Bought this crane. It is a Wellman 40 ton railway crane. Here are some links Auction https://ibid.illinois.gov/item.php?id=380473 Webpage about a similar crane: http://www.oil-electric.com/2015/12/wellman-diesel-electric-locomotive-crane.html I will bring my own RT crane to take it apart. There is an access road nearby so I can bring my crane, bobcat on my lowboy. The crane has a Detroit engine. It most likely has a concrete counterweight in the back and I wonder what the counterweight might weigh.
That's a nice find ! That would make an awesome yard crane for someone .
It is probably beyond repair. I have no plans to sell it, I will simply torch it down for scrap. I will try to salvage the Detroit if the engine turns. Detroits generally can be sold.
I doubt that it has anything other than the small counterweight you can see just below the door on the rear of the crane. Those rigs don't have much boom, and wouldn't need much counterweight. There will be more weight in the trucks than the counterweight, and that acts like counterweight for the crane.
Thanks. Do you think that it could really weigh 90 short tons? (with the counterweight in)
25,000lbs apiece for the trucks, 30 for the deck, 40 for the upper. I'm guessing at 100- 120,000, but its kind of hard to get physical size without being up next to it. Is the house the size of a 4100 or more like a 50 ton american? Makes a big difference on weight. I could see the deck being ballasted, more likely than counterweight in the house.
That's pretty KOOL.. Yes, save the engine if you can.. the 2 cycle parts are getting RARE.. We had a disclaimer on the 2 cycle parts order. NO REFUNDS.. because they were "special orders".. the restocking fee from our vendor was CRAZY expensive.. so no refunds..
What motor is in it? I’m always looking to add another green leaker to my collection.....
I forgot to check, I will report on the detroit engine when I get to start dismantling it.
Looks like a 6-71 . https://ibid.illinois.gov/item.php?id=380473#
You're in luck, I did some reading in the links you posted- that's not just a crane upper on a flat car lower, its probably a self propelled locomotive/ engine . So its going to have a big traction motor down below and electric generators up above- heavy copper. The generators are probably worth something, maybe the traction motor in the lower deck also. It would be worth looking into, I know there's a used market for the trucks and traction motors, I just don't know what they would be worth, or if it would be worth holding onto them hoping to find that right "buyer". I did see one picture where someone removed the crane and was just using it as a switcher engine. The right grain elevator would maybe be interested in it just to move cars around. If it still works.
That was my next question crane op . Is it self propelled ? Sure looks like a generator mounted to the Detroit bellhousing . Similar to a WABCO setup .
I would not cut that up just yet. You should contact American & Ohio Locomotive Crane Company, and see if they are interested in it. They buy and refurbish locomotive cranes. www.aolcrane.com
There’s also a guy here in Oklahoma that buys and sells old railroad equipment. I’ll see if I can scrounge up his info.
Read a little closer that whole article, that was a DE-300 at 180,000lbs. Its actually a diesel over electric crane, they also made mechanical versions after being bought by american, but yours should all be electric. Yours is also bigger than the one in the article. I don't know where he got his weight figures. I couldn't find any better specs. My first call would be to the link that mowingman gave. Looks like they totally rebuild them. I'm sure they will give you a weight. And it is self propelled. And it would be a shame to cut it up for scrap, but someone has to have a use for it in order to keep it running.
Thanks. It is all electric, meaning that there is a 500 volt generator attached to the motor, and the trucks have electric propulsion in them. I am guessing that the propulsion motor is as big as the generator, and that the crane hoist motors are also about as big as the generator.
I found a brochure for this crane! https://www.aolcrane.com/ohiocrane.html It says that "working weight" is 241,400 lbs. Does "working weight" include the crane and maximum load? Or just crane with fuel and water? Thanks
Sure wish I could be there in the morning when Chudov shows up with new batteries & fuel to fire the rig up .
