Advice on truck to mount crane on

Only Mack engine I might stay away from is a E9 V8. They are great engines, but parts are getting harder to come by, and are more expensive to work on than Cat. The good part is they rarely break, as long as somebody doesn’t mess with the fuel too much.

Having said all that, I do own a E9 truck, but understand what they are.

 

Hardly see those anymore. The 1693 is prob easier to find parts for but those E-9s are just plain cool. Cook Bros is our local mack dealer and they can usually get parts the next day or 2 days later. This summer when my dad and I rebuilt the 93 they pretty much had everything on the shelf besides a few knick knacks

 

It's not so much brand or model. What you want is ENOUGH truck to do this work. SAFELY.

Ive actually done a touch of crane work in my time and have a taste of what it takes to do it right. You want enough frame, outriggers, sufficient hydraulic support, the pump which is the muscle, controls and so on. All of that has to go on the truck you pick. Ive learned enough not to pursue this work as a formally licensed, certified anything. If it's a crane or cherry box I can operate it. It's not pretty but it can be done.

My favorites were the ex Railroad Superliner Macks with trailer the 25 foot crane mounted behind the cab and reached ahead of the tractor on it's forward travel lock. When not in use you could get to whatever is on that trailer behind you outriggers on the cab and trailer etc. And really work it.

Driving them is not that fun. But it's made for one particular kind of work.

When you say you are Mr Tree Man, I can think of a thousand local trucks that have a little bit of rack, crane and so on enough to do good tree work pretty safely. I don't think you will be hoisting a 10 foot wide 150 foot oak anytime soon. But you can load it in to a container or dumptruck in time with a good crane or smaller backhoe, shovel etc with that clamp/claw attachment. Clamp on the big limb, hold it there, CHOP with Stihl and drive off with severed limb.

That's a plan B.

 

No. R models had narrow cabs centered on the truck...and there was the RD with the short roundy hood and the RW (aka superliner) with a bigger, boxier hood. U models had the narrow cabs offset to the driver's side...look kind of goofy, but helps with visibility while backing. CH and CL models have the wider cab, with CL having a longer hood. You've also got set-forward axles which stretch out the bridge if you need it, or set back axles which tend to turn a little sharper. Keep that in mind when comparing wheelbases, as the set back axle will have more frame behind the cab than a set forward axle of the same wheelbase. The larger hood of the CL meant more engine options...might find them with a 550 or 600 HP Cummins.