Pics of my boom trailer

[divorced]

Here are some pics of my boom winch trailer. It started life as a C20. I bought it for $50 and was going to keep the 14 bolt and scrap the rest, but after getting the truck home I decided to keep it and make a trailer. I got the coupler for free from a friend several years ago and sold some parts from the frame for $10, so all I have is $40 in the finished product. It works great for moving junk around the yard and in to my storage trailer, and will work out good when going to other people's houses to pick up/deliver parts. I have lifted a Ford 360 with a C6 and it worked out fine. The tri-pod set up leans real bad though so I will need to make a trailer-to-ground support leg for it, out of some pipe I got for free of course. It's not the greatest thing in the world, but not bad for only $40. Below are some before and after pics. Sorry for the fuzzy pics, I've owned my camera for a few years and still don't know how to use it

 

[kgblazerfive]

That thing is pretty cool

 

[BigCountryx]

Man you got a 14ff on your trailer!! your my hero

 

[divorced]

Man you got a 14ff on your trailer!! your my hero

Yep, and two more sets of 3/4 ton axles sitting in my storage trailer doing nothing. Maybe I could use the two extra 14 bolts to make a tandem trailer?






I have been thinking about mounting a 2,000 or 3,000 pound electric ATV winch on the boom instead of the hand crank winch. I have seen them at Harbor freight for around $60.

 

[original balzer]

totaly off the subject but nice red truck i think if you painted the steel wheels black with the chrome beuty ring and cap it would realy set it off
keep in mind i say this and i realy dont like red but thats a nice lookin truck ya got there

PS the trailer is awesome there are so many times i could use something like that cuz i got no friends to help me lol

balzer

 

[divorced]

PS the trailer is awesome there are so many times i could use something like that cuz i got no friends to help me lol

balzer

This is the exact reason for building it. Usually my friend is too busy washing his truck or BBQing to help out his ol pal.


Thanks for the compliments on my old truck. Of all my trucks it is my favorite. it's a '95 C1500 with 186,000+ miles on it, and still runs like new!

 

[original balzer]

i like them clean & smooth like that and in that pic i noticed those are real rallies AWESOME from the other pics i thought they was the plain no hole wheels some say im weird but rallys caps and beuty rings will always be some of my favorites

balzer

 

[divorced]

Yep, old school rallies (15x8) from the '81 to '87 trucks with the '95 caps and rings. The extra inch really helps the fill the fender, I can't stand "tucked in" wheels.

 

[diesel4me]

looks like mine!

I have the same thing made from the flatbed that used to be on my 74 K20 I scrapped..its nearly identical!.. its mounted on a 62 GMC 3/4 ton frame with COIL springs and it has an eaton FF axle under it!..

If you get an electric winch,one with a "brake" that will hold the load when not under power is desireable..one with a worm gear would be the best,as it will hold the load wherever its stops..My boom has a 1500lb winch (a Dayton) that is very similar if not identical to the ones sold for atv's and boat trailers..I have picked up a ton or more using a snatch block,and so far it hasn't let anything drop to the ground yet!..

I've yet to finish putting the battery on,wiring it up,and fix the taillights--or register it either!...but if I use it,it will be mostly around the yard..the coil spring suspension is a downer though...I think it will be too bouncy,even with good shocks...I might have to add a leaf helper or dead axle it if it proves to be too bouncy when towed...I tried sneaking it down my street with the dead shocks still on it,and I nearly lost contol of my truck!...hoping new shocks will be enough to cure that..

Nice truck too!---nothing better than a red GM truck!...I have the same rallye wheels on my van too!..

 

[mountainexplorer]

I like it.

 

[divorced]

If you get an electric winch,one with a "brake" that will hold the load when not under power is desireable..one with a worm gear would be the best,as it will hold the load wherever its stops

Thanks for the tips on buying a winch. Here is the one I was looking at, but now I'm not for sure if it will work or not (if it has a brake?). I am using a snatch block on the boom. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=39997

I like it.

It would be cool if you ever need to swap a crank at the mud bog? Lol... I still remember the pics of Allan "rebuilding" his engine at the mud bogs

 

[diesel4me]

I have one of those...

