I do not have a lot of experience dealing with overhead cranes. I need
to have an approximate idea of how much a bridge crane (just the
bridge unit, not the rails) would weigh, given span and capacity.

The present case is a 10 ton, 50' long bridge crane weighs. I already
bought it, it is disassembled, but I need to figure out the weight for
transportation purposes.

What I bought is actually a complete gantry system that is shaped as a
lowercase 'r'. It has one traveling leg on one side only, and the
other side rides on elevated rails. I bought it including stationary
columns, top rails, the traveling column etc. Paid 1,700.

But at this time I am mostly concerned with figuring out the weight of
the bridge. Again, it is 10 ton capacity and 50 feet long.

Any clue what it may weigh?

thanks

i

Ignoramus16418 wrote:

I do not have a lot of experience dealing with overhead cranes. I need
to have an approximate idea of how much a bridge crane (just the
bridge unit, not the rails) would weigh, given span and capacity.

The present case is a 10 ton, 50' long bridge crane weighs. I already
bought it, it is disassembled, but I need to figure out the weight for
transportation purposes.

What I bought is actually a complete gantry system that is shaped as a
lowercase 'r'. It has one traveling leg on one side only, and the
other side rides on elevated rails. I bought it including stationary
columns, top rails, the traveling column etc. Paid 1,700.

But at this time I am mostly concerned with figuring out the weight of
the bridge. Again, it is 10 ton capacity and 50 feet long.

Any clue what it may weigh?

thanks

i

Since these things are predominantly made of standard structural steel
components, a bit of measuring and comparing to specs in a structural
steel chart should tell you the weight per foot for the materials and a
bit of calculating for the total.

On 2014-12-03, Ignoramus16418 wrote:
I do not have a lot of experience dealing with overhead cranes. I need
to have an approximate idea of how much a bridge crane (just the
bridge unit, not the rails) would weigh, given span and capacity.

Here are the pictures, you can open then in separate tabs to see more
detail, they are actually quite detailed.

http://ricklevin.nextlot.com/public/...section=photos

i

On 2014-12-03, Ignoramus16418 wrote:

On 2014-12-03, Ignoramus16418 wrote:
I do not have a lot of experience dealing with overhead cranes. I need
to have an approximate idea of how much a bridge crane (just the
bridge unit, not the rails) would weigh, given span and capacity.

Here are the pictures, you can open then in separate tabs to see more
detail, they are actually quite detailed.

http://ricklevin.nextlot.com/public/...section=photos


And look specifically at the last picture, all the yellow stuff in it
is mine.

i

On 2014-12-03, Pete C. wrote:

Ignoramus16418 wrote:

I do not have a lot of experience dealing with overhead cranes. I need
to have an approximate idea of how much a bridge crane (just the
bridge unit, not the rails) would weigh, given span and capacity.

The present case is a 10 ton, 50' long bridge crane weighs. I already
bought it, it is disassembled, but I need to figure out the weight for
transportation purposes.

What I bought is actually a complete gantry system that is shaped as a
lowercase 'r'. It has one traveling leg on one side only, and the
other side rides on elevated rails. I bought it including stationary
columns, top rails, the traveling column etc. Paid 1,700.

But at this time I am mostly concerned with figuring out the weight of
the bridge. Again, it is 10 ton capacity and 50 feet long.

Any clue what it may weigh?

thanks

i

Since these things are predominantly made of standard structural steel
components, a bit of measuring and comparing to specs in a structural
steel chart should tell you the weight per foot for the materials and a
bit of calculating for the total.

Thanks. It makes sense. The problem is this. It is 2.5 hours away from
me. I have to tell my driver how much of it to pick up without ending
up overweight.

Look at this picture to get an idea. You can kind of figure out the
size, the main bridge (top part of the picture) is exactly 50 feet
long and about 48" high.

i

On 2014-12-03, Ignoramus16418 wrote:
On 2014-12-03, Pete C. wrote:

Ignoramus16418 wrote:

I do not have a lot of experience dealing with overhead cranes. I need
to have an approximate idea of how much a bridge crane (just the
bridge unit, not the rails) would weigh, given span and capacity.

The present case is a 10 ton, 50' long bridge crane weighs. I already
bought it, it is disassembled, but I need to figure out the weight for
transportation purposes.

What I bought is actually a complete gantry system that is shaped as a
lowercase 'r'. It has one traveling leg on one side only, and the
other side rides on elevated rails. I bought it including stationary
columns, top rails, the traveling column etc. Paid 1,700.

But at this time I am mostly concerned with figuring out the weight of
the bridge. Again, it is 10 ton capacity and 50 feet long.

