Trailer with crane

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Do any of you fellows have a trailer with a crane attached?If so does it work well? How much can you pick up? How stable is it?I am thinking of rigging a trailer (20 foot) with a crane in the front as well as a welder and torches.I will only use it periodically to install gates so I don't want to set up a service truck since most of my work is in the shop.Thank You!
Reply:In the front?  That might have the benefit of allowing you to load something into the truck, but I doubt it being very handy in all circumstances where you need to use it for erecting things or hanging gates unless you plan to simply position the truck and trailer in the drive between the gate posts and work from there.  Any kind of situation where the trailer needed to be "broad side" to the work site would be really uncertain depending on the terrain.If you plan for the crane to swing to both sides of the trailer from a center mount pivot, you will have to build the floor/bed  of the trailer as a reinforced structure having diagonal bracing leading from the sides of the trailer up to the pivot point of the crane mast.  If you intend for the crane to also be used to load/unload stuff from the trailer as well as the truck, the diagonal bracing will have to be made to the rear direction of the trailer too.   And you will need some out rigger stabilizers to keep the trailer from tipping on side loads.
Reply:I had something like this in mind mounted at the front of the trailer.
Reply:I could imagine problems unless you had outriggers or stabilizers.
Reply:One of the issues would be the weight of the trailer vs. the weight of the gate plus the weight of the crane boom.    I would figure on outriggers.   How much could a gate weigh?   How far would you need to swing it out to the side?   The boom would need to go up and down and rotate, plus the hook go up and down.The standard pickup cranes tend to have short booms, roughly 4 feet, which is definitely going to be too short for gates.   I would assume that the length of the boom would need to be at least half the length of the gate.   How wide would be the widest gate?This website discusses some of the concerns and numbers involved.   http://www.liftmoore.com/faq-whichcrane.htm   The concept of "moment rating" is key.  The larger the moment rating, the heavier the crane.   The maximum lifting capacity is probably irrelevant to installing gates, since you will need a boom at least 8 feet.  For fun, let me run the numbers.   Assume a maximum gate weight of 500 pounds.   Assume a boom 10 feet long.   The moment rating is then 5000 foot-pounds, which is quite a lot.   This also relates to the tipping moment on the trailer.   If your trailer is 8 feet wide, and weighs 2000 pounds, and you put a jack at the corner of the trailer, it would take roughly 8000 foot pounds to flip the trailer.   Again, an outrigger would be a really good idea, that would increase the amount of moment it would take to flip the trailer.   But in general, these kinds of cranes are mounted on trucks, which weigh a lot more than 2000 pounds.    Have you priced a commercial crane?   The one in the photo looks pretty expensive to me, probably more than 5000 dollars.   But a phone call to the supplier would be a good place to start.  I suspect that they may discourage a trailer mounted crane.For liability reasons, I would definitely buy a commercial crane.   When it is all said and done, you would probably be better off hiring somebody with a real crane to set the gate, unless you have enough manpower to move it by hand.   A real crane makes this kind of thing easy, fast, and safe.RichardSculptures in copper and other metalshttp://www.fergusonsculpture.comSyncrowave 200 Millermatic 211Readywelder spoolgunHypertherm 600 plasma cutterThermal Arc GMS300 Victor OA torchHomemade Blacksmith propane forge
Reply:When it is all said and done, you would probably be better off hiring somebody with a real crane to set the gate, unless you have enough manpower to move it by hand.   A real crane makes this kind of thing easy, fast, and safe.Richard[/QUOTE]This sounds like very good advice!
Reply:Just trow away all your tools and hire some one else to do the job. If you are competent and mount the crane properly and operate within its limits how are you different then somebody else with a crane? If this is beyond your skill set maybe you shouldn,t be installing a gate either.
Reply:It will need to be on the back of the trailer. Most drive ways aren't going to be wide enough to hang the gate from the side of the trailer. From the rear you can pick it up off the trailer and swing it into position behind the trailer. From the front, no so much with driveways running in the same direction as the truck and trailer.
Reply:A guy near me has a double axle car trailer with a gantry mounted front and back with a beam hung underneath, chainfall and beam trolley mounted to it.  Very similar to what a propane company might use to pick or place a big tank.
Reply:A crane mounted in the front center of a trailer would be just as useful as a crane mounted in the front center of a truck, and there are plenty of them out there. A 20' 14,000lb or heavier trailer could easily be modified to use a crane like the one pictured. As said you will need some sort of outriggers, but depending on what capacity the crane has I would think 2 jacks mounted one on each side as far out as possible would work pretty good for that. That is actually what I have planned for my "some day" trailer that is on the list of things to do. I have saved up most of the material and parts for it so now it's just a matter of finding the time to do it.