SQ6.3ZA4 Knuckle Crane Setting Concrete Poles in Honduras

Concrete poles stacked beside the road, a crew in hard hats and a black knuckle boom crane holding a pole upright over its hole: ten photos and a 53-second video from our customer in Honduras show a BOB-LIFT SQ6.3ZA4 setting utility poles.

At a glance: SQ6.3ZA4 6.3 t knuckle boom crane · Honduras · loading and setting concrete poles · 10 customer photos and 1 video.

What the photos and video show

• The truck. The black crane, marked BOB-LIFT and SQ6.3Z, is mounted behind the cab of a white International truck. Behind it is a flat deck with a tall black headboard, and the outriggers stand down on both sides.
• Loading poles. Grey concrete poles lie in stacks on the ground and on the deck. The crane picks them up one at a time on a hook block, while workers in high-visibility shirts guide each pole into place.
• Setting a pole. In one photo the boom is unfolded at full height and holds a pole upright over a freshly dug hole. Four workers stand at its base with shovels and a bar to set it straight.
• The video. The truck stands on a sandy site with poles on its deck, and the crane unfolds to work them while the crew watches from the ground.

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

SQ6.3ZA4 specifications

The SQ6.3ZA4 is a 6.3 t knuckle boom truck-mounted crane with a maximum lifting moment of 13.2 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 SQ6.3ZA4 lifts 6,300 kg at 2.1 m but only 1,190 kg at 10.2 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 6.3 m from the slewing centre the crane is rated for 2,020 kg; at the full 10.2 m reach it is 1,190 kg.

The SQ6.3ZA4 is now a previous model. In the same 6.3 t class we currently build the SQ6.3ZA5 and the BLZ129K4. The SQ6.3ZA4 page compares all three and shows the full drawings. The same model handles steel coils and sets a column in our delivery record from Mexico.

Setting concrete poles with a knuckle boom crane

Pole setting asks a lot of a truck-mounted crane. The pole is long and heavy, it has to be lifted from flat to upright, and it is held over the hole while the crew lines it up. Before each pole:

1. Get the real pole weight. A reinforced concrete pole can weigh well over a tonne. Take the weight from the pole maker's data, then check the chart at the radius where the pole will stand: the SQ6.3ZA4 is rated for 2,020 kg at 6.3 m and 1,190 kg at 10.2 m.
2. Sling it above the centre of gravity. A choker or pole grab fixed above the balance point lets the pole swing upright as it lifts and keeps it from turning over in the sling.
3. Keep the crew out from under the pole. Workers at the base guide it with bars and tag lines. Nobody should stand where the pole would fall if the sling slipped.
4. Watch for overhead power lines. New poles often go up beside live lines. Keep the boom, the load line and the pole clear of them, as the OSHA standard linked above requires.

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 SQ6.3ZA4

Before you order, check three things on your truck. They decide whether the SQ6.3ZA4 fits it.

• Payload. The crane weighs 2,180 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 22 kW. The power take-off and pump on your truck must give at least this.
• Outrigger room. The outriggers need room to extend fully. 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 and video, the technical department's drawing and the BOB-LIFT brochure.