Just some work pics

[John Griffin]

I've had one for 10 years. When you really need a RT, a truck crane isn't getting there. It sat at a school project for 6 months, 2-3 days a week usage last year. Real busy for 2-3 months of it, less at the start and finish.

That project was a flat clay mudhole that wasn't walkable after a rain. We never would have gotten it done without the RT.

I have no idea what your state rules are for oversize/ overweight. If they will let you have 20k on a tandem you should get it on a tandem. 57,000 for crane and 20,000 for truck and 15-18,000 for trailer is 92,000 gross. Max, no permit, is 80,000. Rear axles of the trailer and your drives will be the problem.

For me in rental, the biggest pain with the RT is the hauling. There's never room to drop/ unload, its hard with narrow roads and tight corners. So we only take the RT if its the only thing that will do it. Which means I just didn't want a terrible lot of money tied up in one, but I still like having one. We have roaded ours about 3 miles at the most. I know some guys road them much further, but you want to watch transmission temps.

Ask a local dirt guy/ equipment hauler. He'll know what he needs for a 60,000lbs excavator.

I've been doing some checking. 100k annual os/ow permit here is $100 annually. I will have to have one since this crane is 8ft 8 in. 8 ft 6 in is out max here without permit. 88k lbs gvw is our limit here on state roads. With the permit, I'm allowed 22k per axle.

Unfortunately, it basically looks to close to call. Have to load it and go to my local cat scale. It's close enough trailer tare weight is going to be a factor. The safe bet is a triple axle. Just more weight and tires to drag around. My semi has a 370 hp C10 10 speed so its gonna be pushing it already with a tandem. I'd rather stay away from a triple for maneuvering where we need to go.

 

[crane operator]

The size of well you need, will determine more how it goes around corners. The triple axle doesn't hurt as much as the big wells do. I think mine is a 24'6" well, Those 230's aren't very big, you might get by with a 20' well. Front outrigger box might be over the tires a bit, but that doesn't hurt anything.

You're going to want a little more truck though.

 

[John Griffin]

The size of well you need, will determine more how it goes around corners. The triple axle doesn't hurt as much as the big wells do. I think mine is a 24'6" well, Those 230's aren't very big, you might get by with a 20' well. Front outrigger box might be over the tires a bit, but that doesn't hurt anything.

You're going to want a little more truck though.

Yeah we have some possibly of buying a larger excavator in the future that would take a lowboy to move. We might buy a 50 ton rt crane one day so I should probably go with a triple axle lowboy. I dont want to have to buy another lowboy later.

I see us moving this to 3 to 6 jobs a year. If we could find a local reliable hauler, I'd just contract it out and buy a fixed neck lowboy for our other machine hauling. We have a cat steel track loader and have given up on trying to get it moved when needed. It just turns into a huge headache. I can probably start with my current truck as most of my moves will be 10 to 15 miles away so I dont care if it's slow. At some point if we are doing it all the time, I'll upgrade my truck.

 

[JaredV]

Three axle with a raised air lift back axle will handle like a two axle. If you have a spare wire on your trailer plug, put an electrically operated valve on the trailer and a switch in the cab. Come to a tight corner, pick it up, turn, and put it down without missing a beat.

 

[Manistar]

Looks like the rt650e gives you pretty nice bump in capacity for a similar weight machine. Not sure how often you'll miss the 5' of boom but it seems like it doesn't matter how long it is there's always a situation you wish it was a little longer.

 

[Natman]

After I found out I could get a (approved/certified by National) 1400 counterweight for my rig, I did. Then I found out I was going across the scales at over 40K, just enough to get called in and talked too. I was told the solution was a annual pewrmit that would only cost a few cents a mile, 8 I think it was, so I signed up To my surprise, maybe because I'm cheap, plus I travel a lot, that added up pretty quick to real money, that's when I decided to take the jib off, and empty my rear dunnage racks out when I know I'm going thru the port, now I go across at 39,800 lbs or so and best of all have not been called in since!

