Roadmaster 9000 demo. today

There is 57,500lbs in total counterweight. I figured our log truck will take when we need them all. But for the most part the crane still has plenty capacity with only a few that we can carry on the deck. I guess it will all depend on the job with the size tree and radius I need to work within.

I'm sure in the future I may get a tandem flatbed truck dedicated to the counterweights and any additional cribbing I may need.
 
OK you got me studying the 9000 now. A couple of things you must consider as well as I look at this closer and your not gonna like it. First it only has a 30% gradeability. Which basically means if you take a 3'8"piece of plywood (approx) and prop it up one foot on one side that is the size of the slope this machine can climb MAX. Consider the 4100 can climb 63.4%. I dont understand why that is it may not have the power , tourque or gear ratios but if it is true this machine just wont climb it. Also if you look at the rear approach angle it is only 13% which means entering or exiting driveways you are going to get hung up and do damage especially with the kind of weight that you are putting down metal to pavement. I have a bunch more concerns, you will need more than a 100' wide area to pull off a 180 degree (u-turn) that is a 10 lane highway, using both breakdown lanes. consider the area needed to back into a driveway. I got a bunch more the closer I look. You want to hear them, or maybe I'll call you, might be easier than typing. Consider those grades and angles though and get some answers. Too much money to spend for disappointments. I could be wrong but you should look closer theses are not things most would consider, I never have but it's not my money either.
 
Sinko brings up some very valid points, its not always apples to apples when comparing.


Is there an Eddy current brake available for any, or all, of the axles? If so it is worth every penny to upgrade into it. I know its an option on the GMK's, not sure on the 9000, couldnt find it in the materials.
 
Thanks for the advice, but I had already considered these. I got to play with this crane for over three hours. If I didn't like it I would not have put a down payment on it. If it doesn't work out for us I can always sell it. No big deal.
 
Well like you said earlier it will be a good write off for the next five years. And, you could just sell it if it doesn't work,easy enough. But that won't get you back yor 7% sales tax or the 12% FET tax which between the two is approaching the 200K mark when you include any insurance expense.

Not really trying to direct this at you but it's a cool topic that I don't think many of us consider on larger purchases as this. I appreciate you sharing.

You mentioned earlier too about midspan outriggers which is fine but you will still have a 16' tail swing (measured from center of turret, 32' needed to make a complete revolution)

BB brought a good point http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddy_current_brake they probably make one for this machine I have heard of them on large dump trucks.

Not trying to discourage you at all, I got looking at it as it is very interesting and these are the drawbacks I found and needed to share them with somebody. 30% grade ability still scares me, so if some one can help me understand this? 30% is not steep at all. Maybe it has the power but not the traction spinning conventional tires, I know fully loaded 18 wheelers that can't back a trailer up that slope. Plenty of HP just no traction going forward or backing up slopes. Is there an option for adding drive axles to the front wheels?
 
I wouldn't think the turning radius would be an issue, being able to do a U turn in a crane doesn't seem like something important. The Grove I mentioned above has the twin front steering axles like the Roadie, and it gets into driveways beautifully, better than the 33t boom truck we often use.


30% grade seems fairly steep to me. 60% is getting close to a 45* angle, I wouldn't think you would even want to try that even if it was theoretically possible like it says in the literature.

Is it a megaform type boom, and is it a shuttle boom on the 9000? My crane guy says the boom on the Roadie is a pickin fool, good chart, good boom from Germany.
 
Sinko Let me know next time your ready to make a million dollar purchase so I can bash your truck.
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It's already a done deal. They have my deposit and I have three weeks to secure the financing. Kinda like a sale on a home contingent on getting a mortgage.
 
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Sinko Let me know next time your ready to make a million dollar purchase so I can bash your truck.
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It's already a done deal. They have my deposit and I have three weeks to secure the financing. Kinda like a sale on a home contingent on getting a mortgage.

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So you're saying there's still time to back out and get a Grove?
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Lol, I called Shawmut and thought that was the direction I was originaly going in. Like I said the 3055 was 850k and the 4100 was well over a million. I believe more like 1.2 mil. Considering I already have the 50 ton, I thought for 850k I wouldn't be getting that much more done than we already are. So for 50k more I thought why not get something that has capacity closer to the 4115 if you look at the charts. Agree to disagree?
 
