Every fleet eventually reaches the point where running a separate crane vehicle and a separate flatbed stops making sense, and a truck-mounted crane starts to look like obvious arithmetic. The trap is buying one on a maximum lift figure rather than on a load chart, and then discovering it cannot do the one job it was bought for. The Foton LOXA 8-tonne crane truck on the Auman Planet chassis is a complete vehicle rather than a conversion, with a five-section boom reaching 18.8 m and a Yuchai 240 underpinning it. Here is how I would work out whether it is the right machine for my jobs.

"Whole truck" matters more than it sounds

This specification is published under approved model BJ5181JSQY6AKS-01, described as a whole truck, with the chassis and crane homologated together. Compare that with a crane-chassis listing, where the chassis is rated and somebody downstream has to certify the finished combination, and you can see the value immediately: registration, insurance and liability are settled by the manufacturer rather than argued later.

Underneath is a coherent industrial specification. The cab is a MA5 single-row flat roof on semi-floating coil spring suspension; the frame is 300 × 80 × (8+5) mm, described as partially three-layer with a wing plate, which is the reinforcement you want where a crane subframe transfers lifting loads into the chassis rails. Front axle is 5.5 tonnes, rear is a 10-tonne 435 axle at 5.143, leaf packs are 10 front and 10+8 rear, tyres are 10.00R20 18PR, and there is a 300-litre aluminium fuel tank.

The crane: read the boom, not the badge

The crane is identified as LOXA805, model S200X5, with a maximum lifting capacity of 8,000 kg against a 220 t·m lifting moment. It extends from 5.4 m retracted to 18.8 m fully deployed across five sections, reaching a maximum lifting height of 20.5 m, and luffs between 0 and 75 degrees. Boom construction is a single-cylinder five-section unit with octagonal sections, running at 26 MPa and 50 + 32 L/min.

The fifth section is the interesting part. Going from four to five sections is how you gain reach without extending the transport length — the retracted boom is only fractionally longer than a four-section equivalent at 5.4 m, yet it reaches substantially further. The cost of extra sections is always the same: each additional joint adds deflection and weight, and reduces usable capacity at radius. So the reach genuinely helps if you place loads over obstacles or into structures; it does nothing for you if your work is loading and unloading beside the truck.

"Eight tonnes is what it lifts close in. At 18.8 m of boom the safe load is a small fraction of that, and only the load chart tells you which fraction."

Insist on the load chart before signing, and read it against your three heaviest and most awkward jobs. Note also that the specification quotes two different outrigger figures: the upper-structure description gives double-stage front outriggers at 7.8 m, while the crane table lists a full-extended outrigger span of 6 m. Those may describe different measurements within the same machine, but they are not reconciled anywhere on the sheet — so ask for a dimensioned drawing rather than guessing. Every lift depends on the stabilisers.

Choosing between three wheelbases

This is the decision you must get right at order, because everything downstream follows from it. You can specify 3,950, 4,500 or 5,150 mm, with cargo box lengths running from 4,500 mm up to 6,100 mm at 2,400 or 2,450 mm wide and 550 mm high. Overall dimensions vary correspondingly, up to around 9,000 mm in length.

Choose by load length first, access second. If your daily work is pipe, rebar or precast sections, only the 6,100 mm box will take them, and that dictates the longer wheelbase. If your work is palletised building materials on tight urban sites, the short wheelbase turns better and leaves more usable space behind the cab. Getting this wrong is expensive in a way that no option code can fix afterwards.

240 hp through a power take-off, and why that is enough

The engine is a Yuchai YCS04240-66 rated at 240 hp, driving through a Fast 8JS85E eight-speed to that 5.143 axle. Buyers fixate on whether 240 horsepower is enough for an eight-tonne crane, and it is the wrong question. The crane does not run on engine power: it runs from a power take-off driving its own double gear pump at 26 MPa and 50 + 32 L/min. A remote throttle is fitted, which lets the operator raise engine speed to suit hydraulic demand while working the crane.

What the engine actually has to do is move the loaded truck between sites, and the 5.143 rear axle ratio is deliberately short for that job — strong starts when loaded, poor economy at cruising speed. Judge 240 hp by your intercity distances, not by your lifting.

Cab specification and the options worth ticking

Standard equipment includes an airbag seat, power windows, central locking, MP3 audio, manual air conditioning, cruise control, a reverse buzzer, the PTO switch and a middle seat, with manual mirrors and a standard steering wheel. For a construction-support truck that is sensible specification, though it is worth noting that mirrors are manual and the body flips manually too.

One option deserves to be ticked without debate: the 7-inch MP5 package with reversing camera, Bluetooth and navigation, plus the multifunction steering wheel. Standard audio is MP3 only and there is no camera. On a machine that reverses repeatedly into loading positions with crew working behind it, and on which the operator often cannot see his own stabiliser placement, a rear camera is operational equipment, not comfort. Price it into the deal rather than discovering the omission on delivery.

What this sheet does not tell you

Be clear-eyed about two omissions. There is no gross vehicle weight and no payload figure published anywhere in this specification — the rows simply do not exist. Since the crane, its subframe and the entire cargo body all eat into whatever the chassis rating is, you cannot know your usable payload from this sheet. Demand the plated figures for the exact configuration you are ordering, and make somebody calculate residual payload rather than estimating it.

Nor is there any emission standard stated, which for export markets is not a detail — it decides registrability. Confirm the rating your country requires, along with left- or right-hand drive availability, before money moves. And establish what the quoted price actually covers: whether it includes the crane and body, and on which terms, since shipping a machine this size is rarely trivial.

Questions buyers ask before signing

Which wheelbase suits the 8-tonne crane truck best?

Three are offered — 3,950, 4,500 or 5,150 mm — with cargo boxes from 4,500 mm to 6,100 mm. The short wheelbase turns tighter in urban sites but limits you to the shorter box; the 5,150 mm carries the 6,100 mm box, which suits pipe, rebar and precast sections. Decide by load length first and site access second.

How much can it lift at full 18.8 m boom?

Far less than eight tonnes. The 8,000 kg rating and 220 t·m moment apply at short radius; at full extension of this five-section boom the safe load is a small fraction of that and must come from the load chart. The 20.5 m maximum lifting height is a reach figure, not a capacity figure, and the double-stage front outriggers must be fully deployed for any lift.

Is 240 hp enough for crane work and hauling?

For lifting, yes: the crane runs from the PTO and its own double gear pump delivering 50 + 32 L/min at 26 MPa, so engine power is not the constraint, and there is a remote throttle for raising engine speed. What the Yuchai and the Fast eight-speed must do is move the loaded truck between sites, and the 5.143 rear axle ratio helps there.