Working weight wouldn't include load. It must be a big ba$tr* up close. Looks like they have two traction motors in it also. Nice brochure. I would think it would be worth more together, or at least as parts than as scrap. I know the traction motors and trucks are expensive from the ones I've been around.
td25c, you are reading my mind, I definitely want to do that and will do that!!! This crane belonged to MWRD (Metropolitan water reclamation district) all its life. There is a good chance that it is a low hours crane. The job of MWRD is mostly to dry out fermentated cr@p and sewage and it is not ina railroad or steel scrap business - unlikely to use the railway crane heavily.
Me too. This is a very interesting piece of iron I would like to see up close.
That's how we roll Bro ! Had similar thoughts about the rail crane . Probably low hour unit that got parked on a rail siding for one reason or another . I bet it wont take much to wake the 6-71 up & getter blowing smoke again .
Prior to bidding, I did visit the site, and climbed into the crane. It does look like you have described. That it was parked on that spur a long time ago and forgotten. MWRD has a lot of municipal money and rail is not their core business so they did not care. What I am concerned about is whether water was used as coolant and could that crack the engine in winter. I was planning on dismantling it with my 1974 crane so old age is not a problem as such. The Wellman is a 1961 machine.
Oh well .….. 1971 model is a middle aged unit . No idea about if it had antifreeze in it ? But with those cold Chicagoland winds in the wintertime I bet it did .
Sorry I misspoke, mistyped, it is 1961 not 1971. I was made in 1971 however. ;=)
I’d be flabbergasted if it didn’t have anti-freeze in it. If they knew it was going to sit they may have drained it all. If you’re gonna bust it off pull the valve cover and make sure the rack is free.....ask me how I know! Lmao. You may know that I just don’t like runaways!
I wonder if it is legal to take the locomotive horn and put it on my semi truck?
Seems like every hay truck I work on has a locomotive horn on it. They are air hogs though.
Only if you blow it sitting at a crossing. Don’t ask me how I know! Plumb it right and it’ll shake the wax out of your ears! I use an extra tank, relay valve and some BIG air line if you really want it to talk!
Man o man, why did they take my railroad tracks out. I want it.
First place I worked had a cool old tricked out 379 water truck. Hit the train horns on that and watch your air pressure drop like a rock!
It is on tracks, you just do not see them in grass. I think that it is a more or less functional yard railway.
I'm betting as long as it has been sitting, it wont move easily. I had to move an old tank car a few years back and it was a struggle to break it loose. We opened the journal boxes and sprayed tons of WD 40 on the axle journals and tugged the car 'til it would roll, then squirted engine oil on the axles to keep it going. Tank car had been sitting in one place for 30 years and we were jerking it with a 960 Cat loader. Now the class 1 railroads will not move a piece of equipment with friction bearings. I imagine that crane is stuck where it's at.
Last I knew friction bearings could be ran on the railroad that owned the equipment or car but nobody else's. Ed
I seen you got tracks. They took out both the BN and the Sioux Line tracks by my place. Made them all into ATV trails. We went from two railroads to none in a hurry.
Junkyards post #26.!!! heed that warning.. & find the "flapper" air shut off.. It might be tripped.. if it is, it'll never start.. AND.. MAKE SURE its working.. .. if she "starts to go".. you'll want that thing in working condition.!!! Good luck & stay safe..
I ran a Browhoist loco crane of around the same era. (early 1950's maybe earlier) 45 ton, the frame had pig iron as additional ballast, probably for traction. One traction motor per truck (one axle driven) Travel and swing electric , hoist, boom mechanical. Generator output around 250VDC amps around that figure. 6-71 screamer, old style blower, I hated that SOB,
Why did you hate it? I can kind of imagine but wanted to find out...
That old 6-71 Screeched like 37 outraged Banshees. We got a new Browhoist about 1960, purred in comparison to the older one Years ago I read that the blower went from two impellers to three.
I don't think the inline 71 series engines ever had a 2 lobe blower, 53's yes, but I have never seen a 71 with a 2 lobe and never seen it mentioned in some of my really old service manuals ('72 vintage) and those cover old low block engines with a one piece head gasket.
They still use cranes like this on the dams on the Mississippi to clear log jams and other maintenance. They almost all have rail on top of them.
I dunno, just remember reading that many years ago. I far as I know it could have any number of lobs between 2 and 17!
