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Discussion Forum

could a crane lift a small trailer…

Huck | Posted in General Discussion on December 1, 2008 02:23am

This is my jobsite trailer.  I have no jobs requiring it now, and I’d like to set it in my backyard.  Its small, about 7 x 12, but there is no access.  Could a crane lift it over my house, and set it in my backyard?  Am I crazy? What do you think?

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View Image Ã¢â‚¬Å“Good work costs much more than poor imitation or factory product†– Charles Greene
CaliforniaRemodelingContractor.com

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Replies

  1. User avater
    Huck | Dec 01, 2008 02:24am | #1

    I don't have a good pic of the house, but from the front of the garage shown here, to the back of the house is 54', and the roof is about 14' high at the peak.

    View Image

    View Image “Good work costs much more than poor imitation or factory product” – Charles Greene
    CaliforniaRemodelingContractor.com
    1. andyfew322 | Dec 01, 2008 02:29am | #3

      use a hellicopter, mabey stan will spot you one ;) 

       

      m/ (>.<) m/http://www.cocoboloboy.co.nr

    2. maverick | Dec 01, 2008 07:22pm | #18

      maybe for the same money you could put another garage door in the back of your garage. you might have to unmount the axle to shorten the height though

      1. Karl | Dec 01, 2008 08:02pm | #20

        I like that idea of adding another garage door in the rear.In my area it costs $500 to lift a hot tub over a house. It isn't as much weight but I suspect it is just a minimum cost to get a crane on site for 30 minutes of work.Karl

    3. User avater
      PeteDraganic | Dec 01, 2008 07:56pm | #19

      This might be a really stupid question but why cant you just take it up the driveway to get into the back yard?  trailer it or put it on rollers or something.

      <!----><!----><!----> 

      I refuse to accept that there are limitations to what we can accomplish.        Pete Draganic

       

      Take life as a test and shoot for a better score each day.          Matt Garcia

  2. FastEddie | Dec 01, 2008 02:24am | #2

    Yes.  but can you get the right size crane close enough?  How far will the crane have to reach?  Does it have to lift over the house, or trees?

    "Put your creed in your deed."   Emerson

    "When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it."  T. Roosevelt

  3. DanH | Dec 01, 2008 02:32am | #4

    That sort of thing is done all the time. The question is: Are you willing to pay the price?

    The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of a mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one. --Wilhelm Stekel
    1. User avater
      Huck | Dec 01, 2008 02:38am | #5

      how much do you think it would cost?  It would be worth $3-4 hundred to me.View Image “Good work costs much more than poor imitation or factory product” – Charles GreeneCaliforniaRemodelingContractor.com

      1. frammer52 | Dec 01, 2008 02:41am | #6

        We have a 300 minimum now around here.  Boom truck is all you need.

        1. frenchy | Dec 01, 2008 04:31pm | #12

          I'm sorry your advice is bad.. a boom truck is rated differantly than a truck crane and because of that it's capacity is significantly less. If the house is 54 feet than you are asking to lift it more than 75 feet and that's if somehow the crane could get right next to the house.  Just guessing but I'd place the weight of that trailer (empty at somewhere north of 2000 pounds perhaps closer to 3000

           to lift 3000 pounds 75 feet from the pin you will need a minimum of a 50 ton crane.. more likely a 65 ton crane.

          The furthest a boom truck would lift 3000 pounds from the pin would be maybe 25 feet.. and that's with one of the relatively rare 35 ton boom trucks..

            Just for future referance truck cranes have a capaicty rated at 10 feet from the pin and boom trucks have a capacity rated at only 5 feet from the pin..

          1. frammer52 | Dec 01, 2008 06:51pm | #15

            Frenchy, I know you are probably right on the numbers, but I will respectfully disagree as I have seen it done.

          2. DanH | Dec 01, 2008 07:05pm | #16

            I have seen them lift a Bobcat into a courtyard here a couple of times. The area they lift over is two stories high and about 20 feet wide. Unfortunately, I don't even vaguely recall what size truck-mounted crane/boom was used.I'm guessing that if one got a reasonably accurate weight for the trailer, along with the dimensions involved in the lift, an operator would be able to fairly easily tell you what size crane and how much it would cost. (Of course, when they're lifting over your house you DON'T want them to underestimate the size of the crane needed.)
            The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of a mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one. --Wilhelm Stekel

          3. frammer52 | Dec 01, 2008 07:12pm | #17

            That brings up the question of what size boom truck crane was used, I for the life of me can't remember.  

