U900 and HIAB 550 MID MOUNT

[ACUF]

Hi Everyone,

 

I am looking at a number of older cranes for my U900 and came accross a particular unit, a 550 that isnt quite the knuckle I was looking at, but this one appears to be unique in that it reaches about 40+ feet, however it only folds as the picture shows, not something that can fold up behind the cabin, etc.

 

It appears there is already a bracket for a mid mount crane, but wondered if any of you may have any feedback, at a glance on weather or not this may fit my Unimog.

 

Thanks in advance!!

 

ACUF

[armchairarborist]

looks like its just been pulled out of the river:thumbup:, if it works ok then it'll be a useful bit of kit, i couldn't advise on the mounting but will it park in the horizontal position so it doesn't take up all the loadbed at the rear?

[treequip]

That’s a bit of an antique. Many years ago I drove a mog with a hiab 550 and it looked nothing like that, it was a standard 2 arm telescopic knuckle boom that stowed behind the cab.

 

What you have there is a long arm crane and it won’t fold behind the cab. They are typically used in situations that require repeated light (ish) lifts. Round timber is one of the common applications. Yours equipped with a winch of some sort but isn’t piped for a grab and rotator which could be a PITA

 

The mog boys will tell you more but I am told that crane mounts on a mog need to be “special” because of the flex in the chassis.

 

Before you buy it check for play in the slew ring (expect some) and repairs or cracking all over but particularly around the pins.

 

I would leave that piece of filth where it lies unless it’s real cheap.

[ACUF]

Thanks for the reply's. I agree, it is old, from the 70's and looks pretty drab. He wanted about 1000 for it. it includes the pto pump as well. He says it worked, but has blown a line to the winch, and the outriggers let some fluid. I already contacted hiab and they still have the seals, and the hoses, pins, etc, but no hard pieces. It was off a 1975 truck that he ended up scrapping, and says he will scrap this if noone buys it, so i thought would take a look. Believe it or not, I was fantasizing about mounting it out front!! -Off a schmidt plate! I figured it could be done, and would be quite a rare sort of configuration. the outriggers would pick up the whole front of the mog when in use.. my only concern was that its an overall 88" wide, about 10+ more inches than the mog as it sits. Here are a couple hand sketches I did:

 

The last crane pictured on the red u900 is a hiab as well, and that actually may be a 550 now that i think of it. It has a sub frame that mounts to the chassis with three bolts. It has 4 outriggers as well, and the subframe incorperates a spider frame for a tipper bed, so i will still have that option, as well as a folding crane that closes behind the cab. it includes a pto centralizer that has a custom mounting of the hydraulic pump, and allows the pto option to still be available as intended (pump is mounted behind centralizer).. only issue is that its located far away, and will pay for freight, which wont be cheap, not to mention the crane / subrame itself is 5000 lbs, and 5000$!!

 

So the older looking crane is less than an hour away, and less to purchase it than the cost to ship the other. So worth my considerations.

 

any more feedback is very helpful!!

 

 

 

ACUF

[ACUF]

Additionally, here are some other pics of the 550 hiab w. the sub frame on what turns out to be the identical machine i will be mounting to, 1974 ag spec u900.

 

Last pic is the older type crane that I mislabeled the thread for the 550, and is actually the 170. This is the ad in the local paper he ran before taking the crane off the truck.. so it was operational, just dirty.

 

cheers!!

 

ACUF

[Mike Hill]

I think that the setup mounted n the Red U900 is what you are after.I know its expensive but think about how much you could be making doing Treework instead of pissing around fabricating mounts for that old Crane.

 

Offer the man 3.5K for the Crane and see what he sayes.

[mendiplogs]

HI ACUF yes mate stephen blair your man on the mogs pm him all the best jon

[treequip]

HI ACUF yes mate stephen blair your man on the mogs pm him all the best jon

 

Shreckie just drools over them B101 is the man to ask

[treequip]

Don’t take this the wrong way but, do you see the cat under the glass table in the second picture?...............

 

It has looked at your drawings and is also wondering what you have been smoking.

 

Seriously though hanging that much weight off the front is going to be an axle killer so factor the price of axle end rebuilds. It would also only be a matter of time before you whacked the cab on a slew.

 

I haven’t seen a set up like that before, ever. There could be 2 reasons for this, it’s either a bad idea or you are a genius who has stumbled onto the best idea ever.

 

Mnnnnnnn I wonder which it is?

[Stephen Blair]

That's a log loader, fat too big for your 900. U could stick it on a trailer but it looks like spares or repair to me