Burned in

Now what to do with the 2" tube when not in use??? Bring on some tabs!

As I mentioned this thing travels in my race trailer and occasionally attached to the receiver on the front or back of my truck. The Damn legs have always gotten tossed somewhere. Well no more. I pinned them.
Small spring loaded pins.

Which brings me to the jack itself when the unit isn't in use. The jack would just flop around. So I initially welded a 5/8 stud and you could use a bolt to hold it in place. I rethought that and cut a 5/8" receiver pin so you just pull the pin vs. needing a wrench.
Threaded before the 86'ing

Pinned as it is now

 

Burned in

So, whats that in the background??? :smokin:

 

Now the next thing that swings around is the boom. Set it up to be Spring loaded pinned off the jack mount base.

Next up where to mount the jack handle. Before it had a piece of bailing wire so you could hang it off the handle. Some 1" tubing and whamo!

And lastly this thing really lacked tie downs or any good way to secure it in the trailer. Bring on the "Eyelets"

 

And here as some fully assembled pics before I tore it down to go to paint and powder coat.

And in case you were wondering about the ratchet strap. It goes down and hooks to the gooseneck chain catches in the bed of my truck to counter the lifting force when its hanging off the receiver.

And here is how it looks right now as I'm taking it over to my buddy Robert Leady at FURL Coatings (**** You Robert Leady) sometime this week. Any suggestions on colors? I'm planning on Powder coated main body, and then just single stage base for the legs, sliding boom, two vertical braces and the receiver tube. Red looks too generic like a Craftsman, I thought about Green as it would match my SnapOn box. But around my truck and the salt car it would look like XMAS with the Red & Green clash. Yellow looks cheap to me like Harbor Freight, same with Orange. I was kind of thinking Silver with White legs and stuff. Then get it pinstriped and labeled in Black and Red.

My next pics will be of it full assembled after getting coated. So a lot of work and I didnt even increase its carrying capacity :laughing:

 

Nice I like it. My buddy has this cylinder on his. Just hook it to the compressor.

http://www.harborfreight.com/8-ton-long-ram-air-hydraulic-jack-94562.html

 

Nice build. I actually have that exact same AC Delco cherry picker from O'Reillys, although it's only about 5 years old and not nearly as transport ready as yours is...

As for colors, you could alwasy go with the stock colors. Silver/Tanish and Blue.

 

I like the hitch mount! Don't know where you got the wheels from, I got some 6" steel polyurethane wrapped casters for about $30 each and they have a 1,200lb rating per caster. Ive gotten all my casters for my axle dollies and mobile axle rack, might look them up http://www.cc-efi.com/Products/Casters/casters.aspx. Not trying to be a know it all, just might save you a little $.

Ive been kicking around the idea of upgrading mine too, was also free but one of the better heavier duty ones. Thinking about beefing up the boom, changing out the ram for air over, adding a couple pulleys to the topside, and a 12v 3,000 lb +/- winch to the back side. We'll see if I actually get enough motivation to do it...

 

No got all 6 for $72 + tax Thats $12 a piece. I use Mapp Caster, just walk in the front door and find what fits my needs for each project. They are just east of downtown Houston so its reall easy to scoot over at lunch. I'd have scrapped this thing before paying $72/wheel, shoot even $30/wheel is higher than giraffe pussy :laughing:

I hear you on beefing up the boom. I really thought long and hard about it. Problem was I would be adding weight to an already heavy piece of equipment. And for my mobile needs of in and out of the trailer, etc. I opted to leave the boom alone....for now.

so what are those plastic caster rated at?

They are actually Phenolic, and rated 900lbs/each. Mapp had some 6" Rubber on Aluminum Core Casters in the bargains bin for $10 but they were really heavy and for the couple buck difference I went with the phenolics. IIRC their capacities were near the same.


Dropped it all off yesterday to get powdercoated. The base, mast, and boom will be silver. An almost metalflake silver. And the legs, boom extension, support bars, and reciever will all be bright white. SHould have it back this time next week then taking it to a buddy of mine to pinstripe it and letter the boom for lift capacities. Should be a nice piece of equipment that will last another 10+ years before needing another revamp.

 

so what are those plastic caster rated at?

 

Guess you just have to keep in mind you have effectively derated your cherry picker.

900lb casters, means you probably shouldn't pick up 1.5-2 tons now since most of the weight sits on the front of the lift.

Don't know what you use yours for, but I've used mine to jack up rigs a lot more than I've ever used it for engines.

 

I agree. The majority of the weight will be on the front two casters and if those two casters are rated for 900 lbs each- I'd follow those ratings considering the riskiness of how the load is suspended.

 

Sweet upgrades and you garage is nicer than the kitchen in my last house before remodeling. Got to ask how fast does the car run?

 

That shop is cleaner than my kitchen.

Car looks neat, I used to have an old front engine drag car, I never thought of using a drag car as a salt car.