Any clue what it may weigh?

thanks

i

Since these things are predominantly made of standard structural steel
components, a bit of measuring and comparing to specs in a structural
steel chart should tell you the weight per foot for the materials and a
bit of calculating for the total.

Thanks. It makes sense. The problem is this. It is 2.5 hours away from
me. I have to tell my driver how much of it to pick up without ending
up overweight.

Look at this picture to get an idea.

http://goo.gl/UKuXgL

You can kind of figure out the
size, the main bridge (top part of the picture) is exactly 50 feet
long and about 48" high.

i

On Tuesday, December 2, 2014 8:58:03 PM UTC-5, Ignoramus16418 wrote:

But at this time I am mostly concerned with figuring out the weight of
the bridge. Again, it is 10 ton capacity and 50 feet long.

Any clue what it may weigh?

thanks

i

Since these things are predominantly made of standard structural steel
components, a bit of measuring and comparing to specs in a structural
steel chart should tell you the weight per foot for the materials and a
bit of calculating for the total.

Thanks. It makes sense. The problem is this. It is 2.5 hours away from
me. I have to tell my driver how much of it to pick up without ending
up overweight.

Look at this picture to get an idea. You can kind of figure out the
size, the main bridge (top part of the picture) is exactly 50 feet
long and about 48" high.

i

I assume you have actually seen the crane in person. So you are wanting people that have never seen the crane to give you a better estimate than you can generate.

However I understand that portable truck scales are made ( just like the ones the highway patrol will have ) and they might be something that you could use.
Sorry I have no idea of the cost or the manufacturer.

Dan

On 2014-12-03, wrote:
On Tuesday, December 2, 2014 8:58:03 PM UTC-5, Ignoramus16418 wrote:

But at this time I am mostly concerned with figuring out the weight of
the bridge. Again, it is 10 ton capacity and 50 feet long.

Any clue what it may weigh?

thanks

i

Since these things are predominantly made of standard structural steel
components, a bit of measuring and comparing to specs in a structural
steel chart should tell you the weight per foot for the materials and a
bit of calculating for the total.

Thanks. It makes sense. The problem is this. It is 2.5 hours away from
me. I have to tell my driver how much of it to pick up without ending
up overweight.

Look at this picture to get an idea. You can kind of figure out the
size, the main bridge (top part of the picture) is exactly 50 feet
long and about 48" high.

i

I assume you have actually seen the crane in person. So you are
wanting people that have never seen the crane to give you a better
estimate than you can generate.

I have not seen it.

That's the problem.

I also want to be able to estimate weights of cranes that are still up
in the air.

However I understand that portable truck scales are made ( just like
the ones the highway patrol will have ) and they might be something
that you could use. Sorry I have no idea of the cost or the
manufacturer.

Yes, good point.

i

On Tuesday, December 2, 2014 9:43:56 PM UTC-5, wrote:


Since these things are predominantly made of standard structural steel
components, a bit of measuring and comparing to specs in a structural
steel chart should tell you the weight per foot for the materials and a
bit of calculating for the total.

Thanks. It makes sense. The problem is this. It is 2.5 hours away from
me. I have to tell my driver how much of it to pick up without ending
up overweight.


Another thought. You could give your driver copies of the pages showing standard structural steel components, a tape measure , and a calculator. He should be able to come up with a fairly good estimate. Well maybe you should also give him a cell phone too so he can consult with you while he is looking at the crane.

Dan

On Tue, 02 Dec 2014 20:48:21 -0600, Ignoramus16418
wrote:

On 2014-12-03, wrote:
On Tuesday, December 2, 2014 8:58:03 PM UTC-5, Ignoramus16418 wrote:
I assume you have actually seen the crane in person. So you are
wanting people that have never seen the crane to give you a better
estimate than you can generate.

I have not seen it.

That's the problem.

I also want to be able to estimate weights of cranes that are still up
in the air.

Oh, that's a simple one. Just learn to levitate, Ig. Then you can
get as close as you need with that 300' tape measure.

Have you asked any of the crane companies or local rigging companies
for help there? One builds 'em and the other installs 'em, so they
should know what a certain mfgr's model weighs.


However I understand that portable truck scales are made ( just like
the ones the highway patrol will have ) and they might be something
that you could use. Sorry I have no idea of the cost or the
manufacturer.

Yes, good point.

That might be handy to have on hand for the greedy cops who might stop
your driver.

--
Believe nothing.
No matter where you read it,
Or who said it,
Even if I have said it,
Unless it agrees with your own reason
And your own common sense.
-- Buddha

Ignoramus16418 wrote:

On 2014-12-03, wrote:
On Tuesday, December 2, 2014 8:58:03 PM UTC-5, Ignoramus16418 wrote:

But at this time I am mostly concerned with figuring out the weight of
the bridge. Again, it is 10 ton capacity and 50 feet long.

