mblair1@home.net wrote:
> I just discovered, to my surprise, that I expect to take delivery of
> an M561 Gama Goat soon.
[...]
> Second, I'll need to deal with getting the truck off a plain flatbed
> semi-trailer without access to a loading ramp. Some of you may have
> seen the recent pictures of my 5-ton wrecker being unloaded:
>
> http://www.qsl.net/ke6myk/greentruck/truck3/pics.html
>
> I imagine that a similar technique might be necessary to unload the
> Goat, and I'm wondering if my M543A2 5-ton wrecker might be up to the
> task.
Many folks have recommended unloading the Goat by backing a tilt-bed
or disconect up to the trailer, driving the Goat from one trailer to
the other, and then using the tilt-bed or disconnect to lower it to
the ground. I agree that that's a good way to do it... but if my
wrecker can saefly handle the load, I'd like to use it to unload the
Goat one end at a time as I mentioned. Sure, it'll take a bit longer.
Sure, a suitable new double-leg lifting chain sling with a 5-ton+
rating will cost more than hiring a commercial wrecker service to come
out and unload the Goat. However, it would be *fun* to unload it with
my own wrecker! Why buy the crane if it's just going to sit around
gathering dust? :-)
Of course, I'll have the numbers of one or two local wrecking
companies handy as a backup plan, in case I run into any trouble or
just feel that I'm in over my head.
At the origin, the seller plans to use his crane to sling-load the
Goat up onto the trailer, with the lockout truss in place. I asked him
to leave it in place so that it'll be installed already when I unload
the truck (I hope I can figure out how to get it off for the 100 yard
drive to its parking space!). I think that lifting the whole truck at
once with my wrecker would be stretching things a bit (maybe
literally!), so I would do it one end at a time.
If anybody with M543A2 experience can comment on my crazy idea, I'd
sure appreciate it. I wouldn't have thought of it myself, but that's
exactly how my 34,000 pound wrecker was removed from the trailer that
brought it here, since the wrecking company didn't show up with the
right kind of truck! :-/ It sounded a bit dubious when the wrecker
driver described it to me, but it worked out just fine.
-- Mark J. Blair, KE6MYK <mblair1@home.net> PGP 2.6.2 public key available from http://www.keyserver.net/ Web page: http://www.qsl.net/ke6myk/ DO NOT SEND ANY UNSOLICITED COMMERCIAL EMAIL TO THIS SITE PLEASE SEND PLAIN ASCII TEXT ONLY -- NO HTML OR QUOTED-PRINTABLE
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