More Autocar Images from 2007

[pttowguy]

Topic Originally Created on Tow411 in August of 2007:

 

Like many people here, we have our share of little projects that we work on in the shop from time to time. We seem to always have at least one on the go at most times as well as keeping our other 30 units up & running. Over 3 years ago we started a project to build our own heavy duty rotator. We started out with a 1990 Autocar twin steer 6x8 extreme duty chassis, stretched it out some, triple framed it & added another rear drive axle. We purchased a vandalized crane for salvage that had the driver's cab fire bombed. The turn-table, outriggers and hydraulic cylinders we not hurt at all (never even discolored or bubbled the paint) and formed the starting point for the back end. After many,many hours of leg work and miles traveled looking at other heavy duty units, we came up with what we felt was the size & dimensions we wanted for our unit. Working with a crane/hoisting engineer to verify our design & certify our boom was quite a learning experience for both of us.We scrapped the original boom and a new one was made from T1 structural steel as specified by our engineer & certified.

Fast forwarding to this weekend, for the first time we brought it out & showed it off at an antique tractor & farm equipment show near us were we do a lot of work for in support of the preservation of the old farming equipment. While it is not completely finished , and finishing touches are still needed, it did look great to take it out of the shop. Here are a few pics from the show were it was used to proudly fly a couple of flags too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

tow04 said:

Now that's impressive. Nice job! Make sure u get action shots of that one and post them! What kind of specs on the working end?

 

Canadian Towman said:

great looking rotator,how many ton would it be good for and is that a lift in the rear or a 72 inch spread. i guess that the one your bringing to toronto

 

mattiSoo said:

What are the specs on that Beast?? I think it would give Curries 75T Tator a run !!
when is the Toronto Tow show?? I am working in India right now but hope to be home by end of august!
Maybe we will see each other in TO
nice truck!!!

Town & Country Towing
Matt Comfort
Sault Ste Marie, On Canada

 

TOwBoY88 said:

That is awesome!! Great job. How long is that boom...??

 

Ed Barker said:

I have been waiting to see you get that up and out ever since you showed me those pictures last year at the wrecker show,,,now that thing is so very impressive!!!!!!

 

ibuytoys said:

That turned out very nice!!! Truly a labor of love.

 

Eds Towing said:

Man that's a beast! Any idea what it weighs yet? How do you get the boom or chassis certified or rated?

Good luck with it.

 

Dallas Horton said:

That thing is a beast, look at the all the reach on the boom. What are the specs on that monster?

 

wreckerman05 said:

thats a project to be proud of-and you can say we made it --you guys did some serious planning and it turned out great---looks like a work horse---keep up posted on some jobs you do with it

 

joeniel said:

WOW that thing is a beast.. specs?

 

FMS Mike said:

Now That is unique!!! How about a picture of her all packed up. Great looking rig and I'm sure it will prove its worth to you in no time.
Michael

 

Larry Lange said:

WOW

 

Brian Bell said:

That 3rd picture would have made me wanna suck my boom in and get under a shed.... But looks like the weather got better for you. Congratulations on a Super Unit!! Looks Awesome!!!!

What size are the winches all 5 of them?

 

wstowing11 said:

Awesome , just bad ass !!!

 

Brise Blackwell III said:

Sweet

 

JRhd34 said:

Absolutey impressive,,,, bad ass

 

pttowguy said:

Thanks for all of the comments guys! Some answers to your questions:

The rear spread is 72'' with 52'' to the front airride drive axle. Its a little different but helps with the gross weight rating. I visited the MTO before we mounted the axles and this et up gives us a GVWR of 89,750 lbs. We are currently at 86,000lbs so we should be good.

We will be at the Ontario Tow Show in Toronto on the Sept.22 weekend.

The boom has 3 sections, each 20 ft. long. With 5 ft staying inside the outer piece, it gives us 2 x 15 ft. extentions. Boom max height is approx. 65 ft. I believe at 68 degrees of elevation. Swung over the side, it drops down to eye level for easy rigging of multiple lines.

Brian...there are 7 winches: 2 60,000 lb 2spd DP planetaries up top with 1'' x 225' wire rope
2 20,000 lb DP planetaries under the boom with 5/8'' x 125' wire rope
1 45,000 lb Garwood drag winch on the deck that holds 400' x 3/4'' wire rope
1 8,000 lb high speed winch in the rear for pulling the 1'' wire rope thru the snow etc.
1 30,000 lb military style winch in the front bumper just in case

On the rear we mounted a new Zacklift Z303 to bring a casualty home. We wont be doing regular, everyday towing with this unit.

I have lots more pics of the building stages. Here are a few more:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

danielswt said:

i remember seeing/hearing about this project a couple years ago on here. i was recently wondering what ever happened with it. job well done.

 

TOwBoY88 said:

How about the rating? Is it a 60-ton...??

 

f650man said:

That is one very nice truck.

 

wstowing11 said:

Who cares what it is rated for ! 7 winches , nice crane platform, nice big ol recovery boom , whatever it may come across it is going to be dominated !!

Again , beautiful job guys !!

 

NJHEAVYTOW said:

That thing looks all around tuff... By far the best project I have seen done on this board so far... Great job...

Take it easy
Charlie

 

TOwBoY88 said:

Wayne, for some reason I believe you asked what your rotator was rated for instead of saying "Here's the check, look at those 5 winches". LOL..