Any clue what it may weigh?

thanks

i

Since these things are predominantly made of standard structural steel
components, a bit of measuring and comparing to specs in a structural
steel chart should tell you the weight per foot for the materials and a
bit of calculating for the total.

Thanks. It makes sense. The problem is this. It is 2.5 hours away from
me. I have to tell my driver how much of it to pick up without ending
up overweight.

Look at this picture to get an idea. You can kind of figure out the
size, the main bridge (top part of the picture) is exactly 50 feet
long and about 48" high.

i

I assume you have actually seen the crane in person. So you are
wanting people that have never seen the crane to give you a better
estimate than you can generate.

I have not seen it.

That's the problem.

I also want to be able to estimate weights of cranes that are still up
in the air.

However I understand that portable truck scales are made ( just like
the ones the highway patrol will have ) and they might be something
that you could use. Sorry I have no idea of the cost or the
manufacturer.

Yes, good point.

i

I believe there is some setup for semis that can give you a reasonable
load weight reading from the pressures in the air suspension. Not truck
scale accuracy, but close enough to keep you out of trouble I think. You
can probably find info on them and hack together your own variant of it.

It wouldn't hurt to give your driver a structural steel book, some
calipers and a tape measure. Not that difficult to measure say I beam
width, height, flange and web thickness and look in the book to find the
pounds per foot, then multiply by the length and get a pretty accurate
weight on the piece you are getting ready to load onto the truck. You
could probably use your programming skills to make a nice smartphone /
tablet app to do this and perhaps even make some money selling the app.

On 2014-12-03, Pete C. wrote:

Ignoramus16418 wrote:

On 2014-12-03, wrote:
On Tuesday, December 2, 2014 8:58:03 PM UTC-5, Ignoramus16418 wrote:

But at this time I am mostly concerned with figuring out the weight of
the bridge. Again, it is 10 ton capacity and 50 feet long.

Any clue what it may weigh?

thanks

i

Since these things are predominantly made of standard structural steel
components, a bit of measuring and comparing to specs in a structural
steel chart should tell you the weight per foot for the materials and a
bit of calculating for the total.

Thanks. It makes sense. The problem is this. It is 2.5 hours away from
me. I have to tell my driver how much of it to pick up without ending
up overweight.

Look at this picture to get an idea. You can kind of figure out the
size, the main bridge (top part of the picture) is exactly 50 feet
long and about 48" high.

i

I assume you have actually seen the crane in person. So you are
wanting people that have never seen the crane to give you a better
estimate than you can generate.

I have not seen it.

That's the problem.

I also want to be able to estimate weights of cranes that are still up
in the air.

However I understand that portable truck scales are made ( just like
the ones the highway patrol will have ) and they might be something
that you could use. Sorry I have no idea of the cost or the
manufacturer.

Yes, good point.

i

I believe there is some setup for semis that can give you a reasonable
load weight reading from the pressures in the air suspension. Not truck
scale accuracy, but close enough to keep you out of trouble I think. You
can probably find info on them and hack together your own variant of it.

It wouldn't hurt to give your driver a structural steel book, some
calipers and a tape measure. Not that difficult to measure say I beam
width, height, flange and web thickness and look in the book to find the
pounds per foot, then multiply by the length and get a pretty accurate
weight on the piece you are getting ready to load onto the truck. You
could probably use your programming skills to make a nice smartphone /
tablet app to do this and perhaps even make some money selling the app.

Thiis is interesting. Both the truck, as well as a couple of my
trailers, have air ride suspension. I think that the pressure in the
suspension bags is directly proportional to the weight. I think that
all I need to do, is install pressure gauges connected to the bags,
and have a conversion table, and I am done!

i

On Tue, 2 Dec 2014 18:43:53 -0800 (PST), "
wrote:

On Tuesday, December 2, 2014 8:58:03 PM UTC-5, Ignoramus16418 wrote:

But at this time I am mostly concerned with figuring out the weight of
the bridge. Again, it is 10 ton capacity and 50 feet long.

Any clue what it may weigh?

thanks

i

Since these things are predominantly made of standard structural steel
components, a bit of measuring and comparing to specs in a structural
steel chart should tell you the weight per foot for the materials and a
bit of calculating for the total.

Thanks. It makes sense. The problem is this. It is 2.5 hours away from
me. I have to tell my driver how much of it to pick up without ending
up overweight.

Look at this picture to get an idea. You can kind of figure out the
size, the main bridge (top part of the picture) is exactly 50 feet
long and about 48" high.

i

I assume you have actually seen the crane in person. So you are wanting people that have never seen the crane to give you a better estimate than you can generate.