Anyone know, do you think that it is full of concrete overall or just in the top cab counterweight?
Pretty sure that deck is one big solid casting. Counterweights tend to be just that diagonally painted piece in the back.
3 lobe helical rotors all the way Bro !
I doubt that any of it is a concrete counterweight. I can't think of any cranes that use a concrete counterweight. Everything I've ever been around has been a casting, or a steel box filled with steel. Concrete would eat up a steel box over time. I take that all back, I have seen concrete counterweights as a stackable group on a portable tower crane, and some tail swing towers use cast concrete sections as their tail weights. But I doubt that your railroad crane has any concrete in it. Concrete only weighs 150lbs per cubic ft. Steel is 490lbs per cubic ft. More weight in less room.
Can tell pretty quick on a counterweight buy tapping on it with a hammer . Should be a distinct even sound all over a cast iron weight . No change in tone so to speak . If the music tone changes it's filled with something other than steel . Welded construction counterweight's are more than likely filled .
Why don't you just call AOL Crane on Monday. Give them the S/N and they can tell you for sure.
I worked at a shop that made a couple counterweights for a big crane. I had the delightful job of cutting 6" drill stem with about a 2" wall thickness into length's to fit inside the steel box. I think they put sand in to fill all the space around the drill stem. I had to do it outside and it was about 95F. I was wearing a leather jacket and heavy overalls. I probably lost 10lbs cutting that drill stem. I think the counterweights were about 15 tons each.
Any luck getting the 6 - 71 fired up ?
I will get to it in a week. A company is giving me a CNC machine on monday, then I have to go with my crane elsewhere, and right after I will go to the railroad crane project.
Went past a big scrapyard in Bay City about 12 years ago, could see 4-5 old crane booms above the fence. On the return trip, one was moving, rather quickly across the yard. Stopped at an open gate to look, every one was a railroad crane. Still earning their keep Ed
We got one rig like that . He still thinks it's 1956 . LOL
Wellman 40, wow didn't know they had machinery with my last name, how cool it that. Guess I was meant for this ***.
So Spud your last name is 40??????????????????????????????
Nope you got it backwards lol
So your first name is 40?
I have some Forklift counter weights that are cast iron shells that were poured full of lead. Incredibly heavy.
And if they had gold poured into them,they would be 50% heavier still!!!
And 1000% more expensive.
Dang i have never been into that scrapyard i remember seeing the booms but thats it , next time i come home to michigan i may have to make a east turn onto us 10 vs going west
Sure we can run with that
Good reason to go with depleted uranium, a lot cheaper than gold and plenty of it around.
@ichudov , any progress with this?
No I am stuck in an endless back and forth with insurance certificates.
Should be starting on Tuesday... I wish that we could start a month earlier, it was much better weather...
OK, today was the first day, got my RT crane in there and started working.
Firstly congratulation and as we all know that the rail mounted locomotive crane provides a dependable and economic approach to material handling or construction activities. Whether it is a simple lift, breakdown rescue, duty cycle material handling, or pile driving, a locomotive crane has been engineered to do the job.
Thank you for copy pasting a text snippet from an unrelated website!
ichudov.....I watch “Gold Rush” weekly wishing I had the time and wealth to do what Tony Beets is doing with that Dredge (using a couple RT cranes for dismantling). I’ve changed my mind....I’m going to your yard to play! That is one cool project!
This crane is literally full of metal, using steel cutoffs for heavy counterweights. I realized also that it was a dragline.
I remember many years ago working on old Bucyrus crawler cranes, in the parts book it listed the counterweight as "xxxx hundredweight of scrap steel punchings"
@ichudov How long do you think it will take to dismantle this crane? I know you're doing it for profit, I'm just curious what kind of timeline is involved and what the estimated payoff will be. Also, do you have any progress pictures to detail how you broke down? Really neat project you're working on. I've demo'd some residential and agricultural structures , but nothing like this.
Ironworker plugs make the best counterweight or weight for traction in 2 wheel drive trucks in winter. Way heavier than sand bags.
The top of the superstructure (not the bottom of the superstructure) is almost all gone.