I find it awesome that someone else built something like this and was wondering, through the certification process how it went and what it finally got rated at...I bet that was some process also (getting it rated).

 

danielswt said:

do you have any pics of the subframe you wouldnt mind putting up?

have you done ay kind of test lifting with it to see what it will do?

 

AllCountyTowing said:

All I can say is WOW!! what was it rated for? Very cool to see someone put something like that together!

 

pttowguy said:

Hey guys...thanks for the comments. I guess I left out a few details.

Our engineer gave us a preliminary boom rating during the design and material selection stage. As with any wrecker, the chassis specs & ratings are the responsibility of the owner, which still would be us. We chose the heaviest chassis we could find at the time without having to order a new one. We do not expect to be travelling very far with this and it will used for recovery only.....not daily towing use.

Based on our outrigger spread and our static weight (uncounterbalanced), our engineer said our worst picking point is over one of the rear corners, we should be able to lift 150,000 lbs, 8 feet from the side of the truck. That is the truck's stability number.We have also added some counterbalancing to help improve stability. He approved the boom for a structural strength which would include safety margins, at 5 times that amount. Remember, once you have surpassed your units stability numbers, it doesn't matter how big, long or strong your boom is.

Here is a pic of the crane frame grafted to our chassis

 

 

Singh said:

WOW!!! 75ton 8ft from side?, over rear corner?, and boom rating of 370ton?
THAT is impressive!!!

 

Fredstowingnj said:

WOW... Now that's a tator.

 

Jerrys Road Service said:

HOLLY S*it i want one.great job its really something to be proud of awesome work sir.

 

TOwBoY88 said:

Those are some impressive #'s.

 

MNPOOL said:

All I can say is " WOW !!!

 

wstowing11 said:

Billy of course I want to know what this monster can handle it is damn impressive to say the least ! I more or less was trying to say that whatever the rating is does it really matter cuz this bastard is huge !! Didn't mean that nobody could ask , sorry if it read that way .

 

MattiSoo said:

Wow just those pictures alone put the build into perspective !
just awsome you guys get 3 cheers from me !!
Hope to see you at the Show, can you send me some details of the show or tell me were to find details?

Town & Country Towing
Matt Comfort
Sault Ste Marie, On Canada

 

pttowguy said:

Thanks for the comments guys!

Matt.....here you go: http://www.ptao.org/

We tried to do a few things to make working with this truck a little easier & safer. The boss is only about 5'6'' and trying to attach your hooks to the boom when rigging multiple lines can be challenging at times especially in bad weather. In positioning our lift cylinder attaching point on the boom, moving it 8 inches further out towards the sheave wheels, gave us the ability to drop the boom down to under 6 ft. high and I only gave up less than a foot off the top hook height.

 

mattiSoo said:

WOW!!
Scott if I cant make it to the show I would like to take a drive down to you to see this thing in real life!
We dont get down south to often with jim's 35t Nrc Slider but I have been as close as Missisauga for Penske
But it would be worth the drive in my pick-up just to see this Beast!
thanx again for the pics
again they sure put the build into perspective!

Town & Country Towing
Matt Comfort
Sault Ste Marie, On Canada

 

dwcarter said:

Scott, that is beyond awesome!! Ever since you posted some pictures a couple of years ago of the boom end, I've been waiting to see what it was. Fantastic craftsmanship, truly something to be proud of. I'd hate to guess at the hours spent on that machine. That high speed winch will come in handy with that 1 inch line. So many questions that I can't think what to ask. AWESOME.

DW Carter WM92343 

 

MTA415 said:

This unit has rendered "the mouth of the south' speechless!!! WOW!!!

 

Stapleytowin said:

I have to say that is amazing!! I truley appreciate anything hand crafted. Any body can go buy a big expensive piece. But that is something else.. Best of luck with it. How fast can you get it to Campbellford if we need it. We have to deliver a mustang up to Windsor this week. Keep your eyes peeled for use. I'll definitely be looking forward to seeing that in TO!!!!!

 

pttowguy said:

Well, we got the white painted on the cab & hood, most of the air & electrical controls hooked up and other minor jobs done. Thursday the lettering was done and a quick wash Friday morning, then off down the road to Toronto for the Ontario Tow Show. The ride & steering was excellent and it stops great! We have a lot of very nice comments from some very qualified owner's and operators. Here are a few pics from the show.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Towman26 said:

Wow ! I really want something like that, were do I order one & how long will it take you to build it !!!!! I will even supply the paint.

 

QueenswayTire said:

Well having seen this truck myself at the Toronto show, and talking to Scott for the last few years about it, it is all they said it would be and more. Now one thing that Scott forgot to mention is that those tool compartments were all built in their shop as well, and what a job they did. Looks like they are factory built, and even the paint looks spectacular. All in all it is a beast, and the guys at Myer's deserve all the praise in the world for building this unit. If you ever get to see it in person, these pictures do it no justice.

 

Dallas Horton said:

Wow, that thing is just massive.

 

towingtech said:

Well if you can't buy what you want, Build what you want.

A true innovation!!

 

Martin Ganley said:

all of you guts who build this are artist,it must be a great feeling to go on a job with a real one of a kind that you build to your spec on your own im quitye sure this truck can match those miller 75 ton easily

 

letsplay2 said:

Very truly a work of art.. I am very impressed with how far out the boom can reach and what the numbers are for a pick 8' off the side..

How wide is the outrigger stance on your truck? How far out does each outrigger go on either side.

This is a very beautiful truck.

Devin