I have an old drott carry deck crane, works great for what I use it for, mainly in the shop to assist lifting stuff and an extra set of hands to hold things in place while working. The crane I have only has a short boom on it, around 20 foot or so. Has anyone built a jib extension for one before? I don't intend to lift much with it, but I have a loft in my shop that we use for storage, we're constantly hoisting stuff up and down and could use a bit longer boom to reach the back of the loft to lift instead of dragging everything over to the edge of the loft in order to reach it with the crane.
Close up picture of the boom head would help . My first thought is old school simple a frame jib with pendant lines .
I'll get some photo's coming.
Randy , Pipe works really good for jibs & spreader bars . Chances are you already have something around the farm just waiting to be re commissioned for the jib project . That's fancy talk for sayin ( go out back to the bone yard for some pipe ) We knifed up the old Kewanee auger running gear for the pipe . Part of it went to the FWD truck and spreader bar for the crane . Those running gears are built pretty tough . Notice the extra webbing on the spreader bar . Came off the lower leg of the running gear of the auger like this one . http://www.tractorhouse.com/listings/farm-equipment/for-sale/10104331/kewanee-8x51
Like TD stated, adding a jib has a lot to do with how the boom head is configured. But if it turns out your boom head isn't designed for any form of jib, as for grabbing things stored on the loft, maybe place items on a pallet and use a pallet jack to move things around on the loft and get them to a place where your carry deck boom can grab them. Just an option if you can't make the modification to the crane boom.
These are a couple pictures of the boom end, I was thinking I'd unpin the pulley and use heavy walled tubing to do a pin on extension, if anyone knows how to do a swing around jib, that way all I'd have to do is move the pulley, swing the jib and pin it in place, pin on the pulley end and I'd be ready to go.
You could probably make any style jib work if the boom head was modified for it . Came up with a " fold over " jib idea . I would utilize the heavy boom cylinder pin to hang & hinge the works . Bottom of the jib base would butt against sheave structure . Probably go with a thin wall square tube . Maybe 6" x 6" x 1/8 " thick and 8 ' long . Thinking capacity at the end around 300 pounds . One draw back is the main line would thread through the tube but that may not be to big of a deal .
Thanks for the idea, I'd been thinking more of a swing around design, but to flip it over would sure be easier to do. Has anyone ever put another section in a crane boom before, most are three section extension, mine has only two??
If that crane is not gonna be on a job site and only around the shop I'd get some square tube you could just slide over the end of the boom. Looks like you'd have to take the sheave off to do that. I'd use that pin to attach the jib to the end of the boom. I guess it depends how much you want to use it.
Yeah Randy , that's the easiest way I could come up with a folding jib without doing surgery on the boom head . Probably weigh about 120 pounds . Hang on a second ....... Spotted a factory jib . Might give those cat's a shout & see if they would sell you the jib off that unit . http://www.machinerytrader.com/listings/construction-equipment/for-sale/10153927/1982-drott-85rm2