Trailblzer moving frustrations

[carmic7]

Hi Yall

I am frustrated right now, I occasionally need to go mobile with my welding and so I have an old Ford F-250 outfitted with a small bed mounted crane that I bought from a cheapo tool ctatlog for 129.00. I have no faith in this crane, being that it was made in China, so I reconfigured it alittle, recabled it and welded a large tab that goes off to the top of the bedside to keep the floor from getting all bent up. I primarily use this crane for moving small farm implements and Tractor tires, it works ok when lifting less than 500 pounds or so. It strains some when moving the trailblazer but doesen't seem to have any problems. Its rated for 1000#
I recently bought a new pickup and decided to build a socket for a new crane mast.
The crane has a receiver that is 3.21" o.d. and the mast that is presently welded into the bed is 3" tubing.
My big idea was to fab up a socket the height of the bedside and bolt it to the bed and the bed side, Then drop the mast in when I need to use the crane so I started shopping for the materials and I was shocked! My steel supplier would sell me a 4' length of 3" tube, .25"wall
for just under 200.00. 225.00 for 3/8 wall 300.00+ for chrome moly.
so I called around, and everyone was close. I know steel is high, but ****!
The last time I went to move my welder, I almost tore the side off my rusty old truck, I need a way to put my trailblazer in my truck without killing myself or my budget. I don't have a forklift, or a backhoe/loader
I have a large engine hoist, and I can use it, but I have to remove the tailgate to get it in all the way.
any ideas?? what do you guys do?

-Neil

[jbmprods]

just a thought but if you have a irrigation pump outfit around go talk to them. i had my pump rebuilt last year and all new casing, colume and shaft put down to and i kept the old stuff (200')as it was in rusty but good shape. lota clean up but good for projects on the farm. any way the pump outfit told me if i needed more just come by the shop and i could have all i wanted for free as it was just going to the scrap yard for pennies anyway. so its like i said an option to consider. you might consider building a nice sized A-frame or a stationary overhead crane. as for safety you have to be the judge on the condition of the casing. but give it a try.

[Coalsmoke]

wow, that price is too high. I just bought 3 feet of 6" 0.25 gas line (or something similar) for $60 I'd try a steel recylcler and go digging. Search out the gantry crane thread done by "precisionworks". Not the cheapest option but good and sturdy. Rememebr that a 520lb Trailblazer will weigh every bit of 700lbs when full of fuel. BTW, where abouts are you located?

[Sbi1]

I checked Mcmaster-Carr (www.mcmaster.com) and they list a 36" length of 3" id x .25 wall tubing (p/n 7767T753) for $110.40. So I would say shop around a little more, because your local prices sounded high to me as well. Like Coalsmoke said, where are you located? someone on this board may know a closer supplier with a better price.

[carmic7]

Frustrated

Hi

I am located in rockland county New York, almost all of our materials are trucked up from Newark NJ or The outer areas of NYC. we always get taken advantage of around here and have very little selection of product. Lately we are unable to get any P+O square tubing and trying to get stainless is a real problem, there's only one dealer nearby and they always telling us that they are out of our area and need to charge us extra regardless of how much we order. I will be contacting other local welding shops.

-Neil

[precisionworks]

Four feet for $105 + shipping at: http://www.metalsdepot.com/index.phtml

The gantry crane is a really convenient option. My TB302 is bolted to a 4'x4' platform that holds large Oxygen, Acetylene, C25 & Argon bottles, plus cords, hoses, etc. Probably 1500# or so. Less than ten minutes to load, about five minutes to unload (gravity helps )

[Rvannatta]

Hi

I am located in rockland county New York, almost all of our materials are trucked up from Newark NJ or The outer areas of NYC. we always get taken advantage of around here and have very little selection of product. Lately we are unable to get any P+O square tubing and trying to get stainless is a real problem, there's only one dealer nearby and they always telling us that they are out of our area and need to charge us extra regardless of how much we order. I will be contacting other local welding shops.

-Neil

There are other approaches depending on what is available locally.

Alternatives that come to mind: -- Build a wooden pickup bed height platform for your welder to rest on when not in the pickup. Put wheels on the welder and roll in in as needed. (the loading dock approach).

Another approach if you happen to have access to some firewood class logs is to use wood for the structure to hold up a chain hoist. I"ve seen plenty of logs stuffed up between the cross ties in a garage and supported with a couple posts to the floor. this of course presupposes that you can get
some logs on the cheap.

[Firey]

What I did

I have a 301G trailblazer and had no trailer so I had the same problem.So I rigged up a wrench 3,700 pull mounted it on a 3/8" plate and bolted the plate on the top of my truck bed built a frame with small wheels for the welder built some ramps and off i go.Mabe you could do the same or just give you an idia."Hope this help you and good luck"

[Sberry]

One of those HF folding cherry pickers would be the ticket. My bud bought one and its very well made, super tool for 200$ with dozens of uses.

[Possum]

movin' da goods

Trailers are a pain in the butt, particularly short tongued. But with fuel prices the way they are, I've set up all the portable equipment on trailers and have eliminated about 30% on the fuel consumption. Needless to say,this has also required me to change how I do business,(smaller trucks, etc.).
Northern Equipment stocks 1000# trailers for around $250; better still, old boat trailers tweaked to fit the gear are great stuff.
This frees up the truck to haul material either on the beds or in racks, plus provides needed space for hauling peripheral equipment,such as plasma cutters, tig boxes, etc. Security and peace of mind is simple with the addition of job boxes and locks; if somebody is going to steal the machine, I'd rather them steal just it rather than the truck and eveything else.

[jbmprods]

Trailers are a pain in the butt, particularly short tongued. But with fuel prices the way they are, I've set up all the portable equipment on trailers and have eliminated about 30% on the fuel consumption. Needless to say,this has also required me to change how I do business,(smaller trucks, etc.).
Northern Equipment stocks 1000# trailers for around $250; better still, old boat trailers tweaked to fit the gear are great stuff.
This frees up the truck to haul material either on the beds or in racks, plus provides needed space for hauling peripheral equipment,such as plasma cutters, tig boxes, etc. Security and peace of mind is simple with the addition of job boxes and locks; if somebody is going to steal the machine, I'd rather them steal just it rather than the truck and eveything else.

very good info and ideas with one exception. i would hate to trust any welder to the to the performance of a 1000# trailer. my old AEAD200, O/A, tig and tool boxes ride on a military jeep trailer reduced to a flat bed with 16" wheels and a pintle hitch. rides and pulls nice, and is very compact. you can pick 1 up for anywhere from 400.00 to 800.00 bucks. and the hitch makes it hard to steal.