I’ll start with a few Hiab’s in use.
Volvo FM12 & Atlas 105 crane lifting augers for piling rig.
3 Series Scania with timber grab.
Nice Unimog
Scania 114 & Cormach 19000 crane lifting Fokker fuselage
Containers
R420 & Palfinger 23500 lifting container.
Bricks & blocks
What size crane is that? looks about 10t/m
It’s this crane hiab.co.uk/default.asp?produ … ifications
It’s the B-2 Duo
I find It only has a small reach that’s it’s only fault
In 1959 I was with the MHEU (materials Handling experimental unit) in the army, we tried out all sorts of cranes and lifting gear.
We got the first HIAB in the forces and eventually I got to take it around the other army bases to demonstrate it when it was fitted to a AEC Militant.
It came from the George Cohen 600 group and they gave me a 600 group and HIAB badge plus a little book with photos of HIABS.
I guess they are a bit different today, I never drove one after 1961
Cheers Tankerman, interesting stuff. I’ve often wondered when they first appeared but I’m surprised it was so long ago.
Keebs, that’s a 10t crane with an 8m reach not to bad for a 12t vehicle. Trouble s with reaching further it will eat your ability to actually lift anything. The FM12 in the pics was essentially the same crane, although it was a bit small for the vehicle it kept the payload high, the main purpose was to carry one large piling rig and it’s augers. The other jobs filled the time up. Funnily enough I saw it today, different company running it now but I spotted it a mile off.
Cheers 8wheels,
I got the letter below from Cohen’s when I was posted to another camp and was responsible for maintaining it.
The date is on the header but the HIAB was at the MHEU depot the year before…
I love the way they gave you a badge 
When my boss spent 100k on a used Scania I got a T - shirt.
Years ago I worked in a professional photographic dealer, I sold about 10k worth of Leica gear to The Independant, as a reward the Leica rep took a tiny Lapel badge about the size of a smiley off of his jacket and presented it to me as means of recognition. 
Yes it isnt bad the Hi-ab crane eats alot of weight for its size. I deliver alot of cast iron pipe with it in central London. It does get a pain when people want it put miles from the lorry and I have to state everytime the crane won’t reach that far (can not get lorry closer either).
I miss the old Palfinger crane on our old Hire lorry we had for 6 months it was on a 18ton lorry, with that crane you could do anything this is the only picture I have of it
My dads old rig with a 60ton Fassi crane
Iv got some pics of it in action
Will add when I find them
Im a driver for Bryan Alexander Ltd in Bridgend, South Wales. Thought id share a few pics of the hiab trucks we own. Thanks .
Mat 
At the small end of the scale a Hiab 030 which can be demounted from the lorry in 2 minutes, it is a self contained unit powered by a 13hp Honda engine driving a group 2 hydraulic pump.
Installing a temporary mobile phone tower out in East Anglia. The tower had to be precisely within a set spot and they had trouble getting it there exactly, but they eventually managed it 
Me going up with the cherry picker only took them about 3 hours for the rigging but by the time I had a moment the Bennet Driver had departed 
The company that put the previous transmitter up had their own trucks too, artics with hiabs on. Some just had concrete weights on the back to tow the transmitters into position but often they were equipped with HIABs too to help get the fencing on/off as required.
We all make mistakes, the poor mite 
This could be construed as a light goods vehicle but it looks like it does have a crane on the back 
Was at a military / steam show a few years back and looking back through the photos I have this, which I guess would come under ‘lorry mounted crane’
heres a few pics of the hiabs from my old job
