IT WORKS!!! M977 Crane with PICTURES!!!

[spicergear]

HA-HA! THE M977 CRANE COMES TO LIFE!!!

*I don't have pics tonight...but I will add a couple tomorrow

I gotta say...and not just because it's mine, but that sucker looks cool as hell all spread out with the out riggers and the crane all a stood up and telescoped! It was such a rush to pull the handles and watch the shiney rams emerge from their slumber.

Had a BIG hiccup today. I'd been working on the thing really hard, then pop died and I took a break for a few weeks then got back to it. Well...I pulled a retard moment and hooked the lines up on the pump wrong. I did say retard moment so stop laughing and pointing. Couldn't figure out why nothing was happening then felt the pump and that was hot and it all clicked. Spent quite a while then making the lines so they'd work in the correct postions but go all that sorted out finally.

Got a mother of a dousing by an inch and a quarter stream of oil from the suction line it had to remove...twice. you know...'wiggle-wiggle-wiggle, the pops off the fitting a tad unexpectedly and, well...yeah, tonight my underware was oily. It was a long slimey day. Oh, only had two hoses hooked up the wrong way on the valves too. I didn't think that was too bad for having 16 of them all dangling.

I'm real happy! I'll get some pics up tomorrow night for you guys!!!

 

[Recovry4x4]

Congrats on the crane Tom! The ole Groves are unique for sure. Bet it's a darn sight lighter than the crane assy on my wrecker. Austin Western documentation says the crane assy weighs 9000#

 

[cranetruck]

Happy for you Tom, looking foward to seeing another cranetruck. You will never know how you got along without it.

 

[mangus580]

sorry.... I 'had' to.... it was just calling me

 

[Trango]

x2 on the pics. A short movie wouldn't be out of place either.

 

[rizzo]

congrats, that is very exciting

 

[Recovry4x4]

Speaking of short movies Mike......

 

[Elwenil]

Congrats Tom, never had any doubts about it. Now lets see some pics!

 

[mangus580]

I knew you would say that kenny

 

[spicergear]

PICTURE TIME! The boom is still about 3' from being fully extended and is know where near being fully raised.

Kenny- Crane weighs 2940# by itself and I'm not sure what the outrigger assy weighs but I'd put it around 800#'s. I should be under 4,000 for the whole deal.

Bjorn- Pic 5 will give you a good look of frame space used. I definately have more weight on the tandems than yours. Plus, I got the big 20K Garwood tucked back there too.

 

[spicergear]

This first pic got cut off the original post-

 

[Elwenil]

Wow, that thing is huge! I don't know about the rest of these guys, but between the dual stacks, the Cat, the out riggers and the boom, I think I'm in love. As usual, very nice work Tom!


[whisper on] :sst:: Hey guys, I'll be up Tom's way in a few weeks. You think I could sneak it past him? I'd leave him my SRT4 as a trade, lmfao... [/whisper off]

 

[red devils dude]

what does that thing weigh? a LOT
nice work tom

 

[Elwenil]

After looking at these pics over and over, I can't help but think that it's time to get a 5th wheel and a flatbed trailer, lol. How much room you got left, Tom? About enough to put on a M105 bed? That won't hold many logs. Just a thought...

 

[M1075]

Looks good Tom. Nice work.

 

[rdixiemiller]

Time to stretch the frame out to M36 length, just so you'll have room for a rear body!
That Grove takes up a good deal more room than Bjorns Hiab, that's for sure.

 

[rmgill]

So I'm thinking a custom bed like the one Bjorn had and a 5 ton, two wheel trailer chassis with an M35 drop side bed on it. Or a 2 axle bolster trailer with the same on it. That'll let you carry cargo and still have a shorter truck. What about one of those beds from the air compressor trucks with the tool lockers down the side? That'd give you some extra tool space and some storage in the center for kit.

 

[rizzo]

awesome

 

[Recovry4x4]

Dunno Tom, that 5th wheel and little semi trailer sound pretty cool. I'm sure each day you will like the crane more. I'm convinced that the puny little antiquated 53 year old oil leaking relic crane I bought might just have been the best invesment yet in tool or machinery. Bjorn has had his somewhere around 10 years and never tires of showng it off, making it do new things and helping anyone that needs a "lift". I couln't imagine life without a crane anymore and you will feel that way too. How far around front will the Grove reach? Have you tried jacking the daylights out of the truck with the outriggers yet? Next question, do the outriggers swing in or telescope in? If they telescope in I think I have the ultimate idea. Assuming that they do telescope, wonder if one could notch the original bed and its front bulkhead right around the crane right up close to the outriggers. I'm thinking it would lend to the appearance that the crane is almost mounted in the bed. You could fabricate a new bulkhead wrapping around the front of the crane. Might not have that much bed space but you do have a pintle hitch for more bed space. Just thinking out loud but in my mind it looks great! Congrats brother, you're making us proud again!

 

[cranetruck]

Let the deuce be all it can be, I say.
Now take it to some scale and check the weight distribution on the axles. When folded, my HIAB adds 750 lb to the load on the front axle and I can feel it in the steering effort.
I like the winch on the boom! It should come in real handy.
Now for a good loading deck, is the M105 gonna be big enough, wheel wells and all?