 

[crane operator]

Driver damages construction project in Springfield, Mo. by driving through wet concrete

A construction project at a busy Springfield intersection may take slightly longer than expected after a driver went around the cones and ended up in freshly laid concrete.

www.ky3.com

 

[Welder Dave]

That's a case where there should be a ticket and a fine for stupidity. Make the driver pay for redoing the concrete and impound their car until it's paid.

 

[kshansen]

That's a case where there should be a ticket and a fine for stupidity. Make the driver pay for redoing the concrete and impound their car until it's paid.

and don't let anyone wash it!

 

[terex herder]

I wouldn't want to own that car any longer than tomorrow.

 

[crane operator]

Well my 40 ton RT and my old 25 ton truck crane got loaded up and hauled off this week.

Kind of hard to see the old 25 go. I wore out 3 3208's and finally got tired of that game and repowered with a 8.3 cummins.

Its headed to warmer weather in louisiana, as a yard crane. Kind of a working retirement (probably its 3rd or 4th retirement). Its got to have 50-60,000 hours on it. Most likely more. Front end steering is beyond shot, and it hasn't been safe to drive in years.

It didn't owe me anything, and it gave me everything I ever asked of it.

 

[crane operator]

New (to me) RT is here. 2001 rt650e. 105' main, jib, 5.9 with a manual injection pump.

Lots of little things to fix, but doesn't look like anything majorly wrong. Winches seem slow, but neither drum is full of cable. Test picked, and overall structure inspection. Not quite ready for a job, but close.

 

[crane operator]

Shop is full. KW is still down with a N14 after it dropped a pushrod. Got used crank installed, now waiting on heads. One of the link belt 40 ton's is in the other stall, its got a hyd. pump rebuild going on, and needed some driveline work.

The other 40 link belt required a on the job suspension rebuild- again. We keep breaking off the arms that go from the top of the axle housing to the frame rail. Both the ones I own have had troubles there, and had been worked on before I got them. I think they are just too heavy on the back for the suspension.

Of course he was out in the middle of nowhere when it broke off, and then as usual it wipes out a air bag. fortunately we just stock them now. Sent the welder and a couple guys, pulled tires for access and they got it back home. Until the next time.

We've been busy, I dont' think quite as busy as we were toward the tail end of last year/ last fall, but still plenty to do. I find that we are traveling further away all the time, which is also putting a lot more travel wear on the cranes.

 

[Welder Dave]

It's good to be busy. Some machines you get pretty attached to. I've got a 1965 MF135 UK that we got in about 1980. I found a loader for it and a cab off an MF20. I had to make the back window frame and the lower door for the cab. It has a 3 cyl. Perkins and is the most reliable machine I have. It will be really hard to see it go when the time comes. I imagine it's good for a few more decades.

 

[HATCHEQUIP]

It didn't owe me anything, and it gave me everything I ever asked of it.

Thats a pretty good epitaph the old girl

​

 

[crane operator]

Thats a pretty good epitaph the old girl

​

Its kind of stupid, but I left before they came to get it with the lowboy. I just didn't want to be there when they loaded it up.

Rebuilt pump did not solve all the issues we were having with one of the 40t linkbelts. Got it narrowed down to a issue in the winch valve stack. Removed it and took it to local hyd. shop. Something in the valve sector was bypassing oil back to tank, not allowing it to build pressure to release the winch brakes. The Hydraulic shop called this afternoon, they found where the problem was, and have it fixed, hopefully have it back up and running tomorrow.

Was great weather this past weekend, went kayaking down in arkansas on the upper buffalo. You have to hit it mid spring, and right rain patterns, or the water is too low. Water level was great.

Of course my wife and youngest daughter just floated through the rapids, while my kayak was overloaded, and I would just go "thunk a thunka thunka" through the rapids, hitting every rock in sight. I need something with a little better floatation and higher sideboards.