Knuckle boom vs Small cranes

[KentuckySawyer]

I'm in need of a dedicated wood loader/hauler truck for my tree service. I've got a 95 Ford F-600 with a 5.9L Cummins on my mind right now. 10ft dump bed with twin cylinder hoist and a Hiab 050 knuckle boom. I've never used a knuckle boom before and am curious how they do for tree work. I like the dump bed on the truck. If the chip truck were to break down we could use this truck until repairs were made.

Anybody here use or have knowledge of knuckle booms and their good and bad points?

 

[LightningLoader]

You're talking about the smaller end of knucklebooms. A more standard sized boom would reach somewhere between 16 and 22 ft. I'm not sure how usefull a 10 ft reach will be for you. If I'm understanding this setup correctly, you'll just be able to reach the curb, as opposed to reaching into the yard or over the sidewalk, which is probibly a weakness. Not going to be much easier than the chipper because you still will have to drag the stuff all the way to the truck. I also think you're going to loose some volume by not chipping with such a small dump bed.

In the case of normal knucklebooms/grapple trucks your advantages would be:
-spend less time cutting things into small pieces
-one man can do the job of loading by himself
-less likely to hurt your back
-faster than handloading big piles of brush

Not sure that you're going to see these advantages though with the reduced reach, lift capacity, and space that you have.

I'm also interested in a comparison between grapple trucks and chippers. How does it play into Asplundh's business plan to have like a million chipper trucks instead of grapple trucks? Someone on here must know

 

[KentuckySawyer]

I'm not looking to get rid of my chip truck. The truck with the loader will be just for wood hauling. I'm aware that I'd have to get right up next to the pile to load it. I would only chip into this truck if my chip truck was broken down (knock on wood).

I'm looking at this as a step up from a F 450 with a lift gate. For big jobs I'll continue to hire a buddy with a grapple truck and 30 yard bed.

 

[LightningLoader]

Ok, I get you now. I think that's a fairly reasonable set up if you're just planning on picking up small logs and such. And then if your chipper truck breaks down, you chip the brush into the dump bed. Definately a step up from a lift gate.