Focus On The Knuckle Boom Truck And Crane
The knuckle boom truck, also referred to as the grapple truck, describes a truck that has an articulated loader mounted on to its frame which is used for loading and sometimes hauling loads. A grapple loader is defined by ANSI Z245.1 as: a hydro-mechanical device able to rotate on an axis with a grapple or bucket attached at the end of the boom.
The knuckle boom crane is a hydraulically powered articulated arm fitted to a knuckle boom truck to create a self-contained unit and is essentially built as a normal crane. The exception with the knuckle boom crane however, is that the boom which is hinged in the middle, similar to a knuckle. The benefit of the hinged boom is decreased distance between the crane and load being lifted, which ensures less motion and increased control. Articulating boom cranes, like the knuckle boom are mounted on commercial trucks (known generically as knuckle boom trucks) and can have telescoping boom sections and hoists.
The crane, fitted to the knuckle boom truck is used for loading/unloading the vehicle. The articulated crane can then be folded and stored on the truck when not in use. The crane is often automated and therefore capable of loading and unloading itself without any human operation. Knuckle Boom articulating cranes are usually much lighter than their boom truck counterparts and that's a major benefit. Plus, are better designed to allow for increased payload on the back of the truck bed than standard boom trucks ever will be. With a knuckle boom, the smaller weight and ability to fold up means there will be more carry load space than with more traditional stick booms that weigh more and are not articulated, therefore unable to fold into a more convenient size.
Truck and trailer mounted booms like the knuckle boom truck for hire and for sale include (among a great many others) Bronto, Nifty, GSR, Ascendant and Aichi, which can allow for a reach of up to 32 metres and working heights up to 62 metres as well as self drive access platforms with working heights up to 22 metres. The knuckle boom crane can be mounted to the flat bed knuckle boom truck with an operator's cab mounted between loader and chassis cab. Unlike most cranes, the operator must move around the vehicle to be able to view his load; hence modern cranes may be fitted with a portable cabled or radio-linked control system to supplement the crane-mounted hydraulic control levers.
Knuckle boom trucks can either be heavy duty or light duty mounted booms. The heavy duty variety can be utilised when large outreaches of up to 32m, capacities up to 700kg and working heights up to 62m are needed. The light duty variety are fitted to 3.5 Tonne GVW Trucks which may be driven by customers employees using a standard (PLG) Car Licence and have Working Heights to 20m.
Loader preference plays a great role in the increased popularity of the relatively new knuckle boom truck technology and a factor in the knuckle booms increased popularity is that with the use of one of the smaller knuckle booms, the need for a certified crane operator is eradicated. This is due to the fact that certain knuckle booms fall below the 15,000 pounds weight capacity maximum, or 25-foot of boom maximum.
