Could you load a mini excavator into a box van ? I'm looking to buy a Cat. 303.5 mini excavator and store it in my box van. The Van is 26' long, 8' wide, and 8' tall, with a roll up door and the bed is 4' off the ground. The tracks are at least 7' long which means, if the lip of the track was resting on the tailgate it would be less than 100% grade from the ground to the tailgate . I hope to raise the ends of the track to the tailgate with the bucket resting on the steel door frame just behind the fibreglass roof, (might not be strong enough) or on the ground just outside the side of the van and forward of the tailgate. Just wondering if I can get the angle right to keep the stick off the door frame and still lift both tracks to the tailgate without tipping onto one track ? I know the boom won't fit upright under the roof, once inside. Anyone seen this done ?
Spec sheet shows 8.2 feet to the top of the cab if you had the height ramps or a dirt bank would get you in
At 8'2" it would also re-engineer the roof of the box truck and the excavator.....
The cab of the excavator should fit, or I could pick a different model of excavator where the cab would fit in the van. The real question is whether I can raise the tracks to the tailgate with the bucket on the ground and off to the side of the excavator without hitting the door frame with the stick or tipping over sideways. Maybe once the tracks are in the air at a 45 degree angle, I could swing the boom to the side / or walk/rotate the tracks without tipping onto one track.
If I understand correctly what you're thinking, I think you're failing to take into account that, when on an angle, the distance to the top corner of the roof is going to be more than 8 feet. If the bottom black line is the ground, or the floor of the trailer, when the machine is sitting level, it fits. But when you put it on a slope, the height of the trailer needs to be high enough to accommodate the distance between the corner of the roof and some midpoint of the track. That's going to be more than 8 feet, as shown by the red lines. Or am I not understanding correctly?
Nice diagram! A picture really is worth a thousand words. That angle is definitely something to be cautious of, 107 inches is only a couple of inches to spare. I'll have to make sure the tracks are level with the bed before walking inside under the roof. I just wanted to know if I need ramps because of the door frame and the reach of the stick.
Busy with Harvest right now, moving corn and beans to the elevator. The step you take before you get to the diagram picture, where you're raising the tracks to the tailgate is the step I am wondering about. The stick/boom interfering with the door frame ? Is that why they call it a boom? I can't believe nobody's put a mini excavator inside a Van before.
I don't see how you'd be able to lift the tracks that high and get the boom out of the way. Prove me wrong and post a picture.
I'm with delmer, if you put the stick on the bed to lift the tracks, you're going to have to walk it ahead and you won't get the stick out of the way, and its going to be hitting the top of the door. Popping that thing off a 4' drop all the time, doesn't sound like fun to me. The reason no one does it, is because it would be a big pain, a trailer would be much easier to load and unload. Forget loading it on a slope or with muddy tracks either. Not much for good tie down points, in a box truck either. I think it would be a good way to dump one on its side. Could you do it in a perfect situation? maybe. Who wants to do that everyday?
The most applicable definition in the dictionary is: "Machinery . a spar or beam projecting from the mast of a derrick for supporting or guiding the weights to be lifted. " It follows that the excavator boom is named after its predecessors on cranes and derricks. The origin is the Dutch word "boom", which means "tree". I thought everybody knew that... Thanks. I had to use my crayons, cause I'm not allowed to have sharp things like pencils. (Without using ramps), there are lots of videos on the internet showing various excavators being loaded or unloaded using flatbed trucks or trailers. Some show good results, and others, not so good results. The common theme to them is that the boom is placed on the deck to get one end of the tracks up there, and then the boom is swung around to raise the other end to a point where the machine is able to safely walk the rest of the way on. I can't see a way to raise both ends up without being able to make that 180 degree swing, which kind of rules out a box truck. I think if you were to use ramps, you'd want to keep the boom at the low end anyway. In case the tracks were to slip, you'd be able to give yourself a little push. Also, when unloading, you'd be better able to control that teetering point by having the bucket on the ground, rather than in the trailer. Obviously that makes visibility an issue when loading, unless you have eyes in the back of your head. But life is full of compromises. Really, I might be willing to try putting one in a box truck once, on a dare, but I'd be wary of making a habit of it.
Willing....heck, I'd jump at the chance... as long as the man making the dare owns the hoe and the box truck.
That's a small machine and isn't likely to have a big oil sump. I'd be worried about oil pressure at that angle. I think making a habit out of loading that way is just an accident waiting to happen, sooner rather than later. It could an expensive accident and it could be a fatal accident.
Here's the idea. Obviously, a one-track lift would be very bad. Hopefully I can post some REAL pictures soon. I wonder how often people misjudge the angle and roll over? I would think the blade down would give you a wider stance almost like an outrigger, assuming the ground was hard. And keeping the bucket closer to the machine, would provide more stability.
Here's some video's that show guys loading mini's without ramps into dump trucks. You can see when they spin, that's where you're going to have issues. If you had a long enough tailgate that you could be outside the box when you spin, you'll make it, but if you don't have any tailgate, the boom is going to hit the side of the box.
I've seen mini's in vans before , but I've only seen them loaded off ramps or pushing up a heap of dirt. I would have thought it would be pretty difficult to get the tracks on the edge of the bed and swing the boom round without getting caught up on the sides. Much better to look out for a cheap set of second hand ramps. As long as they are made to take the weight longer are always better in these situations. Graham
I helped my nephew design/build this set of folding ramps for his truck so he can move his mini excavator. He has used it for one season now & I think everything worked out ok. Just discovered I cant get the link to open properly, so will try later.
Here is the link.