International Cranes Magazine recently posted an informative article about the unique purpose and function of crane boom dollies. These specialized transportation accessories have one mission: make a large crane street legal while being transported to and from the jobsite.
Most truck and all-terrain cranes are designed for travel with the boom tip secured over the cab. But if the size of the boom makes the crane too heavy to transport within established regulations, the boom must be removed and carried on a separate truck or trailer. This adds a lot of time and expense to the project. But there’s another solution: the boom dolly.
What is a Boom Dolly?
A boom dolly reverses the trajectory of the boom to extend it well beyond the chassis of the crane. The dolly provides another set of axles to support the boom while in tow, distributing the overall weight more evenly. Why is this important? Some U.S. states and most of Canada have strict regulations regarding weight transported along highways and bridges. Though the dolly causes the crane to travel in a manner that it wasn’t designed for, it provides a means that is cost and time efficient.
Easy peasy, right? Not quite.
The solution sounds simple, yet it presents a challenge for dolly manufacturers in that one model doesn’t work with all cranes. Each crane manufacturer’s model requires a specific dolly design for that crane. Another factor to consider is that the driving nature of the crane changes when a dolly is added because the dolly acts essentially as a trailer. The boom and dolly must now safely operate in tandem, moving freely behind the crane in front.
Read more about crane dollies at International Cranes Magazine's website by clicking here. Image above courtesy of their website.
May 7, 2021