However I understand that portable truck scales are made ( just like the ones the highway patrol will have ) and they might be something that you could use.
Sorry I have no idea of the cost or the manufacturer.

Dan
Frankly...I dont understand why your guy doesnt have one of these on
the truck

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Chatillon-20...-/141490523980

Chain it to the piece of work in question, pick it up with the
forklift a few inches..voila...you have the weight.

They are called Hanging Crane Scales and there are many many of them
on Ebay

Gunner

"At the core of liberalism is the spoiled child,
miserable, as all spoiled children are, unsatisfied,
demanding, ill-disciplined, despotic and useless.
Liberalism is a philosophy of sniveling brats."
PJ O'Rourke

On Tue, 2 Dec 2014 18:51:49 -0800 (PST), "
wrote:

On Tuesday, December 2, 2014 9:43:56 PM UTC-5, wrote:


Since these things are predominantly made of standard structural steel
components, a bit of measuring and comparing to specs in a structural
steel chart should tell you the weight per foot for the materials and a
bit of calculating for the total.

Thanks. It makes sense. The problem is this. It is 2.5 hours away from
me. I have to tell my driver how much of it to pick up without ending
up overweight.


Another thought. You could give your driver copies of the pages showing standard structural steel components, a tape measure , and a calculator. He should be able to come up with a fairly good estimate. Well maybe you should also give him a cell phone too so he can consult with you while he is looking at the crane.

Dan

The next question Id ask..is how do the cops weigh the trucks in
question?

Then hunt down a set of the scales they use and learn to use them


"At the core of liberalism is the spoiled child,
miserable, as all spoiled children are, unsatisfied,
demanding, ill-disciplined, despotic and useless.
Liberalism is a philosophy of sniveling brats."
PJ O'Rourke

Ignoramus16418 wrote:

On 2014-12-03, Pete C. wrote:

Ignoramus16418 wrote:

On 2014-12-03, wrote:
On Tuesday, December 2, 2014 8:58:03 PM UTC-5, Ignoramus16418 wrote:

But at this time I am mostly concerned with figuring out the weight of
the bridge. Again, it is 10 ton capacity and 50 feet long.

Any clue what it may weigh?

thanks

i

Since these things are predominantly made of standard structural steel
components, a bit of measuring and comparing to specs in a structural
steel chart should tell you the weight per foot for the materials and a
bit of calculating for the total.

Thanks. It makes sense. The problem is this. It is 2.5 hours away from
me. I have to tell my driver how much of it to pick up without ending
up overweight.

Look at this picture to get an idea. You can kind of figure out the
size, the main bridge (top part of the picture) is exactly 50 feet
long and about 48" high.

i

I assume you have actually seen the crane in person. So you are
wanting people that have never seen the crane to give you a better
estimate than you can generate.

I have not seen it.

That's the problem.

I also want to be able to estimate weights of cranes that are still up
in the air.

However I understand that portable truck scales are made ( just like
the ones the highway patrol will have ) and they might be something
that you could use. Sorry I have no idea of the cost or the
manufacturer.

Yes, good point.

i

I believe there is some setup for semis that can give you a reasonable
load weight reading from the pressures in the air suspension. Not truck
scale accuracy, but close enough to keep you out of trouble I think. You
can probably find info on them and hack together your own variant of it.

It wouldn't hurt to give your driver a structural steel book, some
calipers and a tape measure. Not that difficult to measure say I beam
width, height, flange and web thickness and look in the book to find the
pounds per foot, then multiply by the length and get a pretty accurate
weight on the piece you are getting ready to load onto the truck. You
could probably use your programming skills to make a nice smartphone /
tablet app to do this and perhaps even make some money selling the app.

Thiis is interesting. Both the truck, as well as a couple of my
trailers, have air ride suspension. I think that the pressure in the
suspension bags is directly proportional to the weight. I think that
all I need to do, is install pressure gauges connected to the bags,
and have a conversion table, and I am done!

i

Too simple. Try a Raspberry Pi or similar with some pressure sensors and
a correction table to give a nice readout. Spend some time calibrating
by loading known weights and you should be good. Put a magnetic back on
the display unit so you can stick it to the back of the cab when loading
and have the LCD display change color to yellow then red as you get to
overweight so you can easily see from the forklift. Have calibrations
for each trailer you can easily select, a deduction for the forklift
weight if you need to load that before leaving, etc.

"Pete C." wrote in message
...

Ignoramus16418 wrote:

I do not have a lot of experience dealing with overhead cranes. I
need
to have an approximate idea of how much a bridge crane (just the
bridge unit, not the rails) would weigh, given span and capacity.

