Effer knuckleboom for the M923

[SsgLattig]

Ok, so I fiiiiiiiiinally got the KB mounted on my 5 ton! I still have to move it back a few inches, bolt it down, take the fuel tank off & have the fill moved and make a pocket in the front corner so the outrigger can slide in out of the way, but it's a good start! I also have to cut the back of the bed off with a demo saw, cut a foot or 18" out, and weld the rear of the bed back on to make it look like it's always been that way. I also have to get the pony engine mounted somewhere and mated to the pump and do the wiring for the engine and everything else, sand/grind & paint the crane, and I have a hydraulic rotating grapple that I have to pick up and then get that mounted & plumbed as well, so lots still to do! Any questions or comments let me know, it's all about learning & sharing experiences.

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[MidnightDuramax]

Did you figure out where the rotating stops where in the crane before mounting it? My hiab was setup so that the outriggers where to the rear of the truck and the controls were on the driver side.

 

[SsgLattig]

Do you mean as in how many degrees rotation it has out of 360? This one has the controls on both sides so that's not an issue.

 

[MidnightDuramax]

There are usually stops to not allow the crane to ratate a full 360 degrees. Mine is set so when you swing the crane to the front of the truck it stops at the front cornerns of the hood. Just wanted to make sure you have those stops at the front or you wont be able to sweep over the bed from left to right.

 

[SsgLattig]

I know what you're saying now, and this is how it was mounted on the truck it came off of, from what I was told anyway. I will see if I can find the stops though because I should definitely confirm this before I get much further.

 

[SsgLattig]

It seems as though these pics didn't show up before. I'm hoping that they do now, as this was the lifting & setting of the crane on the truck....

 

[SsgLattig]

So I was doing a little research & talking to my friend, who's the crane owner/operator that lifted the crane onto my truck, and being that this crane is a rack and pinion swivel, it's designed to rotate more than 360 degrees, but not by much. So it will turn say 390-400 degrees. I've searched and searched and from all that I can tell, I've got it mounted right, so fingers crossed and we'll see when I get fluid in it & get it all bled & spin the pump. I'm hoping for few problems and that it works properly.....

 

[gem1410]

Great job Brad---now it can make some $ with it--

 

[Gunner0311]

Me soo jealous! I am compromising with a custom fabricated jib style crane to be mounted behind the cab of my M52A2. Your purchase will be appreciated by you for years to come, as I am
confident you will put that baby to use is some most interesting ways as you use your truck.

Cannot wait to see some pics of the unit mounted and working.....

 

[SsgLattig]

Thanks George! Sorry I didn't call you back today, but we had to get these trailers home! Thank God for good people willing to help, & to new friends too!

Gunner0311: I'm jealous of the mud racing truck! **** toys are fun! I'll definitely post pics of the truck & crane at work once I get it into action!

Here's a pic of the latest acquisition I picked up today. If anyone want's the bolster trailer in the back of the pic on the wrecker bed let me know, it's available....

 

[SsgLattig]

Ok so it was a tough winter for everyone I guess, so I didn't have much time to work on the crane. I did work on it the last couple days, and I got the pony engine and pump mounted up and mated, changed what fluid was in the tank, and got the crane to move. I had to pull some ice out of the lines to some of the cylinders since this things was sitting for so long, and a good amount of water bled out of the fittings too. Now that is done I have it working well, but the pony engine just isn't powerful enough to spin this pump reliably. I used a yanmar LO7O from a MEP-016D, which is 6.7 hp, with a chain drive to the pump at a 2:1 ratio, so the pump spins @ 1800 rpm. Unfortunately that wasn't enough to take the load off the engine, it still bogs and makes the crane almost unusable, unless I have all day, which I don't. I do have a bucket truck with an allison and pto that I may look into canibalizing and just run it off a pto, which I was hoping to avoid since I was trying to avoid idling the main engine because idling a diesel is the worst thing you can do for it. So, I may look at swapping the L070 for an L1OO and see if that does anything. Now just to find the bigger engine. If anyone has one or knows anyone with one get in touch with me. I'll try to upload pics of the pump drive system too, just forgot to take pics of that.

 

[swbradley1]

Any updates on this?

 

[grendel]

Inquiring minds want to know... I am putting a HEMTT crane on my bobbed M932A2 shortly