Positioning "Ute" Cranes

[Lionelgee]

Hello All,

I will soon be swapping out my "ute" crane from my old trailer and fitting it to my new - larger trailer. Currently, the crane is fitted to the back passenger-side corner. I have also seen utes, tray trucks and trailers that have the crane fitted at the front passenger side corner.

The positioning of the crane is one of those things you just take notice of when you see them.

I chose to use the back corner to mount the crane because the trailer could be reversed up close to the load. With me I seem to find myself in locations with confined access. Situations where a side-swing into the back of the trailer is blocked by a shed wall or a tree trunk. I am just lucky I guess!

I will be fitting an electric winch to the trailer. I have previously used a hand operated winch. Again the winch is used when the pick-up site prevents being able to reverse straight up to the load. The winch skull-drags the load up to the crane.

I have found that having a crane mounted at the back corner of the trailer also keeps timid drivers from sitting too close behind you on the highway. [bigsmile1]

What is the advantage of having the crane mounted at the front passenger-side corner of the trailer?

I thought I will ask about front-corner mounting cranes before swapping things over.

Kind regards
Lionel

[roverrescue]

Two reasons I can establish

First in a bush Ute, up against the headboard is protected
Down the back corner is liable to wearing a low hanging or leaning branch

Second a lot of Ute trays back corners are hanging in mid air with chassis a solid 400-500 forward of the back corner


Now to your problem. If you are fabbing the trailer and crane
Why not consider welding in heavy 75SHS5 receiver tube in each corner front and back of trailer. Mount crane on a stub of 65SHS

Then can move crane to wherever it best suits

S

[Lionelgee]

Two reasons I can establish

Why not consider welding in heavy 75SHS5 receiver tube in each corner front and back of trailer. Mount crane on a stub of 65SHS

Then can move crane to wherever it best suits

S

Hello Rover Rescue,

Gee something that I had not thought about. Hmmm how very clever!

I did find out that in my old single axle trailer having the crane mounted at the back made it very easy to tip when the trailer was empty and being moved around by hand. My new trailer is a tandem so that issue is taken care of.

Kind regards
Lionel

[87County]

I think roverrescue's idea has merit and would help you.

I have a friend who has his crane located on a plated/strengthened deck towards the rear of the trailer.

To assist in managing potential out-of-balance or overbalance situations when loading heavy items he positions his highlift jack to support the trailer in that zone when lifting something such things. It seems to be a safer method of loading & unloading large bushrocks or large stumps while still allowing the the load to be swung around into the trailer bed.

[Grappler]

With the crane mounted at the rear corner the moment of force transferred to the vehicle is greater than when mounted "midship"
Mounted in the middle of the vehicle you only need one outrigger to stabilize the lateral force that wants to roll the vehicle, assuming the crane is lifting from one side of the vehicle
When mounted at the rear the force can be in two planes, longitudinal and lateral, so you should use two outriggers
By mounting the crane close to the centre of gravity of your vehicle, and using outriggers, the stability during lifting will be safer

[roverrescue]

Just got an email at the moment
Hare & Forbes currently have a 900kg rated boom crane swivel base extending for $295

S

[POD]

Not sure what your tow vehicle is but have you considered mounting the winch to the vehicle instead of the trailer?

[Lionelgee]

Not sure what your tow vehicle is but have you considered mounting the winch to the vehicle instead of the trailer?


Hello POD,

The current tow-car is a VY Commodore Wagon. Prior to that it was a VN Sedan.

I do have one of two Series 3 Land Rover tray back utes which will be mounted with a receiver for the crane.

However, the Series 3 utes are being restored - the Commodore is on the road and fully registered.

Kind regards
Lionel

[Lionelgee]

With the crane mounted at the rear corner the moment of force transferred to the vehicle is greater than when mounted "midship"
Mounted in the middle of the vehicle you only need one outrigger to stabilize the lateral force that wants to roll the vehicle, assuming the crane is lifting from one side of the vehicle
When mounted at the rear the force can be in two planes, longitudinal and lateral, so you should use two outriggers
By mounting the crane close to the centre of gravity of your vehicle, and using outriggers, the stability during lifting will be safer

Hello Grappler,

Thank you for the detailed reply about the forces during a lift. I do have two outriggers that I use - with my old trailer. While not elaborate they are effective ... in most situations.

I would like to swap them out for ones that telescope and are adjustable vertically. Also, have them being able to extend out sideways more. A while ago, I had a load that swung out just that little bit too much. It certainly made my heart rise up in my chest for a while. The thought crossed my mind at the time .... "Hmmm, I think I can improve that design just a wee bit"

Oh and similarly, during my first ever lift - swing and load with my old trailer - years ago ... I learnt that it is best to have the tailgate locked up. The tray of the trailer started to bend during the lift when I had the tailgate open- "oops - well there is the first and last time for that happening!"

When I first bought the crane I asked a boilermaker to weld in a reinforcing plate on trailer - even with this plate the trailer still bent. After that incident, I bought thick walled square hollow section that has three parallel runs along the full width of the trailer floor. The crane is bolted through these in line with its mounting. Underneath the trailer's floor is the boilermaker's plate and another three full width runs of square hollow section. I still make sure that the tailgate is locked up tight during the lift, despite my doing this reinforcement work! Once bitten ...

Kind regards
Lionel

[Lionelgee]

Hello All,

I have been thinking about a possible different method to fix the ute crane down and have the advantage of allowing it to re-positioned easily.

My background was in the rural and horticulture area. This involved using tractors and implements. The fixing points are combination of clevis pins with lynch pins to hold them in place - along with purpose fit bushes - in different categories.

Just wondering whether the combination of the correct sized and rated clevis pins and lynch pins would be suitable for securing the ute crane to the trailer. Instead of having two mounts and swapping the crane between them - only one mount would be needed. It would be a quick release crane.

What are your thoughts?

Kind regards
Lionel

[JDNSW]

The question of crane position - my crane is mounted on the LH front headboard of my big trailer. This has the advantage over having it at the back that it does not interfer with access to the bed of the trailer when using it for example with the sides and tailgate off, or when swinging a long load on using it.

Useful for picking up stuff from the side, and easier to load stuff towards the front of the trailer.

I also have a mount that is bolted onto the LH rear corner of the trailer I use for fencing in winter and with a tank (lifted on with the crane) as a firefighter in summer. The same mount can be bolted onto the top of the mudguard box in the back of the 2a, as I have fabricated a support under it bolted to the outrigger and with captive nuts for the mount.