That winch will work,but its "manual out"..not power out..I think its like the one I got from a boat trailer,it has a clutch lever that releases the drum so you can free spool the cable out...

I tried the one I have like that--to "lower" the load,you have to release the clutch--its hard to "slip" it so the load drops slowly!!..on mine,it would "creep" slowly down even with the clutch engaged!.(its hard to reach the lever if its mounted high up on the boom!)...so I swapped the other Dayton one on there with power in AND out on it...much safer!..(I've seen similar winches at Wal-Mart and Home Depot,Pep Boys for 100-150 bucks...)

As nice as having an electric winch is,I've been tempted to put a manual worm winch on in addition to the electric one,in case the motor craps out,or it breaks,or the battery goes dead or wiring problems arise...hand power is better than nothing!..most electric ones can be hand cranked if power fails..but if it breaks your screwed!..I like having a backup just in case!..

 

[gravdigr]

I keep my boom crane on my truck It's hydraulic and is usually used for setting headstones but has come in handy for other things. The local u pull it gives me motors at a sick price because I pull them myself . I also used it to load an entire read tub onto the back of that truck.

 

[diesel4me]

Nice!

The local monument place 3 miles from me had the exact same crane as yours on an old F350 flatbed truck!--I used to get the crates the gravestones were delivered in from them for firewood,and many times the guy would just pick up a whole stack of them that were bundled together with plastic strapping with his crane and load them into my truck for me!--

One day I brought my 74 K20 with my crane,and he called me a copycat!--but I explained I had my crane a lot longer than he had his..I just didn't have the truck on the road until then!....(now they built a huge steel building,and no more free firewood--its all handled by a recycling company now--no more free heat this winter--that sux.. )

I recently learned he sold the truck and crane for 1500 bucks! --the crane itself is worth that alone!..now he has an Isuzu "straight job" with a flatbed,but only a power tailgate,no crane--he says he wishes he'd kept the crane from the old truck,and might buy another new one someday,he misses it!...

I wish I had your sandblaster/compressor setup!!--its a MUST HAVE in the northeast if you want a rust free truck!..NOTHING beats sandblasting for getting ALL the rust off!(and nothing is easier,despite me mess of getting sand in your shorts!).I have a huge 3 phase 7.5 HP air compressor,but no 3 phase power--I'm temted to hook my 400SB to it!,and start sandblasting all my rusted junk!!....your pissing in the wind here if you think grinding or sanding rust off will last more than a few weeks.

.I'm getting very discouraged watching my 79 C10 starting to get surface rust, and all the other vehicles,and trailers I have dissolve before my eyes..even painting them with rustoleom and POR-15 hasn't slowed the rust a bit--the bed floor of my 79 was MINT 2 years ago,and freshly painted-now it looks like its been untouched since 79!--all peeling,rusted,and faded already!..

.I'm going to have to sell it I'm afraid,since I have no job or money to keep it insured and registered,nor do I have gas money enough to drive it anyway..It will be a nice truck for someone to fully restore NOW,before it gets any worse--its still in a lot better shape than 95% of all the 79's still around,but I wish I'd had the cash to restore it as soon as I got it 3 years ago...same as every other vehicle I get lately..

It happens every time--I luck out and find a truck with a decent body,and by the time I get to do anything with it,its rusty and full of cancer..I'd better sell the 79 C10 now before its worth any less I guess..I dont need a 2wd truck very much anyway..I only use it sparingly in the good weather...

I only bought it because I liked the fact the cab and other sheet metal were in real nice shape for its age..now money is more important than a truck I cant afford right now!.. Only reason I kept my crane and the rusty bed its on was to be able to use it to haul scrap--I doubt anyone would buy it for what its worth to me to have around--but it IS another burden in a way--something else to have to keep roadworthy and painted,etc..--sometimes I think I'm nuts to have all the crap that I do!--

 

[RootBreaker]

Man you got a 14ff on your trailer!! your my hero

I got one on my pickup bed trailer... never know when you need that

will remove the axles for trail spares and gonna put plates over the ends so oil stays in

 

[divorced]

will remove the axles for trail spares and gonna put plates over the ends so oil stays in

I was thinking of this also, and removing the carrier as well. But I don't know with the carrier and axle shafts removed if the hubs will still get oil or not?

 

[diesel4me]

I saw..

