remove the sag. That way the boom stays strait under load Electrical wiring Technology Room Wire Electrical supply
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It is starting to snow so I pulled it under cover and let it charge up. It is 26 degrees out right now!
 
#19 · (Edited)
Chain Ratio to real weight 4:24 to 1 on boom

Interesting the Ratio is 4.25 to 1 on the Chain. Chain weight was 143 lbs add in the Boom Weight on the chain it came to 314 lbs total add 135 lbs on the boom tip the chain went to 886 lbs 4.25 times as much approx on the chain as the boom tip. So if I put 500 lbs on the tip it should put like 2150 lbs on the chain. Max would be 1000 lbs on the tip for 4250 lbs on the chain just under its working load "3 to 1" = 14,000 breaking load aprox. So I will be alright staying 1,000 lbs or less extended. Not sure my loader will lift 1,000 lbs out that far but that will be the next test tomorrow. I know the boom will take that weight no problem the end boom is 2"x2" Box 1/4" thick and 2 ft is inside the 3" x 2 1/2" X 1/4" Thick box steel on the 2nd part. We will see I left it charging over night and all hooked up sitting on a stiff leg supporting the boom. Next thing will be checking deflection with out the chain just to see how it flexes at a set weight. Technology Display device Electronic device Measuring instrument Gauge
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A 250 lb guy got on the tip and the scale maxed at a little over 1100 lbs so the ratio pretty much the same as the weight went up on the tip.
 
#20 ·
Finished the Boom Extention and Tested it!

Was able to wrap up the Boom today and did a few tests. It lifts 20 ft to the bottom of the pulley and at that angle it can lift/support 1,000 lbs max. Fully extended level forks 550 lbs max using tractor hydraulics. So the welds and steel size was OK for what I wanted. I could have lifted the back tires off the ground extended level using the winch to pull but did not want to do that. Even a ton on the Forks will not lift the tires so I am maxing the tractor out and not breaking the boom set up! This is what I needed to know did not want to see anything break or bend using it out that far from the front tires center line. That is 17 ft ahead of the tires! I pulled 1,000 lbs off the tip when the Boom was up this steep and felt it was OK rear tires were not lifting. Blue Green Architecture Sky House
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It measures 20 ft to the bottom of the pulley in both these pictures.

This is how I did the Chain Support at the Fork Lift Frame. Green Vehicle Amusement park Amusement ride Wheel
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Scale Weight on the Level Boom Test this is the hardest pull on the boom being on a 90 degree angle. No reason to test it back at the forks it would only lift 2,000 bls max and the steel set up can take over 3 times what the forks can handle there rated working load is 3,450 lbs over what the tractor can lift but right at what would stall a single line pull off the winch. To be safe nothing over 2,000 lbs at the fork tips, 500 lbs at the Level Boom Tip extended 17 ft and 1,000 lbs on fully raised Boom Tip Pulley. Your on your own if you build one I am not a cert engineer and this was for my use only not to be sold! Display device Technology Electronic device Gauge Auto part
 
#21 · (Edited)
Put Up dose not take to much room?

I took it off to put away for now. It pretty much goes in the Bag for the goodies and then the steel. I am going to build a rack for it and a few other things I made. Need to make up something I just had to do for the maiden test actually using it. Might just make me a seat for it using a go small cart seat and web strap belting. I still like confert if I have to sit in something very long. I was looking at the ones they have now days with sides and seat belt holes. Yet still strong and not thick steel. Machine Pipe Vehicle
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I have a couple other Web Straps a 30 ft x 4" one with 3/4" Shackles and 2- 20 ft x 2" Ratchet Straps

This is what I will make the seat out of and use this belt. Personal protective equipment Helmet Auto part Automotive window part
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#23 ·
That is some outstanding ******* engineering!
 
#24 ·
We are butchering 2 yearling calves today they are running about 700 lbs each. So I put my forks on with the slip on tip to carry both at once back to the shop. I was surprised 1,400 lbs on the tips and the loader maxed out on the lift! Had to lift them as far up as I could then tilt the forks up to lift the 2 cows off the ground. Next time I will slide the attachment back to the frame it will lift more weight. Machine Machine tool Vehicle Tool
My next project some day will be a small double boom crane set up that does not use the Forks or the Frame for them. I will just buy a back plate and make a short double boom just for moving dead livestock around. That way I don't have all the extra weight from the heavy forks ect to deal with too. I just need the cow away from my grill when driving.
 
#27 ·
The Bosun Chair is done except for JDS Green Paint

Got the Bosun Chair almost finished today. It still needs the 3 ft long foot rest strap bolted on and then taken all apart to paint the frame JD Green. I sat in it and the Seat Belt fits just right and is comfortable enough you could spend hours sitting in it working. Way better then a Rock Climbing Belt pinching off the blood in your legs! I tried one and it is way painful to use. The Foot Rest will make it so your feet have a place to sit and push against. It turned out nice and solid, now if I can get a rope over something I can go up and work or hang off the tractor boom 20 ft or less off the ground. Still might get my Crows Nest on top of my 80 ft Ponderosa Pine Tree with this chair to get up there. Now if I can talk someone to go up there with a rope and pulley. I do have a real big home made sling shot to shoot a small sand bag and string over/thru trees! It is 6 ft long and has a pulley and rope to pull back on the 6 surgical rubber tubing launchers hooked to a pouch. I shot a string over my 2 story roof to pull my 5/8" safety rope over the ridge.

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