SQ4ZA3 Crane Lifting Trailers in Australia

A galvanised tandem-axle trailer swings off the tray of a white Fuso Fighter on four yellow webbing slings. Six photos from our customer in Australia show a BOB-LIFT SQ4ZA3 knuckle boom crane loading and unloading trailers on a grass yard.

At a glance: SQ4ZA3 4 t knuckle boom crane · Australia · behind-cab on a Fuso Fighter tray truck · lifting tandem-axle trailers · 6 customer photos.

Trailers on and off the tray

• The truck. The red crane, marked BOB-LIFT and SQ4Z, sits behind the cab of a white Mitsubishi Fuso Fighter with a flat tray and headboard.
• Trailer lifts. In four photos the crane holds a galvanised tandem-axle flat-top trailer in the air on a four-leg webbing sling. It swings the trailer between the tray and the grass. An outrigger leg is set down beside the cab for each lift.
• Loaded and unloaded. One photo shows a trailer already strapped on the tray, with a second one standing behind the truck. Another shows the empty tray, with timber bearers and ratchet straps ready for the next load.
• Crane close-up. A portrait shot beside the cab shows the column, the control valve bank with its levers, the hose runs and the red outrigger leg.

These are the customer's own photos. No load weights, dates or comments came with them.

SQ4ZA3 specifications

The SQ4ZA3 is a 4 t knuckle boom truck-mounted crane with a maximum lifting moment of 8.4 t·m and three boom sections. Reach and load figures are read from the technical department's load chart drawing; the hydraulic figures come from the BOB-LIFT brochure.

Lifting moment is the load times its distance from the slewing centre. That is why the rated load drops as the boom reaches out. For example, the SQ4ZA3 lifts 4,000 kg at 2.1 m but only 850 kg at 7.7 m. Outrigger span is the width between the outrigger feet when they are fully out. Set them on firm, level ground, such as concrete or compacted gravel, before each lift. For ground and outrigger rules, see the OSHA cranes and derricks standard.

A trailer set down beside the truck, as in these photos, hangs about 4 to 6 m from the slewing centre. There the SQ4ZA3 is rated for 1,750 kg at 4.35 m and 1,250 kg at 5.9 m.

The SQ4ZA3 product page has the dimension drawing and the full specification. The four-section SQ4ZA4 has the same 8.4 t·m moment and reaches about 9.4 m.

Lifting a whole trailer with a knuckle boom

A trailer is a long, light load whose weight is not centred under the hook. The photos show how to handle it. A four-leg sling goes to the corners of the frame. The legs are set so the trailer hangs level. The lift is made beside the truck, not over the cab. Before lifting a trailer this way:

1. Know the trailer's tare weight. It is usually on the trailer's plate. Compare it with the load chart at the largest radius the trailer passes through, which is usually where it is set down beside the truck.
2. Check the sling. Each leg carries more than a quarter of the load once the legs are angled. Rate the sling for the angle you use.
3. Set the outriggers first. The lift in these photos swings the trailer out to the side. Set the outrigger on that side down on firm ground before the hook takes the weight.

Other capacities are in the knuckle boom truck mounted crane range. How we fit cranes to customer chassis is on the mounting and shipping page.

Checking a truck for the SQ4ZA3

Before you order, check three things on your truck. They decide whether the SQ4ZA3 fits it.

• Payload. The crane weighs 1,350 kg. Take this off the truck's payload, then plan the body and the loads you carry with what is left.
• Hydraulic power. The crane needs 25 L/min at 26 MPa, about 14 kW. The power take-off and pump on your truck must give at least this.
• Outrigger room. The outriggers span 2,250 to 3,513 mm. Make sure the frame has room for them, and that your job sites do too.

Send us the make, model and wheelbase of your truck through the contact page, and our team will check the fit.

Record compiled by Achord Chan, Product Operations Director at BOB-LIFT, from the customer's photos, the technical department's drawing and the BOB-LIFT brochure.