 

and Dustin for the win!!!
I am concerned about the leverage on the taller caster, thought that when I was deciding on them. The Mapp rep said exactly what you did that with the better rolling it shouldnt be a problem. Its something I will be paying attention to. In the end the weldplates are on, and if I have to change casters to a lower profile I will, just take 4 bolts per wheel to swap.

Thanks for the compliment on the garage. I'm a neat freak, and the cabinets are nicer than the ones in my own house. Scored them from a 3 year old new build that was already getting remodeled.

As for the car. 2010 190" Spitzer Top Fuel frame with a rigid lower rail to take the flex out. In that pic its running a 155ci Ford 4cam Coyote good for a bit over 1200hp on methanol. Car runs upper 200's, and my goal is 300 with it after we clean up the air around the front axle and where the air exits over the chutes.

Got the call today that everything will be ready for pickup on Tuesday at lunch. I'm going to semi assemble and drop it at a guys shop to have it labled and pinstriped. He's a slow old dude, so probably be two weeks before I get it back from him.

 

Since you're pimping out your hoist- I suggest fabbing up a handle that attaches to your hoist cylinder release screw. Mine has a handle and it makes it very easy to feather the down speed of the hoist arm.

 

Good call, like a star wheel or T handle so you aren't trying to use the cheesy jack handle style to do it.
Wyatt, burn a fancy handle for it and install

 

I made a similiar mod to my HF hoist last week. I added a piece of 2" tube to the back so I can stick it in reciever on the back of my truck. But I just welded it to the main upright tube below where the ram is mounted. Just remove 3 bolts and leave the extra weight of the legs on the ground. A pair of ratchet straps for pendant lines back to the tie downs in the bed and it's good to go.

 

Keep the photo's coming.

Since the cherry picker is used on the SALT, use of the different castor wheels makes sense.

On my homemade engine tilter... I stamped "max weight, 1000 pounds" on it. It will outlast me, so the kids someday will wonder "can I use it for that diesel engine?".

 

Here are some pics of mods I have done to mine over the years. I wanted bigger wheels, but I needed to keep the arms low to get under carts and trailer axles. I picked the wheels up used, they don't turn or roll well with a big load. If I was to do it over I would get phenolic wheels with a rounded profile, rather than the 2 inch wide flat profile on mine. The spacer between the jack and frame helped a lot to get the lift higher without shortening the effective length of the top arm. I am very happy with that mod. Mine started with 6 casters, now it has 4. To store it I have a small dolly I install that mimics the 2 wheels that were removed. Another trick I learned that worked well is to use bolts rather than the supplied pins for the lower arms and tighten them down snuggly. It makes it a lot more rigid, it rolls better, and is easier to position accurately.

 

Ok, back from vacation this afternoon. I'll do assembly tonight, get some pics then take it for lettering this week.

Here are some pics of mods I have done to mine over the years.
The spacer between the jack and frame helped a lot to get the lift higher without shortening the effective length of the top arm. I am very happy with that mod.

That is an awesome mod, I cant believe i didnt think of a ram lift kit.

I like what you've done with the cherry picker, especially the receiver hitch mount. That would be very useful when I'm out working on crap in the dirt! No need for the legs/casters...nice!

As for the rachet strap back to the goosenech chains, great idea. Does this get loose/tight as the boom raises/lowers? It's mounted to a moving part. Maybe it's a non-issue (given flexing/strap stretch/etc), but would it be better to mount it to the fixed upright?

Have an pics of the completed (painted) set-up?

I tried it out without a load on it before I tore it down. Yes, its a concern, but I think it will work even though the arm will gain when you set down. My dad suggested I make a fixed arm using another ram but I refuted that saying the forces are wrong it would want to pull the ram out. Am I wrong?

 

I like what you've done with the cherry picker, especially the receiver hitch mount. That would be very useful when I'm out working on crap in the dirt! No need for the legs/casters...nice!

A few observations/comments. If you have air available, the air over rams are awesome for cherry pickers. I would never have believed it until I used one...they are slick! A worthwhile upgrade if you have the air source. As for the rachet strap back to the goosenech chains, great idea. Does this get loose/tight as the boom raises/lowers? It's mounted to a moving part. Maybe it's a non-issue (given flexing/strap stretch/etc), but would it be better to mount it to the fixed upright?

Have an pics of the completed (painted) set-up?

 

I added a 4" long 1/4" bolt to the jack. Sorta off set so the main handle can slide in next to it. It works as a speed handle for jacking it up when there is no load on it. And as previously suggested I made a small T handle with 3/8" tube, it slips over the stock release port and re pinned with original pin.

I welded large 8" rubber wheel non spinning casters on the back side of mine on removable plates. In the fully 'retracted' position I can tip it back onto the wheels and wheel it like a cart to my crawl space or over rough ground etc..

 

I got everything back from powder a week and a half ago, but have been out of town on vacation every since. So here goes.

98% assembled and ready for use (minus lettering and some pinstriping). I seriously ran out of the smaller sized 7/16" washers to finish it up on a Sunday night...always the way it goes. Lack 15 for the casters on the support legs, have one left to round out the 16 needed.

