Boom loader.

[Hivemaker.]

Does anyone on the forum use one of these.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5HMPuJbaL0&feature=relmfu[/ame]

 

[richardbees]

Great find!

 

[Chrisfnvs]

That`s an impressive piece of kit Hivemaker, is that what ITLD was talking about in another tread ?, i guess you would need to have a lot of colonies to warrant it.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Yes Murray mentioned them in a thread yesterday, there are different models,some with fixed arms rather than hydraulic, like this one,nice and light weight compared to a hiab,plus a bit more flexible.

 

[dpearce4]

how much are they

 

[Chrisfnvs]

When i get to 1000 colonies i will have to invest in one

 

[smithhive]

I have a much simpler and smaller loader - in effect a mini hiab. Made by Palfinger with an electric winch for raising and lowering hives. The boom can be extended to only about 6 or 7 feet and therefore it is sometimes necessary to barrow hives to within reach of the crane. The raising and lowering is operated by a simple toggle switch on the end of a flex. This allows me to load and unload hives whilst having my hands either side of the hive, the switch in one hand, to guide the hive into position on and off the vehicle.

This device can lift upto 450 kg. This means that it is possible to load hives complete with supers full of honey should the need arise.

The naughty bit - I use ratchet straps to secure hives and lift them by hooking under the strap. Not advisable, I know!

Do I like this contraption??? Without doubt it has allowed me to continue migratory beekeeping single handedly if need be, especially when I am moving bees with a Transit pick-up and therefore a high deck.

Several years ago when my daughter was 15 she helped me move a load of bees onto Borage. We timed the unloading operation from driving into the field to back out of the gate. We had 23 hives on ,each of which had 2,3 or 4supers on and in 35 minutes we had unloaded, unstrapped and released the bees WITHOUT breaking sweat, due in no small part to her ability to drive a Transit (off road) and that crane.

I think an Australian company manufacture a loader similar to the one in the video. It's a long time ago since I enquired but I think starting prices were somewhere in the 10 - 12 k mark. S w i e n t y do list one on their web site but it is P O A.

 

[blackcavebees]

Wish I hadn't posted my letter to Santa already

 

[Norton]

I have one which I made myself.Maximum lift is 150 kgs. It cost me about 700 euros to make.

 

[Into the lions den]

The one in the video is a Spanish version of the loader, and so far as I am aware that one has not really taken off. They have various versions of them. There are also numerous variants around the world.

The Australian one was originally sold as the Billet Easy Loader, but the originator (I think his name was Trevor Billet) passed it on to an outfit called Copeman Engineering and I think it got shortened to EZ Loader. They are the best ones.

They are also made under licence in Europe by Ickowicz in France, but the are generally rated to be quite as good as the original Australian ones.

The articulated ones completely superceded the rigid boom ones (they had a sliding carriage that ran along the boom) such as the Kelley one from the USA, as they can be used where there are some trees and perhaps poles etc about.

HIABs and similar are too slow, and anything where the controls are not on the actual hive carriage, thus steadied and directed by the person doing the loading, make it even slower.

In the video the person was being very careful and actually pretty sedate paced.

I helped a friend load 140 triples in California, and the actual loading took only about 20 mins, and that was with a rigid armed Kelley boom. He had a little footstrap hung from the underside of the carriage, and we took the hives in one place from the opposite side of a 20foot deep drainage ditch........foot in the strap and swing yourself across, pick up the bees, swing back. Impressive. Took longer to net and secure the load than it did to actually load it. Nonetheless, the 4 trucks on the run were all back at the rendezvous point for the long trip south to LA about 45 minutes after dispersing to their various collecting points.

Last time I costed it they were indeed about 10K each, but since then the Aus dollar has moved upwards, so probably more now.

LOL Norton..............I guess for materials you could maybe make a simple on for that (overelaboration is not needed......one of the issues with the Spanish one)...........but your hourly rate of pay must be good! I have the engineering skills of the average florist, so would need to used hired hands to make one if doing it ourselves. Probably better buying one from the specialist with a nice long warranty.

 

[Black Comb]

How did they fix the hives to the pallets?

 

[For want of a better word]

Off with my welder now in search of bicycles.......have 1000 40 newton blocks to shift!

( little barrow type shifter.... further into Mr Shifter vids... would never get a Hiab or boom in !)

 

[Bates]

I have used EZ Loaders here in Australia but we ditched all these loaders this year. We changed for bobcat (4wd forklift) to load faster and converted all to 4 way pallets. Can load 3 truck and trailor loads very fast, far quicker than any billet loader.

 

[VEG]

Do LOLER regs apply to these?

 

[Norton]

Here is P.O. Gustafsson's home made loader:
http://beeman.se/index-f.html

I modeled mine on this one. I made mine with square sections, but inside each section I also have a round section - made from land-rover drive shafts. This prevents any bending or flexing. The axles I had specially made and were from V22 or VR22 steel. I cannot remember the exact name. It enables me to move apiaries on my own, when I can't get anyone to help me. It also permits the movement of hives with up to four supers full of honey. It is difficult even for 2 people to load hives that high. We are not 20 years old anymore.

 

[Into the lions den]

I have used EZ Loaders here in Australia but we ditched all these loaders this year. We changed for bobcat (4wd forklift) to load faster and converted all to 4 way pallets. Can load 3 truck and trailor loads very fast, far quicker than any billet loader.

Hi Dan,

We thought about that too, but we would have to get rid of all but 4 of our 60 heather sites as they cannot ever, without serious civil engineering, be adapted for Bobcats. Rocks, trees, treestumps, soft peat, holes, ruts, little streams.................only in four places is there enough flat space for pallets to sit AND be placed there by a forklift. Only two of the places are unsuitable for an articulated boom loader. Using the best places is more important than using the easiest, even half a pound of honey a hive more than makes up for slower loading and unloading.

Would be nice though..............

Not such an issue on the lowland locations.

 

[crazy_bull]

Hi Dan,

We thought about that too, but we would have to get rid of all but 4 of our 60 heather sites as they cannot ever, without serious civil engineering, be adapted for Bobcats. Rocks, trees, treestumps, soft peat, holes, ruts, little streams.................only in four places is there enough flat space for pallets to sit AND be placed there by a forklift. Only two of the places are unsuitable for an articulated boom loader. Using the best places is more important than using the easiest, even half a pound of honey a hive more than makes up for slower loading and unloading.

Would be nice though..............

Not such an issue on the lowland locations.

ITLD

Have you looked at the 'Avant' articulated boomed loaders, they can get into some pretty tough places infact I dare say where ever you could get a landrover you could probably get these. Think they are rated to 500kg lifting.

C B

 

[Chris B]

These are pretty good on rocky ground. Tricky to fit a boom loader though.
(Thanks to Thurrock Bees for this)

 

[c00kie]

Does my ass look big in this?

 

[Chris B]

Yes.
Try the Sherriff lilac version for a classier look.