i have an idea, but can someone tell me if it will work?

[zackman1801]

that thing looks pretty neat, i wonder how he got that second 3rd axle to move, it said some thing about a PTO but i didnt know trucks could be used like that.

[dail_h]

   Zack,
   Most trucks 3/4 ton 'n up with straight trannies have a side plate where you can add a pto. Think dump,winches hyd pumps ect. There were severasl companies making these loaders for the shortwood cutters,the best known one was probably Brown Man co,branded "Big Stick"These loaders becam genericaly "Big Sticks" whether homemade,or factory made.
   They were cheap and easy to build,and a lot of guys who couldn't get the money together for a factory unit built their own,or had a local welder build it. They were as varied as chicken soup recipe,but all worked pretty much the same.
   First,a subframe was bolted to the chassis to serve as a platform to weld everything to. Then the decision had to be made whether to mount the loader behind the cab as the one in Tom's pics,or mid mount it over the rear axel. If mounted behind the cab,log and long length pulp could be loaded,but loading the rear bunk with shortwood was more difficult. A suitable rearend from a junked car or truck was welded to the front or center upright. Usualy ,they just cut a slot in the verticle the width of the axel tubes ,and welded it in ,usually offset to the right some. power was brought from the pto over to the input by chains and sprockets.Then,a section of the lefthand axel tube was cut out,the axel removed,and a cabel drum was made to fit the axel,and welded on after the axel was reinstalled. Here's how it worked. Two master cylinders were mountedin a safe place(yeah right),and a line went to each brake cylinder,think turning brakes on a tractor. With the truck running in neutral,fast idle pto engaged,the cabel is pulled out ,and attached to bundle of wood. Offside brake is engaged,causing cabel drum to turn,winding in cabel.When the bundle reaches an appropriate height,the offside brake is released,the winding drum brake is engagedto hold the bundlewhile it.s seung around into position over the truck bed,then slowly released to lower.
   Kinda got ma cart n horse end switched,aint got no mast n boom on yet. The mast was mounted verticaly,above the drum,and the cable threaded up through that to the boom. Mastheads could be made in several ways,just a plain pipe swivel like Tom's friends,or more commonly 1/2 off a 3/4 ton or larger trucl rearend mounted verticaly.Cut the hoghead in half,ewld inbetween the uprights with suitable bracing. Remove the axel,remount the wheel,and bing,a place to mount the boom with nice bearings and all.The boom was just a piece of pipe with a pully on each end,one over the mast,one on the outboard end,and a yoke and pin arrangement to raise and lower the boom,and we're alomst ready to haul wood.
   Lessee,we got our pto rigged up,n turnin,a rearend for liftin fixed up, brakes for saftey an such,sometimes,we ready,no wait,need to be able ta swing the boom.The simplest swing was no swing,just the pivot at the top. Bundle was swung by hand. This culd be quite a feat while holding brakes ,stumblin over brush an stuff. A LOT OF GUYS NEVER HAD NO SWING ON THESE RIGS. wHAT THEY WOULD DO WAS HEAD THE TRUCK UPHILL,AND LET GRAVITY do the work. If no hill was handy,just run the front end up on a coupla blocks.Most eventualy had hydraulic swing,and they worked good. A pump was run off the same shaft as the winch. Two cylinders were mounted inside the uprightsverticaly. A cable went from one cylinder up to a pully at the top of the upright,made a coupla three turns around the masthead,then over to the other pully,down to the cylinder. The cylinders were plumbed opposite each other ,so when one was pushing,the other waspulling.It worked like a cable drive on a circle mill,except the cable worked the drum instead of the drum working the cable.
   No two of these things were the same,and they were made out of whatever they could find handy. They took a lot of abuse,but they could sure get wood out. Lots of folks raised a family round where I grew up with nothing more than one of these,and a Homelite bow saw. Usta be a familiar sight,pulpwood truck going down the road,a coupla saws hanging over the standard