Appreciate if someone can shed some light on this issue: Can Rough terrain cranes be used on the road? I mean if it's not on load and has to taken from, say point A to point B the distance between which is 5km. Is this going to affect the crane/ will it tip over in any way considering it is being used only on a well paved road. Couldn't find any info on this in the manuals.
Not sure what mdel crane you are talking about as you give no information. We used to road a 30 ton Grove rough terrian about 8 miles from our yard to a local paper mill Quite often. You do have to keep an eye on the transmission temp but we never had an issue. Boom sucked all the way in and the block tied back to the front pintal hitch. It moved right along.
Thanks for that info. I failed to include the details. SO here it goes.. Its a grove RT700E. That's exactly we are planning to move it..
So long as the hook block is tied back really the only limit on how far you can move it is how much bouncing the operator can withstand before he gets dizzy. RT cranes are known to bounce quite a bit. For a 5km move on a tarred road I wouldn't even think twice about it provided any permissions have been obtained if they are necessary. If it was me I would also shape a hardwood block to form a saddle and use it to block between the top end of the boom hoist cylinder and the boom itself. That way even with any leakage in the hydraulics the boom cannot come down below the position to which you initially lower it befpore starting your journey.
I guess I'll have to go with that with all the precautions stated above.. I'm doubtful about how it would affect the lockout cylinders..
I think you should read your manual seems I read somewhere that you are suppose to disconnect the hyd. pumps when roading the crane, there is a lever for that, DW
Definitely disengage the hyd pump. The oil will get pretty hot if you don't. As long as you keep your eye on the temperatures you can drive it as far as you want.
That was the reason I suggested a saddle block in between the hoist cylinder and the boom. With the pumps disconnected if the boom creeps down you have no easy way of getting it back up again other than to stop, engage the pumps, raise the boom, then disengage the pumps again. Apart from that if you have the hook block tied back and the boom comes down then the hook block will no longer be securely fixed to the pintle hitch and will start to swing. To me the major limiting factor apart from the operator on how far (and how fast) you can run the crane on the road is the tyres which are not designed for high-speed running on tar roads and will get quite hot, especially in your climate conditions. 5km should be well within their capability though. I would plan to do the move in the early morning before things get really hot.
I have a Grove RT-60S. The manual says: 1) It can go very far on roads 2) Disconnect the hydraulic pump 3) Every 2 hours, take a 30 minute break
My P&H 20 ton travels on the road but it sure is slow. About 10 MPH tops and walking speed on any hill. Powered by a 4-53 Detroit Diesel