The present case is a 10 ton, 50' long bridge crane weighs. I
already
bought it, it is disassembled, but I need to figure out the weight
for
transportation purposes.

What I bought is actually a complete gantry system that is shaped
as a
lowercase 'r'. It has one traveling leg on one side only, and the
other side rides on elevated rails. I bought it including
stationary
columns, top rails, the traveling column etc. Paid 1,700.

But at this time I am mostly concerned with figuring out the weight
of
the bridge. Again, it is 10 ton capacity and 50 feet long.

Any clue what it may weigh?

thanks

i

Since these things are predominantly made of standard structural
steel
components, a bit of measuring and comparing to specs in a
structural
steel chart should tell you the weight per foot for the materials
and a
bit of calculating for the total.

I think you can identify the weight per foot from the style (I, WF),
height and web thickness. In my old AISC Manual of Steel Construction
the easily measured web thickness increases with the weight per foot.
The web thickness and flange width increase by the same amount as the
weight per foot increases, supporting the story I've heard that the
mill sets the weight by varying the roller spacing. The height or
"depth" also increases, making the flamges thicker, but you can't
measure it with pocket-sized tools like a mike or 6" dial caliper.
This shows the roller setup:
http://www.steelconstruction.info/St...ction_products

A plate 1" thick and 12" square weighs ~40 lbs, or 5 lbs for each 1/8"
of thickness.

-jsw

"Ignoramus16418" wrote in
message ...
On 2014-12-03, wrote:
On Tuesday, December 2, 2014 8:58:03 PM UTC-5, Ignoramus16418
wrote:

But at this time I am mostly concerned with figuring out the
weight of
the bridge. Again, it is 10 ton capacity and 50 feet long.

Any clue what it may weigh?

thanks

i

Since these things are predominantly made of standard structural
steel
components, a bit of measuring and comparing to specs in a
structural
steel chart should tell you the weight per foot for the
materials and a
bit of calculating for the total.

Thanks. It makes sense. The problem is this. It is 2.5 hours away
from
me. I have to tell my driver how much of it to pick up without
ending
up overweight.

Look at this picture to get an idea. You can kind of figure out
the
size, the main bridge (top part of the picture) is exactly 50 feet
long and about 48" high.

i

I assume you have actually seen the crane in person. So you are
wanting people that have never seen the crane to give you a better
estimate than you can generate.

I have not seen it.

That's the problem.

I also want to be able to estimate weights of cranes that are still
up
in the air.

However I understand that portable truck scales are made ( just
like
the ones the highway patrol will have ) and they might be something
that you could use. Sorry I have no idea of the cost or the
manufacturer.

Yes, good point.

i

I don't do anywhere near the heavy rigging that you do, so this very
portable 10,000 Lb hydraulic load cell is enough to weigh anything I
might want to lift. I paid $60 for it
http://www.rwelectrodes.com/10000-LB...p/601-8100.htm

-jsw

"Pete C." wrote:

Ignoramus16418 wrote:

On 2014-12-03, Pete C. wrote:

Ignoramus16418 wrote:

On 2014-12-03, wrote:
On Tuesday, December 2, 2014 8:58:03 PM UTC-5, Ignoramus16418 wrote:

But at this time I am mostly concerned with figuring out the weight of
the bridge. Again, it is 10 ton capacity and 50 feet long.

Any clue what it may weigh?

thanks

i

Since these things are predominantly made of standard structural steel
components, a bit of measuring and comparing to specs in a structural
steel chart should tell you the weight per foot for the materials and a
bit of calculating for the total.

Thanks. It makes sense. The problem is this. It is 2.5 hours away from
me. I have to tell my driver how much of it to pick up without ending
up overweight.

Look at this picture to get an idea. You can kind of figure out the
size, the main bridge (top part of the picture) is exactly 50 feet
long and about 48" high.

i

I assume you have actually seen the crane in person. So you are
wanting people that have never seen the crane to give you a better
estimate than you can generate.

I have not seen it.

That's the problem.

I also want to be able to estimate weights of cranes that are still up
in the air.

However I understand that portable truck scales are made ( just like
the ones the highway patrol will have ) and they might be something
that you could use. Sorry I have no idea of the cost or the
manufacturer.

Yes, good point.

i

I believe there is some setup for semis that can give you a reasonable
load weight reading from the pressures in the air suspension. Not truck
scale accuracy, but close enough to keep you out of trouble I think. You
can probably find info on them and hack together your own variant of it.