I'm super happy with how it turned out. Though I was expecting the silver to have much more metal flake to it, oh well its just a Cherry Picker.

I did make one engineering error. :shaking: See the last pic.

I swore I test fit everything and then dry ran everything but I must have skipped this one. Freaking jack handle cannot be pulled from its holster it the right leg is locked up for storage. It's about 3"s too long. I think I'm just going to cut the handle down. Granted less leverage but my screw up, and the shorter pump will always remind me that I screwed up once....LOL

Pulled up to where it interferes.

 

I did make one engineering error. :shaking: See the last pic.

I swore I test fit everything and then dry ran everything but I must have skipped this one. Freaking jack handle cannot be pulled from its holster it the right leg is locked up for storage. It's about 3"s too long. I think I'm just going to cut the handle down. Granted less leverage but my screw up, and the shorter pump will always remind me that I screwed up once....LOL

Pulled up to where it interferes.

Looks great! Very nicely done. As for the handle, look at the bright side, it'll never just fall out when being hauled! Yeah, it was designed that way, for that reason

 

That's a project that's taking a LONG time:flipoff2:
No it'll be badass. It got some new life breathed into it a month ago when he got the spring perches, springs and steering box off of a ?45? 2 ton he needed.
Still needs frame rail sections from a prewar era 2 ton chevy
Not to get the facts wrong or mess up his thread, but mid 40's 2 ton cab chopped, frame slung under axles, 20" wheels from the 20's or 30's, 38 caddi flathead, QC rear end from the 40's that is supposed to be rare:laughing: among other cool shit. I haven't seen it in 2 years so I need to get back down and put eyes on it again. Cool project.

 

yep pretty much nailed it. buncha old parts that I'm trying to make hang out with each other.

 

I put 6" pnuematic casters on my harbor freight 1000 lb hoist, the casters are rated at like 400 lbs each from harbor freight, found them at the sidewalk sale, because I work on lifted trucks in a gravel lot. Worked great for a while, but it got hung up on some broken cement and ended up bending one of the "axles" (bolts). The bigger problem has been keeping air in the damn tubeless tires. They lose the bead really easy and they leak down over time. I'm hoping to find some 4" or 6" flat free tires to swap on there and use grade 8 bolts to replace the "axles." The ram also went bad after 2 years of relatively heavy use. The hitch attachment is a great idea! if I didn't have a crane on my flatbed truck already, I'd steal that idea. I also like the pic of the guy that extended his legs out so his bigger wheels don't go right under the hoist, for the low profile deal i welded mine right underneath because it was the fastest way to make it strong, but I tell you, its a tight fit under a stock 4x4 and it won't fit anything shorter unless you put it on ramps, although its not like ramps are that big of a deal.

It does roll great on uneven surfaces.

I hate the stock steel wheels. I broke 2 of them off at the hub on mine and thats what inspired me to go with the bigger ones.

 

great thread, thanks for the ideas!

 

Have you come up with a convenient way to get the whole unit off of the ground so that you can plug it into your 2" receiver? Besides a strong back:mr-t: I have come up with a couple of ideas to transport heavy objects using the 2" receiver, but always stop when it comes to lifting the object to a point where it is high enough for transport.

 

Bottom of MALE insert is 11" to the bottom from the ground, the FEMALE reciever is 18" on truck. I just lean the whole thing towards me and roll it up where the MALE sits in the female and tilt it back.

It is seriously near zero effort. Again the tall casters play a huge part.


I still havent take it to get it pinstriped and labeled. Call it lazy at this point, too many other things to be worked on. Thing has worked flawless though and the powdercoat even in such light colors has been very resilient.

Additionally I am 99% committed to making a set of drop down lowrider front legs for it. Have material already just not motivated to work when its 103+ outside.

 

After reading this thread it also took a while to sink in.

I have to laugh seeing your shop and just the fact you run a sand rail that someone could possibly think you erred on the choice of your casters. if you had the word here is Your!!

We all make mistakes learn from them fix them on to the next project.

I think 75 degrees is to hot 100 plus I would melt.

Nice job

 

I really haven't had a use for this thing since completion, but on Sunday night I unloaded a Chevy 6.0 in full dress and pulled it from the bed of the truck and into the garage with only one hand on the picker as I pulled it inside. Near zero effort. The old setup would have equaled jerking, yanking, then a hammer to turn casters the right direction, and more yanking and jerking.

Oh and the casters didnt even remotely act like they were going to fail, crumple, fall over or spontaniously combust :flipoff2:

 

Nice Cherry picker!
You missed something, brakes!
I pulled a Dressed 454 today, and with the slight grade of my driveway, it tried to take off and ran over my foot.
I think mine came from Pep-boys, im definately adding a rubber-padded, lever action-kinda parking brake dealio. Probably would make life easier, especially with all the diesels I pull..
Just a thought, about brake n all..