Decision on a knuckle boom crane.

[DB556]

NICE!

Do both outlets come straight out on the intercooler (can't really tell from the pic)? If so the Dodge Cummins truck guys will buy that from you. My intercooler and radiator are from a UPS Freightliner day cab (FL70?) and is nice and narrow for my M135 and should work great in your truck (measurements are either on my thread or youtube channel).

Is your flywheel housing adapter SAE2 or 3? If you are still shopping for transmisions I suggest the FSO8406 OD same case as my FSO6406, but built for higher torque which will equate to a longer life...well worth the extra $$ and unless its a wrecking yard most guys don't know its worth more.

When looking for an air compressor get it complete with brackets....the brackets have been a trouble for me I should have gotten a single cylinder one instead of a Bendix dual cylinder. Hope this helps.

The outlets come out at a slight angle.

I'll look for the parts from the FL70 I'm going to a truck wrecking yard friday.

Its a SAE #2 I was thinking about the FSO6406 I'm thinking it should hold up to the 5.9 I'm not going to turn it up to much.

I found a guy on facebook marketplace that had a bendix 550, with a power steering pump on it from a 5.9 only thing I'll have to think about its this bellhousing has a driver side starter so I'll have see if it will fit.

 

[gentrysgarage]

OK if getting another flywheel housing my suggestion is 10-11 oclock position (passenger side of course) They are more readily avaiable new, but in cast iron though. Your flywheel housing motor mounts will be SUPER easy. That being said, I think you might just have enough room the back of the 550 is about 3/4s of the 4 regular truck motor mount/medium duty air compressor mount mount location.

If you want to sell the power steering pump and adapter you have once you have an air compressor let me know, I am trying to get a second setup going.

Lastly, If i could get you to ask the 550 compressor guy and the wrecking yard if they have mounting brackets they would sell I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[DB556]

I finally was able to get to the guy with the bendix 550, so many days of schedule conflicts.
I put a 550 on my multifuel for more compressed air, and wow this is heavier than even the other 550! (I mean it does have a
Now I'll have to make up a oil return line/bung and weld it to the oil pan. But there is just enough room to have this pump and the driver side starter, That how the pump/starter was on the engine it came off of. The guy also got me a rear drive shaft, hopefully I can cut it down and used it.
Now he had the power steering from the ford f700 and I thought about swapping it in but after measuring it, it was just too big.

 

[DB556]

I've been working this slowly last few weeks, making a box that can hold the 24v pump and all the solenoids, plumbing and wiring in the space of the cranes old manual valves was a pain.

And I got my 24v pump hooked up and its way to low of a GPM to run this even semi normally it takes over a minute to do 180 degrees unloaded. The arm functions seem alright other than the shoulder which is slow.

So I'm going to have to hook up a engine powered pump somewhere either PTO of the dual vbelt pump I have which is another problem.

Also the chinese radio remote I have while it works, and I'm sure it would be better driving a electric actuator or motre has something to desired when running hydraulics in the "scary time delayed unplanned movements category " So I'm wiring up a wired control box.


Please tell me I'm dumb for thinking this but....

I was browsing craigslist and came across a cheap Autocrane 8005 service truck crane in good condition which is good for 8000lbs or 2400lbs @20ft straight. It has out power out to 16ft with a manual extension to 20ft and it has a winch. Its 12ft long, 20" wide and 44" tall. And it weight 1600lbs and has manual drop legs

My Haib 650 is good for 2650lbs@ 16ft (1200kgs@5m) straight out which is powered, and a max of one manual extension to 22ft (7m) which can lift 1433lbs (650kgs) that extension which I don't so I would have. I would have to make out of plate since this is a oddball size tube even for metric and I'd have to make new sliders since I was cleaning out the tube and all but one were one and the last one is bend up and i'll have to torch it out.
The Hiab is 76" tall, 90" wide and 30" deep it weights in at 2347lbs (1065kgs) and I found one of the drop legs has a bad built in valve so I'm going to have that rebuilt.

Now I already cut my bed down to 9feet to make room for the knuckle boom, behind the cab.
So the service crane would stick over the bed by a foot on one end and a foot on the other, unless I get another bed.

The service crane would allow me to move the bed forward towards the cab, and leave space to make am mount for my 395 spare. It would allow me to cut some rear frame.

And it would also not interfere with my automatic swap plan like the mounts for the Hiab do since i would have to take off the Hiab to move the transfer case back to make room for the MT643. And it would save me 747lbs in weight.



So Thoughts?

 

[cattlerepairman]

I can see why you would find that service crane attractive. For max. load, straight out, it has an edge.
For practicality, a knuckleboom is hard to beat. The bendy bits are just super useful in tighter spaces. Also, close in, loading and unloading yourself, the bendy crane is where it's at.

You know best the type of lifting you need to do. Which crane suits your needs better?

You can likely recoup your money, maybe even make a bit of a profit, selling the knuckleboom in an overhauled state, better than when you found it. The bed? Someone might want a short bed for a bobber and a new full size bed is cheap (get a bed off an LMTV).

So...options are all there. What suits you best?

