Heavy duty ramp truck for Merlo 50.30

They are saying Wednesday or Thursday now.... holiday slow downs it is what it is! The grapple will be a few weeks behind so that is a bit of a bummer. Definitely will sling some stuff with it in the meantime. Will give me some time to play with it and hopefully get it on the road.
 
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Showed up today... Pretty stoked, but bummed that I still have to wait for the grapplesaw. It's a very impressive machine. Pretty neat to have the capability of swapping out different attachments.

They make a man basket that can control the crane functions from the platform. Very neat, but it costs 17,000 plus shipping. Wondering if I sound like a total cheapskate hack if I'm considering buying a fork mounting man basket for 3,000 plus shipping. (the merlo has a remote control that can run the functions of the crane without someone sitting in the seat.) Or if you had a job that only required a few cuts here and there, you could send someone up in the basket and another guy running the controls linked up with headsets of course. Not something we'd be using often, but seems like it would come in handy as an option in the toolbox.
Here's a link to that: https://www.skidsteers.com/industrial-work-platform-haugen/

Another thing I'm wondering if I sound dumb considering is this fork mounting crane hook for running slings. Seems pretty legit and would come in handy all the time especially considering that the Grapplesaw weighs slightly north of 2000 pounds.:

Fork Mounted Swivel Hooks | Haugen

Easily lift heavy loads without your forks using the fork mounted swivel hooks. Made in the USA.
www.skidsteers.com www.skidsteers.com

What do you think?
 
Congratulations on the new machine.

Sfoppema said:
if you had a job that only required a few cuts here and there, you could send someone up in the basket and another guy running the controls
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There is a local company with a treemek and a man basket that will do this occasionally. It weirds me out a little to not be in control of my bucket, but I will hang from a crane. It's basically the same thing so I'm sure it'd be fine.


Sfoppema said:
Another thing I'm wondering if I sound dumb considering is this fork mounting crane hook for running slings. Seems pretty legit and would come in handy all the time especially considering that the Grapplesaw weighs slightly north of 2000 pounds.:
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Personally, and keep in mind that I've never seen this machine, I'd look into removing the forks and adding a hook attachment for slings. Or girth slings to the frame if it's smooth then shackle around the wood. This would remove the weight of the forks and prevent the forks from possibly getting tangled in brush.
 
Looks good!

I will second the thought from above, make/buy a hook mount that can be installed in lieu of the forks. There may even be a lifting loop on that machine already, if so you might use that and just mount a hook to it with a shackle or two.
 
I'm hoping so thanks! A little anticlimactic as I still don't have the grapplesaw. Ordered a hook for it so should be able to start playing soon. I've been "pretending" around my property when I have time to familiarize myself with it. Really have to get the machine close for it to be efficient. Any further than 50 feet away and capacity drops off quick (at least using the grapple saw which weighs 2000). Closer than that and she's a killer for sure. I figure we'll be slinging a fair bit without the saw further away or when there isn't a clear shot to get the saw in.. Or not, will be hard to say for sure until we actually start using it. Very excited.
 
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Took a few dead trees down around my property on Thursday with her. Came in Wednesday. The grapple/saw is huge and very robustly built. Operation seems extremely straight forward and simple. Aside from running a smaller knuckle boom for a few years, I have not operated a crane, but have operated front end loaders for years. Someone who has run a mini ex or excavator with grapple or even a mini skid could pretty much jump right in and go if doing straight forward trees on flat firm ground with no wires about.... All controls built into the Merlo joystick. Super smooth and simple. Computer/load sensing helps take the guess work out. Pretty much the only thing to worry about is taking too big a piece, so shoot for 50% and don't be an idiot.....
I'm told from people who know that some limbs heavily hanging in a bad direction for putting a saw into the wood can be difficult to cut without getting saw stuck. In those cases, and quite often I think having a climber available to make cuts and/or to clear out an area for the saw to grab (like a densely branched pine or spruce, or a deciduous tree with horizontal/drooping branches growing directly at the machine... Seems like it would save lots of messing around to have someone quickly clear that stuff when needed....) would increase the productivity of the machine and reduce time messing around or getting saw stuck..... Pretty excited. Wish I had a better means to move it, but going to drive it for close stuff and hire a guy to move it if going further for now....
 
I'm not quite done with the idea of the straight job transporter yet... Imagine removing the pusher and the second axle from the rear on this truck, then building a platform with "wells" into which the wheels could sit to get the wheels of the merlo to sit just below the height of the truck tires. The Merlo only has about a foot of ground clearance, so even with a small well, you'd probably be right around 40 inches high. Merlo can be brought down to 10 feet flat. So you'd be under 13 6 by a hair, which is fine with me....

Weight would still be distributed well on the truck and the front axles would certainly not be overloaded, could probably even put the loader down on the roof (Build a mount for it to sit on) if you wanted to....

Does anyone know if it is legal to remove axles like that on a truck like this? Probably need to go through some paperwork etc, but just curious to know if it is actually possible.... Cheers!


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Sfoppema said:
I'm not quite done with the idea of the straight job transporter yet... Imagine removing the pusher and the second axle from the rear on this truck, then building a platform with "wells" into which the wheels could sit to get the wheels of the merlo to sit just below the height of the truck tires. The Merlo only has about a foot of ground clearance, so even with a small well, you'd probably be right around 40 inches high. Merlo can be brought down to 10 feet flat. So you'd be under 13 6 by a hair, which is fine with me....

Weight would still be distributed well on the truck and the front axles would certainly not be overloaded, could probably even put the loader down on the roof (Build a mount for it to sit on) if you wanted to....

Does anyone know if it is legal to remove axles like that on a truck like this? Probably need to go through some paperwork etc, but just curious to know if it is actually possible.... Cheers!


View attachment 80399
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Interesting idea with that chassis. Using something like that may be possible, and removing axles can be done, as long as you have what in PA is called an Enhanced Inspection performed afterwards, to have a qualified mechanic certify your work was done correctly and the truck is still road legal.

One caution though is bridge law - make sure your weights will be legal for bridges after you take off those axles, I could see that as a problem. @Steve Connally can probably share more on that subject than I can, I know he’s dealt with it with his crane.
 
It's a terrible drawing, but this is what I am getting at in the previous description... once again the machine with the saw weighs 48000
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I see your concern. Just looking at it I would think their might be too much weigh on the rear, but it would be close. I wouldn't be opposed to leaving the two axles in the rear, taking out the two in the middle, and keeping the two steer axles. So long as it is long enough. The chassis itself on the Merlo is 18' long. The loader sticks out another 8 or so feet. Seems like it's gotta be doable... Or leave the pusher on where it is... Only would need to get the "wells" down a little bit to get to 40-42 inch platform height.....
 
Sfoppema said:
I see your concern. Just looking at it I would think their might be too much weigh on the rear, but it would be close. I wouldn't be opposed to leaving the two axles in the rear, taking out the two in the middle, and keeping the two steer axles. So long as it is long enough. The chassis itself on the Merlo is 18' long. The loader sticks out another 8 or so feet. Seems like it's gotta be doable... Or leave the pusher on where it is... Only would need to get the "wells" down a little bit to get to 40-42 inch platform height.....
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What is the frame height now? Figure you’ll add probably 6” to build a bed that will hold that machine, you’ll have to build your wells deep enough to counter that. Is that feasible?

You might be able to move that lift axle forward, just in front of the forward well, that could help with your weight problem.
 
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