These are some pics of our unit crane with the dragline bucket loading my old dump truck about 8 years ago still runs painted since then my Dad operating it continental gas engine
Looks like a old 1020 good old mic
it is a 1020
Do you still have your 1020? I have found one and would to get it but I have had no experience with this model. The one I am looking at has a continental gas as well.
Yes we still have it we dont use it much any more.dont know how much i can help you my dad is the crane operator but i can try. the crane when we got had been sitn a while and we got it running pretty fast .let me know what questions u have and between me and dad we can try to help
Thanks for the reply, does the boom have a lock or dog to prevent the boom from dropping In case the internal drum breaks? The unit that I am looking at is a 1946 with 50 ft of boom.
The machine in the pictures is a 1/2 or 5/8 yard Unit model 614 or 617, not a 1020. The 1020’s counterweight is different. Rosspipelines, Unit cranes do not have any locks or dogs on the boom hoist. The boom hoist is locked with a spring loaded brake band and drum assembly. It is operated by a worm gear and sliding drive gear, so it is locked in position when not in use. As long as it is adjusted properly there is a better chance of the cable breaking than the hoist letting go.
Ok, the worm drive on the boom gear is what keeps it from a free fall when not in use. That seems like a very good design. Do you know if the engines were options? it would appear that there are straight eight models and those with detroits. We're the Detroit models 3-71 or another variant? Did they use the same bell housing #. Sorry to be picking you guys brains. There is just very little info on the Internet about these unit cranes.
Yes, they put several different engines in them, I think the straight 8C Chrysler was the most popular gas. I have also herd of ford and continental gas engines in them. For diesel engines the smaller Units had 2-71s and the 1020, 1220 had a 3-71, and the 271C had a 4-71. The 53 series engines may have also been used. I know it is possible to switch from a gas engine to a 3-71, as my uncle did it in his 1020, but I believe that you would also have to switch the bell housing, clutch, and even the worm gear that drives the gear box, as the gas engine would run at a different speed than the diesel.
Thanks for the info. I wish I could post a picture here for you guys to see. I just joined so I am limited as to what I can post. The gentlemen that has the crane had the motor rebuilt about 10 years ago and he has not run the unit in close to 4 years now. Just sits there. I want the unit to dig out shafts with a clam and then work in my yard loading my processor. That was my questioning about the engines. I would prefer a Detroit but if the engine is workable than it would most likely not be worth repowering. We have a 1977 Lima 50 sc that we use for piling work and runs a detroit, great engines. I was talking to my crane inspector about the unit and he said as long as the boom does not have a free fall then I can be certified to work on a job. That was encouraging news.
i have 2 unit cranes i am looking to sell
Dave, I might be interested in them. Send me an email with some more information like the models, how they are equiped, where they are located, how much you are asking, and any pictures. [email protected]
well i have the info on the cranes and pictures but i cant post them the cable drop crane comes with cable excavator arm and scoop is serial no 57152 model 617 mach no 57152 date2-1457 the other one is a unit crane also and serial no 50346 model 614 mach no 56364 date 5-08-56 the motors have been kept covered and i believe there is no water damage to them
Hey ror76a, I think I know where your uncles machine is, I too live in michigan and happen to stumble upon a Unit 1020A dragline sitting in a field. I stopped and took lots of pictures. I noticed that it had been converted from gas to a 3-71 Detroit because if the machine came from the factory with a Detroit the blower would have been mounted to the left side of the machine...this one had it on the right side. It also had the gauge panel in the cab modified, the accelerator control was missing along with the choke knob, all signs of a previous gas engine. I put a slide show of it on YouTube and was contacted by a man by the name of Don E. He seemed to know everything about that machine and said he was a previous operator of it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8z1B_UtHioA&list=UUbcEhJEmqrTe9SZJTEIyZFA&index=40&feature=plcp Thats the link to my video on it. Do any of these names ring a bell: Don Potts, **** Pratner....AKA Dirty **** the dirt hauler out of Jackson Mi Please get back to me im very curious on this old girl. Right now she located just up the road a bit from Houghton Lake sitting in a field near a half dug pond by the road, the house on the property has been forclosed and long abandond. I will be revisiting this machine to take more pictures soon and maybe a Youtube walk around of it, since I know this machine inside and out. Shoot me an email at [email protected] if you want to talk, I have a full manual to this machine and if you see any pictures in my Youtube vid that you like, there yours.....hope its the same machine...more than likely it is!