It wouldn't hurt to give your driver a structural steel book, some
calipers and a tape measure. Not that difficult to measure say I beam
width, height, flange and web thickness and look in the book to find the
pounds per foot, then multiply by the length and get a pretty accurate
weight on the piece you are getting ready to load onto the truck. You
could probably use your programming skills to make a nice smartphone /
tablet app to do this and perhaps even make some money selling the app.

Thiis is interesting. Both the truck, as well as a couple of my
trailers, have air ride suspension. I think that the pressure in the
suspension bags is directly proportional to the weight. I think that
all I need to do, is install pressure gauges connected to the bags,
and have a conversion table, and I am done!

i

Too simple. Try a Raspberry Pi or similar with some pressure sensors and
a correction table to give a nice readout. Spend some time calibrating
by loading known weights and you should be good. Put a magnetic back on
the display unit so you can stick it to the back of the cab when loading
and have the LCD display change color to yellow then red as you get to
overweight so you can easily see from the forklift. Have calibrations
for each trailer you can easily select, a deduction for the forklift
weight if you need to load that before leaving, etc.

Actually, rwls.com seems to have some pretty good digital gauges at
reasonable prices. Probably easier to just buy and install vs. hack your
own. 202-DDG-02 looks pretty nice for $500

On 2014-12-03, Pete C. wrote:

"Pete C." wrote:

Ignoramus16418 wrote:

On 2014-12-03, Pete C. wrote:

Ignoramus16418 wrote:

On 2014-12-03, wrote:
On Tuesday, December 2, 2014 8:58:03 PM UTC-5, Ignoramus16418 wrote:

But at this time I am mostly concerned with figuring out the weight of
the bridge. Again, it is 10 ton capacity and 50 feet long.

Any clue what it may weigh?

thanks

i

Since these things are predominantly made of standard structural steel
components, a bit of measuring and comparing to specs in a structural
steel chart should tell you the weight per foot for the materials and a
bit of calculating for the total.

Thanks. It makes sense. The problem is this. It is 2.5 hours away from
me. I have to tell my driver how much of it to pick up without ending
up overweight.

Look at this picture to get an idea. You can kind of figure out the
size, the main bridge (top part of the picture) is exactly 50 feet
long and about 48" high.

i

I assume you have actually seen the crane in person. So you are
wanting people that have never seen the crane to give you a better
estimate than you can generate.

I have not seen it.

That's the problem.

I also want to be able to estimate weights of cranes that are still up
in the air.

However I understand that portable truck scales are made ( just like
the ones the highway patrol will have ) and they might be something
that you could use. Sorry I have no idea of the cost or the
manufacturer.

Yes, good point.

i

I believe there is some setup for semis that can give you a reasonable
load weight reading from the pressures in the air suspension. Not truck
scale accuracy, but close enough to keep you out of trouble I think. You
can probably find info on them and hack together your own variant of it.

It wouldn't hurt to give your driver a structural steel book, some
calipers and a tape measure. Not that difficult to measure say I beam
width, height, flange and web thickness and look in the book to find the
pounds per foot, then multiply by the length and get a pretty accurate
weight on the piece you are getting ready to load onto the truck. You
could probably use your programming skills to make a nice smartphone /
tablet app to do this and perhaps even make some money selling the app.

Thiis is interesting. Both the truck, as well as a couple of my
trailers, have air ride suspension. I think that the pressure in the
suspension bags is directly proportional to the weight. I think that
all I need to do, is install pressure gauges connected to the bags,
and have a conversion table, and I am done!

i

Too simple. Try a Raspberry Pi or similar with some pressure sensors and
a correction table to give a nice readout. Spend some time calibrating
by loading known weights and you should be good. Put a magnetic back on
the display unit so you can stick it to the back of the cab when loading
and have the LCD display change color to yellow then red as you get to
overweight so you can easily see from the forklift. Have calibrations
for each trailer you can easily select, a deduction for the forklift
weight if you need to load that before leaving, etc.

Actually, rwls.com seems to have some pretty good digital gauges at
reasonable prices. Probably easier to just buy and install vs. hack your
own. 202-DDG-02 looks pretty nice for $500

You just need a regular PSI gauge, and a conversion table.

i

On Wednesday, December 3, 2014 10:41:25 PM UTC-5, Ignoramus976 wrote:

For example, say, I can ask a question, "find the weight of an optimal
I-Beam that would support a given weight and span a given distance".


That is a reasonable start, but it does not account for the safety factor. I would not be surprised if the rated weight is one third of the weight that would cause failure.

Dan



I will dig a little to get an answer.

i

Ignoramus976 wrote:

On 2014-12-03, Pete C. wrote:

"Pete C." wrote:

Ignoramus16418 wrote:

On 2014-12-03, Pete C. wrote:

Ignoramus16418 wrote:

On 2014-12-03, wrote:
On Tuesday, December 2, 2014 8:58:03 PM UTC-5, Ignoramus16418 wrote:

But at this time I am mostly concerned with figuring out the weight of
the bridge. Again, it is 10 ton capacity and 50 feet long.

