Wreckers: Do people buy them for hobby or use?

[TehTDK]

The outriggers are manual. Pull them out and manually turn the screw jack. Its a PITA. If you mean the boom extension, that is hydraulic.

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I mean the boom extensions . But thanks for clearing that up. I have a crane operator license for any and all cranes as long as they are selfdriven . But only recently so I am very curious

 

[charlesmann]

@gstirling
i was thinking of getting a hemtt trailer. its got a 20,000 lb capacity which will do everything i need it to do. only downside is, the dolley axle is a pivot point and the pintle is another pivot point. iv tried backing a fuel tck with a dolley axle trailer, and i SUCK at it. if there was a way (think i figured it out, but might not be the best way) to secure the trailer tongue to the truck and let the pivot axle follow behind the truck, and turn the trailer on the axle pivot like a normal gn/fw or bp trailer. but i think doing that would cause sever tire skid and probably break a LOT of stuff with a 20,000 lb load and 1 axle skidding around a curve or making sharp/tight corner turns. IDK though. I know i dislike a double pivot point trailer. guess i better get better at backing them kind of trailers if i get the hemtt trailer.

 

[Coffey1]

It has a locking pin but still hard to back up with axel locked . On dirt the tires would be ok but you would eat them up sliding them on payment.

 

[charlesmann]

It has a locking pin but still hard to back up with axel locked . On dirt the tires would be ok but you would eat them up sliding them on payment.

i never messed with the hemtt trailers. when i drove anything bigger than a m35a2, it was the ammo tck which was a PLS. other than that, i was on the gun line sending 155 rounds down range. i didn't know they had a locking pin. thanks for the info.

most of my backing would be in dirt, unless i was straight line backing at a truck stop, then i could just lock the pin, but get a remove before flight tag/streamer and attach it to the battery switch to remind me to pull the pin before driving off.

im not sure how much the weigh either. do you have a guess? the nearest 1 i can find is near nampa, id. that is a LONG drive from/to central tx. not sure how much hassle the staties would give me for not having brakes and being pulled by a 1 ton dually.

 

[Coffey1]

I wouldn't pull one without brakes.

 

[Coffey1]

I didn't like the one I had pulled it one time home and didn't move by me again.
It only moved when it's new owner came and got it.
I got it to go with my hemit but never even put it on it lol.
I went and picked it up with 5 ton

 

[charlesmann]

I wouldn't pull one without brakes.

since I'm not finding any hemtt trailers close (150-250 mi radius) to me, i guess a 30,000 lb pintle equipment trailer is what i'll be going with then. i was wanting something that was the same height as the truck, but I'm not driving a wrecker to idaho just for a trailer.

thank you for your input.

 

[gstirling]

boy that would make some nice slabs for tables.

iv got a black wn that is 46" at the butt/stump cut, tapering down to 38" over 8.5'.
my mill I'm building, once operational, will be able to handle around an 80" log and a 72" cant.

as for the ro possibly holding up as well as wo, I'm thinking of stripping my trailer boards, cutting the ro in true 2x6s, screwing them down green and letting them dry in place, which has been done for building a structure, and supposedly works for trailer decking as well, then once they have dried as much as they will while screwed down (6-12 months) pull them, send them to the local kiln, let him dry them the rest of the way and immediately upon removal from the kiln, saturate them with some kind of protective sealant. i did that with store bought untreated 2x6s, soaked them with thompsons water sealant for a dog/hog/atv trailer 7 yrs ago, and there isn't any sign or rot.

that will be quite a cool mill, i've seen the cooks brand extra wide, it does 52 in i think, but yours will be impressive. but 99% of the trees around here are less than 3 ft, so my saw handles most of the stuff i can get. my other big issue is enough sheds to put the slabs in to dry... LOL

 

[TehTDK]

@gstirling
i was thinking of getting a hemtt trailer. its got a 20,000 lb capacity which will do everything i need it to do. only downside is, the dolley axle is a pivot point and the pintle is another pivot point. iv tried backing a fuel tck with a dolley axle trailer, and i SUCK at it. if there was a way (think i figured it out, but might not be the best way) to secure the trailer tongue to the truck and let the pivot axle follow behind the truck, and turn the trailer on the axle pivot like a normal gn/fw or bp trailer. but i think doing that would cause sever tire skid and probably break a LOT of stuff with a 20,000 lb load and 1 axle skidding around a curve or making sharp/tight corner turns. IDK though. I know i dislike a double pivot point trailer. guess i better get better at backing them kind of trailers if i get the hemtt trailer.

Reversing with double pivots are a pain. I mean I got the hang of it during my certification, but haven't reversed a double since. Going forward is easy enough and they turn nice and tight, but don't ask me to reverse one around a bend or in a straight line

 

[charlesmann]

Well, got both wreckers home today. The wrecker company I bought the, from delivered the non operational 1 with a rollback semi trailer and used a wheel lift truck to back close enough to where I needed it and dropped it. The wife and I played with the drag winch and yarded the parts truck into my hay field. Gonna have to find a way for 1 person to pay the drag out since in neutral, there is NO free spool option, and found out no driving forward while the pto is engaged. There is a rats nest on the line and I couldn’t get it over the winding pulley, so I disengaged the system, dragged the cable through, then rinsed and repeated several more time till I got the tck far enough to start yarding on it. The parts tck had 3 flats, well, 2 shredded and 1 flat, with a flat and shred on the steer. The steering wheel didn’t want to turn to well.

