I had to do some crane work in a tight spot my proper crane can't get to, so I built a telescoping jib attachment for my 3 ton mini. I just used it for the first time today and it worked great!
Got a load chart for that?
Nice work! What's the capacity? That could come in handy as hell around my equipment yard.
I designed it with a safety factor of two for 500 lb at full extension, 2000 lb retracted. The next step when I have time will be testing how that compares to machine capability. I'm going to start by seeing if the machine will lift a 55 gal drum of water (460 lb) full out horizontal without one of the cylinders relieving.
handy for lifting a barbeque off an upper deck
I'm going to venture a guess that hoe couldn't pick 2000 lbs without the jib, lol. Full out horizontal, I'd be willing to bet 500 pounds will exceed the tipping load over the side of the tracks, possibly over the end. I agree with CM, however. Would be handy as heck for things the skidder forks can't reach.
That's what I'm anticipating. I picked my design loads to ensure the attachment is stronger than the capacity of the machine. The heaviest handrail I'm putting up with it is under 250 lb. I'm curious what it will do though. It's a lot more stable than I expected when I was jumping on it fully extended.
Some build photos. The inner slides The grease line to the upper inner slide Building the outer guide on a crop of tube The outer guide on it's mounting flange
That is a slick little solution to having to spot a boom truck way out front and all the traffic nightmares that poses. My preferred test with that is pick a load and go 360 smoothly with the blade up, to find blade up tipping. Then do any critical picks over the blade down. I did that with my 920 pound steel sheet and found that the 35g with standard counterweight could swing it anywhere all the way out. Now I can contemplate a heavier sheet if the need arises.
I know from experience moving oversized riprap with this machine that the port reliefs will crack open and bleed down a cylinder before the machine ever gets tippy. It will move some surprisingly large rocks though for this size of machine. I want to ensure I'm well on the safe side working overhead this close to the house, because if it does crack a relief and bleed down it will only increase the working radius and the moment on the cylinder and will just continue to relieve down until it hits something. I'm building the heaviest 25' long front handrail now, so I'll do some more thorough testing of the jib attachment before installing it.
Nice looking job fabbing that. I have a 303.5 Cat and i find lifting over the blade is fine ,but swing over the side with the cleanup bucket full and try and reach out you get a good feeling for stability or insatability.The relief on the bucket cylinder must give a good margin of safety. Id just avoid grabbing something heavy up high to bring it down.
i see that and want to add a block and a winch to it. I know you´ve used up the circuits already.
I was so tempted to do that too. Right now I've just commandeered the boom-offset function for this to get it working, but the eventual plan is to use these two 6-way valves I bought and run some more lines up the boom. I'm going to put a DPDT switch on the dash, Up will switch one coil on to divert boom offset flow to thumb, center position will turn off both coils so oil flows to boom-offset, Down will turn on both coils to divert flow to aux. If I put quick connects on the thumb pipes I could use that circuit as a second aux. for a small winch. I just think that might be getting carried away when I already have a crane I can use for straight picks most of the time haha. I haven't mounted these 6-ways in the machine yet because I've got a hydraulic pin grabber coming from Alibaba right now and I want to see that valve before I decide how to mount everything in the limited space under the floor. I also need room in there for mounting relief blocks to protect the thumb cylinder when that circuit is disabled.
put ball valves out on the stick, like the swap valves to use a hoe pack.
Impressive workmanship, just be real careful!! If something goes bad it looks like it could get ugly in a hurry.
Those 3 way ball valves are pricey. I looked at them for aux hydraulics, but a pair of them was the same cost as a second 6-way solenoid valve, so I went that route so I never need to leave the seat. If I go with a winch I can probably deal with quick connects, as I'll never switch over to thumb with the jib on.
yes thatś why a winch would be nice. figure out the angles and loads it can take and put in a good safety margin. Then you winch things up instead of booming and sticking through the bad parts of the "chart"
Or for lifting the prepared pig and the keg up to the barbie!
Be really cautious using that as a business tied device Anything at all happens and you are open for serious suits and fines unless have engineering drawings with capacities charts, steel type classifications and weld certifications. Is great for personal or a farmer but is the same issue as home made debris cages on machines; Not rated for safe use by industrial testing.
I only work on my own properties, so that's not a concern for me. These machines are a hobby, I'm not a contractor. I do have certs for the steel and ran FEA analysis on the design before building it for my own peace of mind, but I'm not a ticketed welder.
Im impressed with the fab work, great job on the build!!