Dear Forum Members,

During the 1930’s - 1940’s, the “Baker-Rauling Companyâ€

Have you tried this company for parts?

Rapid Power, PO Box 13 Le Center, Minnesota 56057
507-357-4266

Thank you John,

You are the second friend to mention this company since my posting. Thank you. I sent them an e-mail this evening with photos of our unit. Their website sure looks like they're the real McCoy, after all these years!!

Thanks again, I hope to hear something by the end of the day tomorrow.

Thank you to all Forum members - this network is GREAT!

de Don, n2qhvRMLI

Would love to see some pics of this engine and where the gen attaches

Hi John,

Here are a few photos of the Baker-Raulang electric truck crane. I do not currently have photos of the Ready Power unit, you can see the alternator to the left and below the battery box in the photos below.

de Don, n2qhvRMLI

Nice pictures. I am in the crane business and thought when I saw your unit what my safety guy would say if we tried to use one of those. Our museum in Wichita, KS has a 1955 IH winch truck that we use for our normal lifting needs. When we need the big stuff I bring one of my hydraulic cranes in to do the critical lifts.

John,

Would your safety guy's comment have anything to do with the fact that the operator is in the line of fire is the cable snaps, or would his comment have anything to do with the exposed inner workings?

Is there some other issue, I am just asking since I don't work with cable cranes too ofter, just occasionally, and like to file little nuggets of info away for future use.

Take care,

Rich C.

The lack of safety guards on the machine is one issue. The open cab area for the operator is another issue but trust me if a cable breaks there is no safe place due to you never know where its going to go. The biggest problem is the boom cable is looped over a shaft in the last picture and then is clamped with three cable clamps. If the wire rope slips or is deformed at the point where it comes around the shaft there is a potential for failure. The shaft should be fitted with a beckett which allows the cable to be held by a wedge then the end is clamped either to the wedge itself or a piece of cable is used and clamped to the end and is then called a dead man.

Hi John,

Thanks for your "heads up" again. I've taken your observation very seriously and have forwarded your comments and an enlarged picture of the shaft and wire rope to some of my local crane guys. I'm asking them to set me up with the beckett sleeve as you describe. Good point - Thanks.

As for our continuing "quest", we seem to have hit paydirt with your suggestion of the "Ready Power Company" of LeCenter, Minnesota. They are "THE" rebuild specialists for these gasoline/electric power units. Our damaged generator is being shipped out tomorrow.

I'll keep you posted.

de Don, n2qhvRMLI