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Truck Mounted Cranes

67K views 59 replies 27 participants last post by  marios 
#1 ·
What other truck mounted cranes are being used for beekeeping? If a Ezyloader cost $25K I need to find something more in my price range.
 
#35 ·
Again I will bring up the fact that there are a lot of used Payne, Kelly and easy loaders setting around. Before the fork lift, they were all that folks used. The price would be around $3,000.00 not $20,000.00. I built my Payne for less than $3,000.00. Heck, I remember when we made beek forklifts out of old Jeeps and some of those are still being used today. OH, I forgot this younger generation has to buy everything NEW right out of the box.
 
#38 ·
The fire started on the edge of the highway just over the mountain. We assume a tossed cigarette.
The hives have bottom boards and were on pallets(the type made to hold hives with bottoms).BUT they were not all supered up the same height and some were splits. Using the forklift in this emergency would have been a nightmare.
(by the way -all the pallets burned up)

I find the boom loaders more versatile and allows more flexibility in management.

On the other hand I sank a boom truck down to the bed last week in a muddy field.The forklift would have allowed me to park the truck on solid ground and run in 2 pallets at a time.

To go from bottom boards to clip pallets requires a lot of changes in management. My current set up is a compromise.


Just a few thoughts FWIW
 
#39 ·
>>OH, I forgot this younger generation has to buy everything NEW right out of the box

I dont see why it really matters. Its a machine, its modified to be used in a beekeeping operation, and it works very well. Its costly, but the expense is justified by its ease of use and efficiencies it brings to the operation. Only the operator can justify the cost of ones purchases.
New, well, ya, its available. Bring a Payne loader over and see if you can keep up to me in a bee yard shifting boxes.

Perhaps the cost of efficiency is something the younger generation can justify easier. We have a lifetime ahead of us,

Dont get me wrong, I have a 65 year old spinner, that needs to be replaced, and a honeyhouse that needs to be new, and an extractor that needs to be replaced. Lots of places to put the money. The trick is to put the money where it pays back the most benefit.

Last season I didnt lift a single box. how many beekeepers around can say that? How many old beekeepers look back and reflect "only if I had a machine that would help with the lifting".
 
#40 ·
Ian is right in that the EZ loader runs circles around any other loader.
The only way to realize this is to take the controls and try it yourself.
With the Payne or Kelly, there is SOOOOO much enertia to deal with and leveling is a nightmare compared with pushing a button for 1 1/2 second.
The EZ loader is a nuckle boom. This allows you to pick up a hive and "plunge" in between a row of trees. Very handy.
The ability to furl the EZ loader is a major blessing.
Folks with standard booms that come from the West to visit me have to drive an additional 16 miles because their booms cannot clear two railroad tressles. The EZ loader slips under those tressles with room to spare.

With all of that said, I have a friend with a large Kelly just like Peter Fonda's and I have used it many times while working with them. They love it and are used to it and it's paid for.

Most of my moves are with a forklift, but I will never, EVER get rid of my EZ loader.
Once you get used to having it around, can't imagine beekeeping without it.

AND its paid for. :p
 
#52 ·
With the Payne or Kelly, there is SOOOOO much enertia to deal with and leveling is a nightmare compared with pushing a button for 1 1/2 second.
I have a boom on my truck. It is nice to lift a hive on and off moving a couple between yards. But, loading up 40 takes quite a bit of time compared to my partner who uses a Moffat truck mounted fork lift. I am looking to get a Swinger for myself and will probably use both for a while.

I tried to use my boom it to lift suppers and found that it is easier and quicker to just lift them. I am sure if you have lifting issues these things are great but, it is way slower then just lifting them. Maneuvering the truck into the yard to work them with the lift would be an issue.

I envy the guy that can get an EZ Loader but, it takes time to lift 40 hives onto a truck and then they come out booming because they are mad that you have lifted them. Iit is much nicer to be sitting 3-4 feet away on a forklift then to be 6 inches away with them at chest level crawling all over you.

Loading a truck for moving a whole yard into almonds or fruit is for forklifts. Moving a couple between yards or for a small guy then not so sure. I think the price point needs to be 40 and above and 40 and below one 16ft truck load.

http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?273971-Aj100
 
#41 ·
Happy New Year all!

Here's a link to photos of a boom I built for myself after using a Kelly loader for several years.
http://picasaweb.google.com/wabeeman/HiveLoader#

