Yard Crane

[MooresFT]

Simple as that.

I am after something to use in the yard for moving timber around, loading decks and loading/unloading vehicles!

what does everyone use?

 

needs to be a standalone vehicle that lives in the yard permanently.

currently thinking of an old but cheap 13/14 tracked excavator with a swivel + grab on it?

 

any ideas?

 

budget up to 7kish

 

cheers!

[Steve Bullman]

Ruled out an old tractor loader with a 3 in 1 bucket?  Can be used to scoop up old crap as well then

[gdh]

It's going to depend on the size of your yard, I would go with a front end loader because they're faster, more comfortable and can use pallet forks but as long as you're not under a roof an excavator with a grab on will be good for moving timber if it's not stacked tidily so both have advantages. 

[SbTVF]

If you’re on hard standing a wheeled excavator would be ideal. Much quicker moving about the yard and won’t churn it up. 

 

Ours is mostly for digging though so w rubber duck would be no use for us. 

 

Pallet fork attachments can be had for excavators for about £500 too so plenty of uses. 

Id be looking for a tb175w 7.5t Takeuchi personally if we didn’t need tracks. You see plenty on motorway work that’ll not have had a hard life but will be high hours and therefore within your budget I imagine.

 

personally would hate to rely on a front end loader for moving timber having had the 360 with grab for so long. They just have so many uses and so much better for loading the Timber deck as you can be much more precise and speed up processing as a result!

[woody paul]

14T machine is abit OTT for moving timber about unless you have a big yard.

What about a tractor with crane on back you would not have 360' movement but more then a JCB 180' machine. Also a PTO to use if you need.

[jon18uk]

+1 for the loader and 3-1 bucket.  At least you have a machine that can do a range of tasks then

[skyhuck]

Old MOT failed truck with Hiab would be cheapest, I would have thought.

[woody paul]

44 minutes ago, skyhuck said:

Old MOT failed truck with Hiab would be cheapest, I would have thought.

Think he wants to sit in the dry when raining.

[Steve2011]

The old man stores his 2.5t and 5t in my yard I got a grab and rotator a few years back cut up. 2 old buckets to keep the quick hitch and welded brackets to both so whatever machine he has out on a job until both are being used. I just swap the grab. The 5 ton is best as it has the height. Personally I would like to get a tractor timber trailer with crane so I could go and get my own wood and put straight onto deck and would be a lot easier moving timber in the yard.

[MooresFT]

We've got a 5 ton digger with a hydraulic thumb that we use, but it wouldnt be able to live in the yard 100% of the time as we have it out on other jobs etc.

I'm a fencing contractor, so we have a few artics loads of stakes sat in the yard all of the time along with our firewood business. A tractor and loader doesnt appeal to me, for the money i want to spend you are getting a smallish tractor which also scuffs and makes a mess in the yard.

Thought about a lorry with a decent sit on top crane, just not sure where to source the MOT failure lorry?

 

The rubber duck is a definte option, a guy locally to me has one with a hitch on the blade so he can drag his trailer around the yard and load as he goes.

 

The idea of the big digger is the reach i suppose, it can be parked and reach a fair amount, or just tracked up and down a single stretch and be able to reach both sides, also fairly useful for helping the artics in ...