One guy I know made a trailer axle from a 3/4 ton FF axle by cutting the axle tubes off,and welding 3" pipe between them,where the differential used to be!...he simply drilled and tapped the cover he made for the hubs for grease zerk fittings!.(he made them by simply chopping the axle shafts off with a torch,so only the hub cover end remained!)..I dont know how it panned out,but I assume the bearings will live with grease instead of oil--works in front wheel bearings,right?...he did this because he needed a wider axle that it was in stock form,and he did not want the extra weight of the differential--more ground clearance too...

 

[gravdigr]

That crane used to be mounted on my wifes grandfathers 31 ford model A dump truck. We still have the model A with the crane mount.

7.5HP is pretty small for a 3 phase compressor. We scrapped a 50HP 3 phase compressor when we moved out of the city. It had 8" cylinder bores . I kept the 30HP 3 phase compressor and converted it to gasoline using an old 4 cyl motor from a mail truck and built a trailer around it.

You wouldn't believe how much sandblasting work I get here in the northeast. If I only had a way to blast frames that wouldn't have the dep breathing down my neck I'd be golden.

 

[diesel4me]

sand blast ing........

My 3 phase compressor is a 2 cylinder 2 stage unit--one piston is 6-1/4",the other is 3-3/8 !..I'm guessing it will put out about 50 CFM...I tried putting a 25 hp Onan 2 cylinder gas engine on it--but even 25hp didn't seem like enough,it sounded like it was laboring pretty hard after it pumped up to 80PSI or so...I would have had to change and add a few valves on the compressor to allow it to "free wheel" when it reached maximum pressure,and to release the head pressure to let the motor start under no load--the valves were costly,and I decided to put the electric motor back on it,and try to sell it..

I've seen a few tow behind air compressors in the junkyards--I was tempted to see if I could swipe the valve off one of those nd adapt it to my compressor so I could use the gas engine ,but all of them looked bizzare,like they would work only on that particular compressor....I'd buy the whole compressor if I had any cash,and fix it!(2 of them look like they have little or nothing wrong with them--I dont know why the junkyard guys dont get one running and use it at the yard!)..

I was gung ho about starting a sandblasting bussiness a few years back,after I made 150 bucks in about 45 minites sandblasting a wrought iron railing for a mason friend of mine,using a rented compressor...but as I was cleaning up the sand from the sidewalk,the cops and the hag next door showed up,and said unless I had a contractors licence and liability insurance,I'd better leave right now!! --but first,to avoid a lawsuit,I had to wash and wax the hag's mercedes benz,and sweep every grain of sand from her driveway!--and I was not allowed to use the air hose or a garden hose...

A local sandblasting shop not far from me gets 300 bucks to do a bare frame!--I helped the guy do a building that had a fire,and all the beams were charcoal on the outside,and had to be sandblasted--I had to watch the compressor,a 460 ford V8 with special cylinder head on one bank to pump air,the othe 4 ran the engine--I had to dump in a quart of oil every 15-20 minites so it would not seize up!...guy got 2500 dollars for one days work!--he gave me 200 just to stand there and watch the oil pressure gauge all day and add oil!...I rigged up a low oil pressure shutoff switch for him,a dumb move--put myself out of a job!..

 

[gravdigr]

The problem with some tow behinds is parts. Lindsay went out of business. We have a lindsay 125Q. It's 125 cfm@100psi and is a chrysler 318 with a modified head on one side. Problem is the unloader is broken so when the motor goes into low rpm the machine keeps compressing air. Now with 500 gal of air storage this isn't a problem, but using the onboard tanks it quickly over pressures and blows the pop off valve. There are no parts out there to fix this unless I can find another compressor like it to scavenge parts from.

We do the bulk of our sandblasting inside and DEP requires we use a dust collection system on our exhaust. Basically our exhaust is a 12" duct that runs down the side of our building. It has water spray nozzles and the dust turns to wet sand at the bottom of the duct. Outside blasting is reserved to blasting death dates on pre need headstones in the cemetery. We have 1 million $ liability insurance and I actually have the blaster running less than a minute per date.

Around here I usually get $30/hour for sandblasting. $50/hour on site blasting if they are out of the city and own the land that any dust would fall on.