Tractor Cranes with a Stabiliser Leg and Crane Basket in Belarus

In Belarus, a local equipment builder mounted BOB-LIFT SQ5ZA3 knuckle boom cranes on wheeled tractors and sent back 5 photos of the finished machines. The tractor carries the red crane behind the cab and a front loader with a bucket, and a work basket can ride on the loader or be fitted at the boom tip as a crane basket.

In order, the photos show:

1. The finished tractor with the crane folded and the loader bucket lowered.
2. The work basket carried on the front loader.
3. Two tractor cranes parked in a yard beside high-voltage pylons.
4. The crane extended with the basket at the boom tip and a stabiliser leg set down on the ground.
5. Two machines loaded on low trailers for delivery.

The tractor, loader, basket and stabiliser are the builder's work, and the builder's own markings on the machine are not repeated here. Everything below comes from the photos and the crane's spec sheet.

A tractor goes where a road truck struggles: soft verges, field edges and unpaved yards around substations and pumping stations. With a loader on the front and a crane on the back, one machine can load, carry, lift and position a work basket. For crews that cover spread-out sites with small loads, it can handle jobs that would otherwise need a truck crane and a separate loader.

A crane's rating only holds when the carrier underneath can resist the tipping moment. On a truck, BOB-LIFT supplies the outriggers with the crane; the SQ5ZA3 truck version spreads them from 2,272 mm to 5,122 mm. On a tractor, the builder designs the subframe and stabilisers to suit that chassis. In photo 4 the crane works at height with a stabiliser leg extended to the ground beside the rear wheel.

Because the stabilisers are the builder's design, the builder must check the stability of the whole machine and set the permitted loads and slewing zones for the tractor. The crane's own load chart is the upper limit, not a guarantee for every carrier. Tyre pressure, ground bearing and the loader position also change how stable the machine is.

When the basket is fitted at the boom tip, as in photo 4, the rules on lifting people apply. Whether a loader crane or a front loader may lift people in a basket is set by local law and the basket's own certification, not by the crane alone. In the United States, for example, OSHA allows cranes to hoist personnel only under specific conditions in 29 CFR 1926.1431. The builder and the owner must confirm the rules that apply in their country before anyone rides in a basket. BOB-LIFT supplies the crane; we do not certify a combined crane and basket for carrying people.

The SQ5ZA3 is rated at 5,000 kg maximum lifting capacity and 10.5 t·m maximum lifting moment, with 400° slewing. It needs 35 L/min of hydraulic flow at 28 MPa, from about 22 kW of recommended power, which on a tractor usually comes from a PTO-driven pump; the photos do not show which pump this builder used. It weighs 2,286 kg and reaches 8.05 m, where its load chart allows 1,100 kg.