Any clue what it may weigh?

thanks

i

Since these things are predominantly made of standard structural steel
components, a bit of measuring and comparing to specs in a structural
steel chart should tell you the weight per foot for the materials and a
bit of calculating for the total.

Thanks. It makes sense. The problem is this. It is 2.5 hours away from
me. I have to tell my driver how much of it to pick up without ending
up overweight.

Look at this picture to get an idea. You can kind of figure out the
size, the main bridge (top part of the picture) is exactly 50 feet
long and about 48" high.

i

I assume you have actually seen the crane in person. So you are
wanting people that have never seen the crane to give you a better
estimate than you can generate.

I have not seen it.

That's the problem.

I also want to be able to estimate weights of cranes that are still up
in the air.

However I understand that portable truck scales are made ( just like
the ones the highway patrol will have ) and they might be something
that you could use. Sorry I have no idea of the cost or the
manufacturer.

Yes, good point.

i

I believe there is some setup for semis that can give you a reasonable
load weight reading from the pressures in the air suspension. Not truck
scale accuracy, but close enough to keep you out of trouble I think. You
can probably find info on them and hack together your own variant of it.

It wouldn't hurt to give your driver a structural steel book, some
calipers and a tape measure. Not that difficult to measure say I beam
width, height, flange and web thickness and look in the book to find the
pounds per foot, then multiply by the length and get a pretty accurate
weight on the piece you are getting ready to load onto the truck. You
could probably use your programming skills to make a nice smartphone /
tablet app to do this and perhaps even make some money selling the app.

Thiis is interesting. Both the truck, as well as a couple of my
trailers, have air ride suspension. I think that the pressure in the
suspension bags is directly proportional to the weight. I think that
all I need to do, is install pressure gauges connected to the bags,
and have a conversion table, and I am done!

i

Too simple. Try a Raspberry Pi or similar with some pressure sensors and
a correction table to give a nice readout. Spend some time calibrating
by loading known weights and you should be good. Put a magnetic back on
the display unit so you can stick it to the back of the cab when loading
and have the LCD display change color to yellow then red as you get to
overweight so you can easily see from the forklift. Have calibrations
for each trailer you can easily select, a deduction for the forklift
weight if you need to load that before leaving, etc.

Actually, rwls.com seems to have some pretty good digital gauges at
reasonable prices. Probably easier to just buy and install vs. hack your
own. 202-DDG-02 looks pretty nice for $500

You just need a regular PSI gauge, and a conversion table.

Yes, technically, but that unit is far more refined and easy to use.
It's also cheap compared to your other operating costs related to a semi
and certainly any overweight fines.

On 2014-12-04, wrote:
On Wednesday, December 3, 2014 10:41:25 PM UTC-5, Ignoramus976 wrote:

For example, say, I can ask a question, "find the weight of an optimal
I-Beam that would support a given weight and span a given distance".


That is a reasonable start, but it does not account for the safety
factor. I would not be surprised if the rated weight is one third
of the weight that would cause failure.


Dan, the point is, this method lets me compare weights. If I know a
weight of one comparable crane, even of different capacity and span, I
can extrapolate.

i

On Thursday, December 4, 2014 4:13:02 PM UTC-5, Ignoramus14645 wrote:
On 2014-12-04, wrote:
On Wednesday, December 3, 2014 10:41:25 PM UTC-5, Ignoramus976 wrote:

For example, say, I can ask a question, "find the weight of an optimal
I-Beam that would support a given weight and span a given distance".


That is a reasonable start, but it does not account for the safety
factor. I would not be surprised if the rated weight is one third
of the weight that would cause failure.


Dan, the point is, this method lets me compare weights. If I know a
weight of one comparable crane, even of different capacity and span, I
can extrapolate.

i

I think you would have a better estimate if you made your best guess as to the standard structural steel used in the beam and calculated from there. If I recall correctly cranes used to lift explosives had a larger safety factor than cranes used for non explosive components.


Dan

Ignoramus14645 wrote:

On 2014-12-04, wrote:
On Wednesday, December 3, 2014 10:41:25 PM UTC-5, Ignoramus976 wrote:

For example, say, I can ask a question, "find the weight of an optimal
I-Beam that would support a given weight and span a given distance".


That is a reasonable start, but it does not account for the safety
factor. I would not be surprised if the rated weight is one third
of the weight that would cause failure.