Does anyone know of a way to, if at all possible, to drive while the crane/drag pto is engaged? I’m thinking not, but who knows. May be an option out there for different pto set up that can be air shifted, yet still allow for driving use, similar to a civi truck with a wet kit.
Thoughts?

Single man tug-o-war with the drag is a drag already. I thought I read somewhere, where an electric winch was mentioned, but the possible chances of not getting the electric winch to match with the payout and something braking (elec winch).

@gstirling
How far along are you with the remote setup?

 

[zebedee]

Using an electric winch would be an option, especially if you had something with elastic properties between the two it would indicate when you needed to pull with the 'helper' winch. Pay out the drag winch and keep flicking the electric winch controller to re-tension the connection as it pulled the slack. Equally a capstain would work, you could add tension with one hand and pay off the surplus off the side of the truck.
[HOWEVER - USING WINCHES ON YOUR OWN IS NOT RECOMMENDED IN ANYTHING I HAVE READ...]

 

[charlesmann]

Using an electric winch would be an option, especially if you had something with elastic properties between the two it would indicate when you needed to pull with the 'helper' winch. Pay out the drag winch and keep flicking the electric winch controller to re-tension the connection as it pulled the slack. Equally a capstain would work, you could add tension with one hand and pay off the surplus off the side of the truck.
[HOWEVER - USING WINCHES ON YOUR OWN IS NOT RECOMMENDED IN ANYTHING I HAVE READ...]

Like you said, it’s just a recommendation. How many of us have used something or done something that mentions a 2 person minimum. 99.9% of all maintenance on our acft says “have helper” when performing said task.
I was thinking of using a winch with a synthetic line for those elastic properties you mentioned.
I do wanna find another method of the pto engagement that allows for the truck to be able to move while engaged.

 

[gstirling]

Well, got both wreckers home today. The wrecker company I bought the, from delivered the non operational 1 with a rollback semi trailer and used a wheel lift truck to back close enough to where I needed it and dropped it. The wife and I played with the drag winch and yarded the parts truck into my hay field. Gonna have to find a way for 1 person to pay the drag out since in neutral, there is NO free spool option, and found out no driving forward while the pto is engaged. There is a rats nest on the line and I couldn’t get it over the winding pulley, so I disengaged the system, dragged the cable through, then rinsed and repeated several more time till I got the tck far enough to start yarding on it. The parts tck had 3 flats, well, 2 shredded and 1 flat, with a flat and shred on the steer. The steering wheel didn’t want to turn to well.

Does anyone know of a way to, if at all possible, to drive while the crane/drag pto is engaged? I’m thinking not, but who knows. May be an option out there for different pto set up that can be air shifted, yet still allow for driving use, similar to a civi truck with a wet kit.
Thoughts?

Single man tug-o-war with the drag is a drag already. I thought I read somewhere, where an electric winch was mentioned, but the possible chances of not getting the electric winch to match with the payout and something braking (elec winch).

@gstirling
How far along are you with the remote setup?

i bought the remote for the rear winch, but other projects have over taken its install, no not much to report. but it is one way to help solve the free spool issue when only one person is present.

 

[charlesmann]

i bought the remote for the rear winch, but other projects have over taken its install, no not much to report. but it is one way to help solve the free spool issue when only one person is present.

What did the remote and actuators cost you if you dont mind me asking. Msg me if you dont want it open to all on cost.
I was thinking of going with 1 8 position for the crane, and a 4 pos for the rear and front winches.

 

[gstirling]

What did the remote and actuators cost you if you dont mind me asking. Msg me if you dont want it open to all on cost.
I was thinking of going with 1 8 position for the crane, and a 4 pos for the rear and front winches.

the prices vary with how complete a "kit" you order, https://www.lodar.com/, and who your dealer is. I got mine thru bailey hydraulics they were way cheaper then grainger and others. Lodar sells a 24 v unit, i got the two air actuator kit, i think it was in the mid 700$ range (2 yrs ago). there is a thread here on SS about a guy who installed it. basically you weld the actuators on to the existing handles, they will fit in the tool box just under the levers. then source air and power to them. only "issue" is where to put the antenna where it will see you but not get ripped off. one cool thing with lodar is you get to pick the symbols or words that go on each button. another thing, i called lodar and they were very helpful on install questions etc...

 

[Redpawn]

If one crane is good and two is better what's four?

 

[Curtisje]

Used mine to move my M1008 bed in the sand lot today. I love having a tow truck... it's just handy.

 

[Ram1911]

One thing's for sure. If I owned one, I'd probably have bought more surplus stuff since I would then be able to move the other stuff, like gensets, ISO boxes, etc. Not to mention farm use. I've "owned" 2 MTV wreckers and a HEMTT wrecker. Unfortunately, my boss doesn't believe in "possession is 9/10ths, and I had to sign it all over to the next guy. They really wouldn't have appreciated it had I decided to keep those 6 howitzers. For the "wreckord" I was the "first owner" of those two MTV wreckers. I remember doing the full inventory, climbing all over them with my supply sgt. Lord, that was 12-13 years ago. I remember thinking how much better we were set up as a Fwd Spt Co than the old HHSB maint & recovery section was. I had 3 true wreckers and 3 brand new contact trucks, plus a shop truck and 20' CONEX trailer. That was just my maintenance section.

 

[Guyfang]

What unit?

 

[Slate]

After much deliberation, I think I'm going to start looking for a wrecker. Good thread.

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