It has several "features" built in based on my own and other beeks horror stories.
-It telescopes down for transport. I also use this feature to dismount from the truck. I just back into the barn, raise the boom, chain it to the rafters, pull two pins, retract the boom - which raises it off the truck bed- unplug the cord (I almost always remember to do this :doh:) and pull away. Including unbolting the cradle from the cab guard it takes about 4 minutes.
-The boom slides in the mount. My solution to a leveling system. Sliding the boom back counterbalances which helps a bit on uneven ground. Since I must climb up on the truck bed and manually slide the boom I rarely do this opting instead to just push harder or find flatter ground. I have used this feature several times for tight spots where I had to set bees amongst trees or other obsticles.
-It has a 16 ft reach (two 8' lengths of barn door track) which is often a foot or two short, something that doesn't happen with a swinger or bobcat.
-It is built with off the shelf parts. Grainger, Napa, Northern Tool & the local hardware store were my parts sources. If I had to special order a part I found another alternative (because that would inevitably be the part that breaks). Everything else I fabricated in such a way that it could be easily repaired by any welding shop.
-The current winch I built (OK, the motor wasn't off the shelf but my Napa store got it for me in two days). I went through several iterations of this but ended up building my own because I could customize line speed. ATV winches are too slow (when the flood waters are 15' ABOVE you and just about to top the dike :eek:). If I were to build one today I'd probably use a bigger warn winch with wireless remote. It would simplify things a lot and be cheaper than building my own albeit at the expense of customizing line speed.
-Capacity? Well...not real sure. It can load a stack of six honey packed westerns, or 4 deeps, so something over 300#. To load hives I first stack two double deep colonies, then load both on the truck. With 16' of reach you get a lot of torque/tipping on the truck, but as the truck gets loaded things even out. I suppose a creative person could rig some stabilizers but it's just something I didn't want to deal with :scratch:. If I know me, and I do, if it's not simple I won't use it.
I built this loader in 2002 and just got done with some wear and tear modifications so it has worked pretty well. I hadn't given much thought to cost until another beek asked about my building one for him but I sat down and figured this boom, in this configuration, would run around $8000 including mounting on his truck. (I never had to tell him that because in the mean time he came across an old Kelley boom for a VERY good price...free :p)
I don't have any written plans, just a few sketches, and the pictures in the fog between my ears, but if anyone were wanting to put together a loader like this I'd be happy to email with you.
 
#45 ·
Nope. I had 2 threads open and posted it in the wrong one. That is why there are two identical posts. Sorry. :doh:

EastSideBuzz

I am trying to work out the details to be the north American distributor of this and many more products in the near future. The patten owners are from Germany.

Brooklyn
Let me know what you come up with. If the price is not to huge I would be interested in one.
 
#46 ·
I am wondering if anyone has made the lifting braket like a truck mounted crane uses that would work on the forks of a bobcat. It would have to work much like the clam shell scoop that some excavating cranes use. Lower the unit and it would realease to grip the hive, lift and a clamping action firmly hold the hive, and set down and it then would release again.
 
#48 ·
Ian, I see your point on that one. I put this out there as some of the best inventions I have seen in the farming industry come from these front line users. I have used a boom that attaches to forks almost making the machine a crane. Just looking for someone to improve my idea so that one machine could be more multi use.
 
#50 ·
The Payne loader levels in all directions with the touch of a hyd lever and and raises 30 inches. They are somewhat idiotproof. These forign models just do not look strong enough. The bending moment in their joints leave no room for error. The pivot on a Payne is 3inch by 8 inch tall. I think some folks are comparing a 22 ft Payne with these forign jobs that have a reach of 14 ft. My Payne was cut down to 14 ft and had the strength to lift 600 lb close to the bed.
That said, I have a friend who bought the Aussi machine and he is a great welder. He just feels the versatility in close quarters is worth the price.
 
#53 ·
Hey guys, I have had an Ezy Loader for 6 years and it works well. It was not cheap and a pain to get to the US but as I told my wife it is cheaper than a back operation and I am a one man show. How are you guys powering your Ezy-loader? My mechanic hates second batteries so we put a high capacity battery in my F 250 and I rev up the motor. I just hate to leave the motor running while I run the loader as the Ford drinks gas but the loader needs the power.
 
#55 ·
How are you guys powering your Ezy-loader? My mechanic hates second batteries so we put a high capacity battery in my F 250 and I rev up the motor.
Tell your mechanic to go fly a kite and then purchace two high capacity utility batteries. Les Schwab calls them, "school bus batteries". DO NOT USE DEEP CYCLE!
With them wired in parallel, I can completly load or unload my truck without running the engine other than to move the truck.
My F-450 has an upfitter connection in the fuses under the hood that turns on when the engine actually starts.
Not when the key is on, but when the engine is actually running.
From that point you can turn on a continous duty relay that connects your auxillery batteries to your truck batteries.
Maybe your F250 has this point as well. (Don't ask your mechanic; ask Ford)
I really like the idea of arranging your hives in a keyhole style in honey yards.
Then when you go to pull honey you can pull the truck in and pull honey with the boom.
Do you want to have your truck running the entire time? Of course not.
Good luck!
 
#54 ·
I run an additional battery separated with an isolator. I see no trouble with this, its done with RVs just about everywhere.
I like this set up, as the battery will charge as I run the truck, but only the loader battery is drawn from when the truck is off.
Get your truck set up with a good alternator.
 
#59 ·
Deep cycle batteries are designed for a long, slow even discharge.
The winches on boom loaders require a tremendous amount of current each time you hit the switch just like the starter in your truck.
In fact, some booms that I have seen actually were made with automotive starter motors.
My boom has a 12 volt, 2hp motor.
Regular, heavy duty automotive batteries are the best fit for that kind of current inrush.
 
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