If I have not yet said so, you are doing great work and a knuckleboom would be something I'd love on my truck (but not the hassle of installing one....just being honest about my limitations).



Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk

 

[DB556]

While the knuckleboom would be more useful close in and is more agile, I'll typically be using this to load a unload gear from the bed to the rear or the side typically never out front (other than when I swap the multifuel for the 5.9) in the position the knuckle boom is in it will give me a 7ft swing from the rear of the bed with the power extension or 13ft with the manual. Also the knuckle boom adds alot of weight up high its about a foot over the cab.

The service crane would give me 16ft swing from the rear powered or 20ft manual and with the shorter bed it would give me enough length to do the engine swap.

I liked the rear position of my first service truck crane and used it alot it was just too small of a crane only 3000lbs cap. If I would have found a heavy service truck crane first instead of the knuckle boom, I would have went with it.

Since I have to move the hiab to move the transfer case for the MT643 and brownie box. I think my solution is to finish the knuckle boom.
Go get the service crane because I'm not putting 1600lbs in the back of the truck by hand. then start fabbing up mounts for the service crane but don't install the crane yet. Use the knuckle boom to finish some projects, try to find a M1078 bed, cheap or close

If I cant find a 12ft bed, I move the 9ft bed forward a foot and a half which will allow me room for a tire mount for the 395, and a park mount for the service crane.

 

[cattlerepairman]

Looks like you have solidified a plan!

 

[DB556]

Well I was screwing around with the pump, and It might have not been the pump at all. I think I had a bad solenoid valve that was allowing flow to loop from port to tank. or I had my pressure relief set to low I was supposed to be preset for 2500psi.

Now I'm planing on a dump bed, so I had the line for the bed cylinder just looped back on it self to cap off line lines and I noticed the line jump a bit when I turned on the pump but not the valve, so I pulled that valve and put on a older but extra valve that I had laying around.

And I tore everything down so I could paint my control box to keep it from rusting. I have some big 14 pin aviation connectors, a 250amp circuit breaker, and two nice shielded Estop switches one for either side coming in should be in tomorrow, amazon is magic. Now to wait for my 16/14 soow cable to show up and I'll make a wired control pendant.

Now I have to mount the main disconnect switch, and circuit breaker, 250amp reset able breaker that I was going to put in since the control box, but since it is a bit a of a pain to open up. I over built it, (made out of 10 gauge, because I had it.) I'll mount them in the cab behind the passenger seat

Anyway pictures are worth atleast a few words.

 

[DB556]

Switched and estops came, the project boxes and switch guards are trapped in the mail room limbo till next week.
Broke the cylinder I had for my old dump trailer project out to design a 3 link dewey style scissor hoist for the dump bed.
And got some more 3d printers at work.

 

[DB556]

Its been months but I finally got a chance to work on the crane again last night!
Fixing some wiring problems I made the first time, and trying to figure out a pressure problem I was having, (and still having)
on the swing cylinders jumping I'm thinking one of my flow valves is not working right.
Did get a power steering box and 5 ton pump and adapter.
But this is where I was a few months ago, before way to much stuff dropped on me.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1006374903198521

 

[DB556]

Picked up another HF54 yesterday as a backup for cheap still need to get the first one in.
But started working on knuckleboom again and found my control box might be too tall when I go to fold the crane. Hopefully I just need to move the parking pawl on the crane up so it sits up higher. As there is only about 3/4" inside the box on the top before the solenoids and I really don't want to reconfigure that again so many fittings.

 

[DB556]

After trying so many ways of parking the crane I found that sadly, I can't get crane to clear the solenoids and pump,
When the crane is parked it clears the box with room to spare. But in the swing of the closing motion it will crush the solenoids.

So I'll have to ditch the solenoids and go to a spool valve setup which will be much smaller.
But now I'll have to design a lever setup to mimic the stock levers on either side.
And just when I got the wiring all done.....

 

[cattlerepairman]

Oh, that s*cks! Would you mind posting a video of the desaster? From the video above I cannot visualize why it wouldn't work. Lift main arm, swing extension arm all the way down, lower main arm and cradle. Or does it require a different stowing procedure? I suppose you could leave the crane extended and rest it in the bed (on a piece of 2x12). Depends what you want to do....

 

[DB556]

Oh, that s*cks! Would you mind posting a video of the desaster? From the video above I cannot visualize why it wouldn't work. Lift main arm, swing extension arm all the way down, lower main arm and cradle. Or does it require a different stowing procedure? I suppose you could leave the crane extended and rest it in the bed (on a piece of 2x12). Depends what you want to do....

When you go to park the crane you lift the second cylinder elbow section a few inches off the parking mount. (In this position there is ~3" above the solenoids)
But as the arm shoulder cylinder swings the arm its starts moving in a arc as it extends, I tried to retract the arm extension cylinder but not enough room.

In the process of trying to find a process to stow/unstow the crane I knocked off my pressure relief and gauge so.
I'll got a 4 spool valve and some fittings coming now to put the pump somewhere else.

 

[DB556]

If anybody needs a Hiab 650 knuckle boom with new hoses and valves let me know....

I ran across a autocrane 8005 with wireless remote that might follow me home.