Cory a 30% grade is only 16.7 degrees a 60% grade is about 30 degrees. Now doesn't that sound a little more unrealistic? I thought so too. My driveway is about 50% slope and I would not consider that steep at all.

If that has made more sense now consider what needing 100' to make a u-turn. Consider a residential road is 30-35' wide and you want to back into a driveway constructed at a 90 degree angle without driving on the opposite sidewalk or the neighbors lawn. If there's a tree or a telephone pole opposite the driveway it just may not happen. One more small consideration, it can only approach driveways which are 13 degrees or less, degrees not grade.

Cameron, I was afraid you might have that reaction thinking I was "bashing". Totally not the case' we don't know each other I'm truly interested in the machine and these are are legitimate questions and I'm hoping I'm wrong on them but judging by your response......? The price of machine has little to do with my question. If someone discovered a unique tool no matter the cost I would look to see how it might be applied. Much like my interest in Mike Poores use of large knuckle booms. So please don't take it personal totally not my intention.

All this info on degrees, percentages and angles I just learned because I saw this rig and had to learn more. I hope it helps you as well, but maybe you already knew it all. Which sounds like it is the case. So I guess I'm speaking to others like myself who never needed to consider these factors before.
 
I was just breaking your balls hence the tongue sticking it out. I'm more concerned about the weight going into driveways. Around here you can get almost everything from the street. Take in consideration I have two other cranes already thats why I went with something that has excellent reach and capacity at a price I can afford.
 
We have the gradeabilty issue with our other cranes. We just lay out cribbing under the tires to get up a little higher to get into some driveways. I have that problem every now and then with my drop axle on the 50. But the cribbing has fix that on the rare occasion I need to do that. If I didn't already have the two other cranes, I probably would have gone with the 3055 as that would get most of my work done.
 
You don't understand, you are talking about the approach angle which yes you can drive the tires up on some dunnage and correct that problem, do it evenly on this truck because she is so heavy that if you drive one axle up on dunnage and the other is hanging you will potentially blow those 4 tires then the other 4, because you are putting so much weight on just one axle conventional tires especially 22.5 can't handle it and will fail. This was one of my other concerns because I wondered how you would add additional cribbing to an outrigger because you could not crib under those sloped outrigger beams so you would need to go under the rubber.

Here's what you don't understand about gradeability it is the ability for this machine to drive up a greater than 16.7degree (30 percent slope). Basically if roads in your town are greater than that you will have to go around. Now do you understand the seriousness of this? Maybe it is a print error? Because this scenario is unbelievable isn't it? And believe me if a manufacture says 30 I would bet a 31 degree slope will bring this to a stop. Again try my plywood trick 3' 8" piece of ply wood propped up 12" on one side flat on the ground on the other and that is all she wrote you can't climb anything greater than that. Basically a wheelchair ramp.

Like I said I hope I'm wrong, but clearly you don't understand and I hope you prove me wrong but that is what the brochure says. I'm sure you would have to push and pull a 4115 up anything greater than a 63.4percent slope. If this is true you don't want it, take it for another drive.
 
Maybe this will help you understand gradeability. No testosterone involved. Why don't you just assure me that this thing hauls up hills, you spent 3 hrs with it in a parking lot mostly loading and unloading weights.

My hunch? The spec. Is right and you don't buy this thing. It was built to beat a union oiler out of a job, mostly building bridges on level highways. Which I'm all for. Never intended to residential tree work.


Gradients limit the load that a locomotive can haul, including the weight of the locomotive itself. On a 1% gradient (1 in 100) a locomotive can pull half (or less) of the load that it can pull on level track. (A heavily loaded train rolling at 20 km/hr on heavy rail may require ten times the pull on a 1% upgrade that it does on the level at that speed.)

In vehicular engineering, various land-based designs (cars, SUVs, trucks, trains, etc.) are rated for their ability to ascend terrain. (Trains typically rate much lower than cars.) The highest grade a vehicle can ascend while maintaining a particular speed is sometimes termed that vehicle's "gradeability" (or, less often, "grade ability")


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Grades_degrees.svg
 
I'm not saying your wrong or anything, but I did a sheet of plywood and lifted it up 12" in four foot. That is pretty steep if you ask me. Most cars can't make it up that grade without scraping off the nose. That would be one steep apron.
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But I thank you for all your input. I by far have the smallest ego here. Just thought I share my experience of what I've been up to lately.
 
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