3000W Chinese Gensets Info.

professor95 wrote:
John,

Very nicely done! I do like the idea of being able to use the electric hoist in the manner you elected, but I am curious as to why you did not use the jack and/or a winch as I did? Was it because the electric winch was there and ...... well, electric? Or, did you feel that by extending the boom you needed a higher fulcrum for support?

On the case of the crane popping off of the support when the boom is lowered.... I guess you know this is a result of the fulcrum (electric winch) being high on the boom. With the fulcrum back at the jack point, this would not happen.

A suggestion to help keep the crane base in place would be a brace that extends from the post next to the crane out over the top. This could be a steel "L" bracket type extension or even something similar to your wooden base extension - possibly screwed to the inside edges of the pole and coming out to cap the crane. ...

I went with the electric winch because:
(a) I already had it!
(b) It's very convenient to climb up into the pickup bed, pull the pins that secure the hitch, just reach over and grab the corded remote and lift away! It's not unusual for the hitch to bind as it is lifted and it's very convenient to be able to regulate the lifting from the pickup bed - I sometimes take a pry bar and "pop" up one corner if it binds a bit. I'm lazy - I like this much better than climbing in and out of the pickup to pump the manual hydraulic cylinder!
(c) I realized I would have to mount the base up off the floor so that it would clear the side rail of my pickup (my F250 has 4WD and 20" wheels, so its very tall!). I also knew I was going to have to extend the boom (it's only 53" originally) to 72" or more to reach the center of the pickup's bed. I was concerned that all that leverage/fulcrum on an elevated base might give me stability problems. By attaching the hoist, the hoist is taking the vast majority of the weight and now the boom is no longer in flexion, but in compression, i.e. it's just propping the hoist and it's load out there. Now, the forces are pushing down on the base and it's amenable to side-bracing as I did - it's extremely stable!
(d) I mounted the winch so far out because the existing winch brackets would not fit the boom, but they do fit my extension.

I really like your idea of the "L" bracket as a safety from the base popping up! That will eliminate having to unpin a restrictor or having to pin the crane when the boom is below horizontal. In fact, I think I also might drill a hole in the center of the top cap of the crane and run a short axle down from the "L" bracket thru the hole. This would give further stability in the event I overloaded the crane and the mounting base began to lean - the axle would prevent the top cap from moving horizontally and stabilize it further.

Regards,

John