          4. frenchy | Dec 01, 2008 08:09pm | #21

            DanH

             Bobcat could be as little as 3100 pounds or as much as 8400 pounds..  Height is not an issue really, distance from the pin is what matters.. for information the pin is the center of the rotating assembly of the crane.  Which can be anywhere from 15 feet to 30 feet from the end of the crane. Thus you must add that distance to the total lifting distance and as we all know about leverage the further from the pin the less lifting capability a crane has..

          5. DanH | Dec 01, 2008 08:15pm | #22

            Height can be an issue, as it limits how close the "pin" can get to the structure for a given boom angle. Probably not an issue for a single-story home, though.
            The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of a mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one. --Wilhelm Stekel

          6. frenchy | Dec 01, 2008 08:30pm | #23

            Now you're reaching <grin>  (pun intended)

              In reality distance from the pin is the important criteria. (at least for counterbalanced cranes)  I don't want to waste a lot of time discussing the varieties of cranes and their respective balance systems..

          7. DanH | Dec 01, 2008 08:47pm | #24

            To maximumize reach with a given weight, the boom angle is adjusted downward to be (comfortably) shy of the tipping point. The lower the boom angle, the more the boom is apt to "interfere" with the structure, requiring the pin to be placed farther away.(Of course, if a crane has a variable-length boom, the effect of lowering the boom angle can be achieved by lengthening the boom at a fixed angle, accomplished without increasing the interference problem. But that may imply a larger crane than would otherwise be needed for the task.)
            The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of a mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one. --Wilhelm Stekel

          8. User avater
            Gene_Davis | Dec 01, 2008 11:24pm | #25

            On my first job after college, I was a field engineer on a project that was to build two recuperative gasfired slab reheating furnaces on the hot end of an 80 inch hot strip mill in a fully integrated steel mill near Gary, Indiana.

            In order to rig and place the huge stainless steel recuperator stacks over the furnaces, we needed to hoist a big crane up onto the top of the mill building, way way up there.

            We first brought in one of Manitowoc's largest crawler cranes, and the ironworkers assembled to it a 200 foot boom and 60 foot jib.  Then we used that big one to hoist a smaller one, short boom but large capacity, into place atop the mill, where our millwright crews had built a landing bed for it.

            That was a pretty cool hoist job, and the crane was certainly larger than your shed. 

            View Image

            "A stripe is just as real as a dadgummed flower."

            Gene Davis        1920-1985

          9. DanH | Dec 01, 2008 11:38pm | #26

            Of course I'm reminded of the (apparently Photoshopped) video of a crane lifting a car out of the drink.
            The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of a mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one. --Wilhelm Stekel

          10. ruffmike | Dec 02, 2008 04:34am | #27

            Huck I'd like to hear what an estimate comes in at.

            I dont see anyone touching that for less than a thousand, closer to two.                            Mike

                Small wheel turn by the fire and rod, big wheel turn by the grace of god.

          11. User avater
            Sphere | Dec 02, 2008 05:58pm | #28

            I'd do it if he supplies the helium and balloons, I got the BB gun already.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks

            Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations

             

            They kill Prophets, for Profits.

             

             

      2. DanH | Dec 01, 2008 03:29am | #8

        Remember, you'll have to spend a similar (though inflated) amount to get it out again.
        The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of a mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one. --Wilhelm Stekel

  4. gfretwell | Dec 01, 2008 03:27am | #7

    The only problem I see is he will probably want to set up on your driveway and it will probably crack. The issue is the weight and how far you plan on holding it out away from the crane (the old lever thing). If you have this info, it is time to start calling cranes. After Hurricane Charlie we had a 83 ton crane come here and lift a 40' mango tree off the screen cage. It wasn't much weight for the crane but the reach was a problem. They did reach over the garage and grab it tho. $200 (contractor price)

  5. User avater
    Dam_inspector | Dec 01, 2008 03:35am | #9

    I think it may be more practical to find a place that stores rv's and boats. You can tow it out anytime you want to.

  6. oops | Dec 01, 2008 05:22am | #10

    Consider checking around and see if you could rent it out until you need it. Might pick up a few bucks.

  7. RedfordHenry | Dec 01, 2008 07:07am | #11

    Looks like it would make a nice ice fishing shanty, but those palm trees in the background suggest the ice is pretty thin most of the winter.

  8. frenchy | Dec 01, 2008 04:34pm | #13

    Short answer, no not for the money you are prepared to spend.. you will need a minimum of a 65 ton truck crane  (not a boom truck) and then you will need to be able to have a crane with a big enough boom to reach a minimum of 65 feet and more likely 85 feet.   Most swing away jibs will be marginal handling that sort of weight so the main booom will have to be that sort of length.

  9. User avater
    basswood | Dec 01, 2008 05:00pm | #14

    Huck,

    With your talent, just paint your house and landscape on the trailer (then nobody could see it) and you can just leave it in the front yard. <g>

    Bass

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