Dan, the point is, this method lets me compare weights. If I know a
weight of one comparable crane, even of different capacity and span, I
can extrapolate.

i

Yep, you need to figure the weight in two ways, first (from reference
materials) to estimate how many semi loads it will take to move what you
bought, and second (from your air suspension) to load your semi without
going overweight and getting fined.

On 12/02/2014 10:04 PM, Ignoramus16418 wrote:
On 2014-12-03, Pete wrote:
....


I believe there is some setup for semis that can give you a reasonable
load weight reading from the pressures in the air suspension. Not truck
scale accuracy, but close enough to keep you out of trouble I think. You
can probably find info on them and hack together your own variant of it.

It wouldn't hurt to give your driver a structural steel book, some
calipers and a tape measure. Not that difficult to measure say I beam
width, height, flange and web thickness and look in the book to find the
pounds per foot, then multiply by the length and get a pretty accurate
weight on the piece you are getting ready to load onto the truck. You
could probably use your programming skills to make a nice smartphone /
tablet app to do this and perhaps even make some money selling the app.

Thiis is interesting. Both the truck, as well as a couple of my
trailers, have air ride suspension. I think that the pressure in the
suspension bags is directly proportional to the weight. I think that
all I need to do, is install pressure gauges connected to the bags,
and have a conversion table, and I am done!

Are they really 100% air-supported? I don't know they're not; just
thought there would be a separate parallel mechanical support path as
well...altho I guess it only changes the proportionality constant unless
it's nonlinear. Which could still calibrate albeit not with single
constant.

The grain trailers here nor the tractor aren't so don't have a comparison...

--

dpb wrote:

On 12/02/2014 10:04 PM, Ignoramus16418 wrote:
On 2014-12-03, Pete wrote:
...


I believe there is some setup for semis that can give you a reasonable
load weight reading from the pressures in the air suspension. Not truck
scale accuracy, but close enough to keep you out of trouble I think. You
can probably find info on them and hack together your own variant of it.

It wouldn't hurt to give your driver a structural steel book, some
calipers and a tape measure. Not that difficult to measure say I beam
width, height, flange and web thickness and look in the book to find the
pounds per foot, then multiply by the length and get a pretty accurate
weight on the piece you are getting ready to load onto the truck. You
could probably use your programming skills to make a nice smartphone /
tablet app to do this and perhaps even make some money selling the app.

Thiis is interesting. Both the truck, as well as a couple of my
trailers, have air ride suspension. I think that the pressure in the
suspension bags is directly proportional to the weight. I think that
all I need to do, is install pressure gauges connected to the bags,
and have a conversion table, and I am done!

Are they really 100% air-supported? I don't know they're not; just
thought there would be a separate parallel mechanical support path as
well...altho I guess it only changes the proportionality constant unless
it's nonlinear. Which could still calibrate albeit not with single
constant.

The grain trailers here nor the tractor aren't so don't have a comparison...

--

Proportional enough that there are commercial load scale products for
it. The RWLS stuff says it reads to 100# increments which isn't bad vs.
the 20# increments of a typical CAT scale.

On 12/07/2014 8:06 AM, Pete C. wrote:

dpb wrote:

On 12/02/2014 10:04 PM, Ignoramus16418 wrote:
On 2014-12-03, Pete wrote:
...


I believe there is some setup for semis that can give you a reasonable
load weight reading from the pressures in the air suspension. Not truck
scale accuracy, but close enough to keep you out of trouble I think. You
can probably find info on them and hack together your own variant of it.

It wouldn't hurt to give your driver a structural steel book, some
calipers and a tape measure. Not that difficult to measure say I beam
width, height, flange and web thickness and look in the book to find the
pounds per foot, then multiply by the length and get a pretty accurate
weight on the piece you are getting ready to load onto the truck. You
could probably use your programming skills to make a nice smartphone /
tablet app to do this and perhaps even make some money selling the app.

Thiis is interesting. Both the truck, as well as a couple of my
trailers, have air ride suspension. I think that the pressure in the
suspension bags is directly proportional to the weight. I think that
all I need to do, is install pressure gauges connected to the bags,
and have a conversion table, and I am done!

Are they really 100% air-supported? I don't know they're not; just
thought there would be a separate parallel mechanical support path as
well...altho I guess it only changes the proportionality constant unless
it's nonlinear. Which could still calibrate albeit not with single
constant.

The grain trailers here nor the tractor aren't so don't have a comparison...


Proportional enough that there are commercial load scale products for
it. The RWLS stuff says it reads to 100# increments which isn't bad vs.
the 20# increments of a typical CAT scale.

That doesn't say anything about what the calibration curve actually
looks like, though...can calibrate a very nonlinear response as noted
above...

--