SQ8ZA4 Crane Setting a Generator in Ecuador

A green generator set hanging from a black crane over a concrete base: a photo from our customer in Ecuador shows a BOB-LIFT SQ8ZA4 knuckle boom crane setting the generator in place while a crew guides it down.

At a glance: SQ8ZA4 8 t knuckle boom crane · Ecuador · generator set placement · 1 customer photo.

What the photo shows

• The crane. The black crane is mounted behind the cab of a white truck. Its boom is raised and extended out over the side.
• The load. A large green generator set in a ventilated enclosure hangs from the hook on two red round slings and a yellow strap.
• The crew. Six workers in safety helmets and high-visibility vests stand around the generator. Several of them have their hands on it, steering it onto a raised concrete base.
• The setting. The work takes place outdoors under a cloudy sky, with trees in the background.

This is the customer's own photo. No load weights, dates or comments came with it.

SQ8ZA4 specifications

The SQ8ZA4 is an 8 t knuckle boom truck-mounted crane with a maximum lifting moment of 16.7 t·m. 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 SQ8ZA4 lifts 8,000 kg at 2 m but only 1,420 kg at 10.5 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.

At 4.46 m from the slewing centre the crane is rated for 3,700 kg. At 6.45 m it is 2,470 kg, and at the full 10.5 m reach it is 1,420 kg.

The SQ8ZA4 product page has the full drawings. The same model lifts parts inside a factory in our delivery record from Mexico. In Indonesia, a 3.2 t knuckle boom crane places a smaller generator in our SQ3.2ZA3 record.

Setting a generator on its base

A generator set is heavy, its weight is not always even, and it has to land on a base exactly. Three things to plan for:

1. Know the weight and the radius. Take the weight from the generator's nameplate or data sheet, then check it against the load chart at the radius you need. At 6.45 m the rating is 2,470 kg.
2. Use the lifting points. Sling the set from the lifting points the maker provides, so it hangs level and the enclosure is not crushed.
3. Land it slowly. Lower the set in small steps over the base. The crew should guide it with tag lines or the edges of the frame, keep hands and feet out from under it, and step back before it is set down.

Other capacities are in the knuckle boom truck mounted crane range, and every model around 8 t is listed on the 8 ton crane page.

Checking a truck for the SQ8ZA4

Before you order, check three things on your truck. They decide whether the SQ8ZA4 fits it.

• Payload. The crane weighs 3,050 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 40 L/min at 28 MPa, about 25 kW. The power take-off and pump on your truck must give at least this.
• Outrigger room. The outriggers span 2,310 to 5,610 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 photo, the technical department's drawing and the BOB-LIFT brochure.