2014 - Volume #38, Issue #6, Page #28
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Mid-Mount “Boom Truck”
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“I use it to fill my Deere 750 no-till drill with wheat and soybean seed,” says Weaver. “I’ve used both Pro Boxes and bulk bags, but find that Pro Boxes work the best. I just swing the box over the drill seed box and then open the slide gate. Filling the drill only takes a couple of minutes. I also use the truck to deliver seed to customers and to load and move machinery and lumber.”
But this isn’t just a boom truck. “The truck also has a bed hoist, and by putting grain sides on it I can use it to haul grain during harvest,” says Weaver.
He can also tie down loads on the flatbed. “The bed has a series of ratchet straps built onto it, so if I want to hold down brush, boards, metal or other items I can just throw the straps over it like on a flatbed semi trailer and ratchet it down,” says Weaver.
“When you have a piece of equipment this versatile you develop friends that you didn’t know you had. I’ve even driven the truck to farm sales and hauled purchased equipment home for neighbors.”
He bought the truck from a local lumber company that had used it as a delivery truck to pick up things that had already been palletized or bundled up. They would go to the job site and use a forklift-type attachment with the boom to handle the pallets.
“I almost didn’t buy the truck because when I first saw it they didn’t have the bed raised up and I didn’t realize it had a hoist. Then I saw it again later with the bed raised and decided I could use it as a grain truck,” says Weaver. “I bought a set of metal sides to go into stake pockets on the truck.”
The boom can lift loads up to 40 ft. high. “I’ve used the boom to set trusses when constructing buildings. I built a caged platform that works great to trim trees, replace light bulbs on tall poles and do other jobs. I’ve also used it to help friends.”
The boom is operated by controls located behind the cab. It folds up on itself into a 30-in. wide gap between the cab and bed.
Weaver can use the vehicle as a delivery truck to pick up machinery at sales, or pick up Pro Boxes of corn and soybean seed and later put them on a truck that takes them out to the planter or drill in the field. “The boom has a capacity of 9,500 lbs. so it has no trouble handling a Pro Box holding 2,500 lbs. of seed,” he says.
“The truck bed can legally hold up to 6 Pro Boxes. The boom only goes halfway in on the bed so first I put a box on one side and then on the other side. I start on back and work my way toward the front.
“The system eliminates the need for an expensive seed tender that’s used only during the spring, and it also works faster.”
The forklift-type attachment that came with the truck wasn’t quite long enough to fit over the top of the Pro Box, so Weaver lengthened it by welding in new material.
“I plan to buy a remote-controlled box opening system so I can automatically open and close seed boxes from the ground,” he adds (see Vol. 37, No. 2 or contact Midwest, Inc., ph 618 458-7303; www.hoffmannmidwestinc.com).
Weaver says used mid-mount boom trucks are becoming more available. “Industries that formerly used boom trucks have switched to using tandem axle trucks along with small 3-wheeled, all terrain forklifts. They park the truck and then use the forklift to load or unload pallets or bundles at the job site.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Greg Weaver, 1116 Saint Joseph St., Shelbyville, Ind. 46176 (ph 317 691-2513; gw1952@gmail.com).
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