“Made It Myself” 3-Pt. Crane Mounted On Wheels
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Texas farmer Glenn Thompson, of Fredericksburg, recently converted an old 3-pt. mounted crane to a 2-wheeled model that hooks up to a ball hitch mounted on front or back of his Deere compact tractor. He uses it to move garden tractors and the implements that go with them around on his farm.
“I borrowed the idea from my friend Cliff Ingold in Harper, Texas,” says Thompson. “I bought the crane more than 20 years ago, but didn’t use it much because it was heavy and difficult to hook up to a 3-pt. hitch. Hooking up to a ball hitch is much easier, and mounting the crane on wheels makes the crane a lot easier to maneuver into tight places.”
The crane rides on 12-in. high by 8-in. wide wheels off an old golf cart. Thompson used 3-in. channel iron and angle iron to build an axle and a long tongue that’s fitted with a ball hitch. He also bolted a hand-operated winch onto the tongue. The axle hubs and spindles for the wheels, as well as the winch, were purchased from Northern Tool & Equipment (www.northerntool.com; ph 800 221-0516).
He wanted to raise or lower the boom using the winch to pivot it up or down, so he mounted the crane’s 2 stub shafts – originally designed to hook up to the tractor’s lower lift arms - on a pair of pillow block bearings.
“It works better than I expected,” says Thompson. “I pull the crane behind the tractor up close to what I want to lift and unhook it, then turn around and attach the crane on front of the tractor and swing it precisely over the object. I can use either the winch or a chain hoist to do the lifting. I used a 2,500-lb. winch so the boom has plenty of leverage.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Glenn Thompson, 7542 North State Hwy. 16, Fredericksburg, Texas 78624 (ph 830 990-4521 or cell ph 830 992-7443; uffda@beecreek.net).
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“Made It Myself” 3-Pt Crane Mounted On Wheels MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT Miscellaneous Texas farmer Glenn Thompson of Fredericksburg recently converted an old 3-pt mounted crane to a 2-wheeled model that hooks up to a ball hitch mounted on front or back of his Deere compact tractor He uses it to move garden tractors and the implements that go with them around on his farm “I borrowed the idea from my friend Cliff Ingold in Harper Texas ” says Thompson “I bought the crane more than 20 years ago but didn’t use it much because it was heavy and difficult to hook up to a 3-pt hitch Hooking up to a ball hitch is much easier and mounting the crane on wheels makes the crane a lot easier to maneuver into tight places ” The crane rides on 12-in high by 8-in wide wheels off an old golf cart Thompson used 3-in channel iron and angle iron to build an axle and a long tongue that’s fitted with a ball hitch He also bolted a hand-operated winch onto the tongue The axle hubs and spindles for the wheels as well as the winch were purchased from Northern Tool & Equipment www northerntool com; ph 800 221-0516 He wanted to raise or lower the boom using the winch to pivot it up or down so he mounted the crane’s 2 stub shafts – originally designed to hook up to the tractor’s lower lift arms - on a pair of pillow block bearings “It works better than I expected ” says Thompson “I pull the crane behind the tractor up close to what I want to lift and unhook it then turn around and attach the crane on front of the tractor and swing it precisely over the object I can use either the winch or a chain hoist to do the lifting I used a 2 500-lb winch so the boom has plenty of leverage ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Glenn Thompson 7542 North State Hwy 16 Fredericksburg Texas 78624 ph 830 990-4521 or cell ph 830 992-7443; uffda@beecreek net
