I tried searching for an answer for this, but cannot find it. How long does it take to replace the boom and stick on an excavator? I am trying to estimate the time/cost to remove the factory boom & stick and replace it with a long reach boom & stick on a Cat 390. Can anyone help me out with this? How many guys are needed and how long would it take? Thanks for the help.
Never worked on a 390 but on a similar size Hitachi or a Cat 365 I'd say 3 guys should knock it out in 1 day provided that: - Sufficient lifting gear/lifting appliances are available. Minimum of a suitably sized crane & a forklift plus all slings, shackles, etc. Stick cylinder is already mounted on the replacement boom, bucket cylinder and linkage are already mounted on the stick. New boom & stick come ready-plumbed with all the steel hydraulic tubes & the hoses so it's basically plug & play. If all the necessary minor parts come in a box all bets are well & truly off. You could easily spend a day assembling stuff before you even touch the machine. No other repairs are involved.
i've done it in a day with 3 guys including me. and then another 1/2 day for putting the hoses back on the boom and the gps and so on. We lifted up the boom with a cat 374. the booms my costumer uses we need to swap the bucket and boom cilinder. the lifting cilinders you can put a couple of wooden blocks under it to support them. i usely use a big thick steel plate that i clamb on the frame near the cab so i have a little bit off back-up when the boom starts swinging when you pull the pin. just make sure you have enough shims and i usely put some wooden plates with a long bolt through the bores off the boom you dont use to keep the dirt out. It's pretty straight forward, just the weight off the boom and stuff can be a bit off a hassle sometimes.
This is exactly what I was looking for. I appreciate the answers.
As usual the Devil is in the detail. With some careful pre-planning (and maybe some pre-assembly as well if necessary) there really isn't a lot of work involved in making the change. Obviously with the difference in length of the replacement boom & stick all the hard lines are going to be different lengths. So the key is in having the big lumps delivered to the job site with all the time-wasting fiddly stuff already installed. Some homework may be involved in convincing the dealer (I assume you're ordering the boom & stick from a dealer) to get the factory to supply the boom & stick just as they would be supplied to the factory assembly line. Don't take no for an answer, it is possible.
Always remember the 7p rules. Perfect Pre Planning Prevents **** Pore Performance!
if you can ,do a test lift of the new boom to work out your lift points for balance, and then sling old boom the same .this can stop surprises when the pin is pulled Mark
Another consideration is location. The more open area the better. I hate having to move this, so I can move that, to get to what I need and then put it all back.
like they have said get the long stick plumbed up & it all ready. depending if its new or used you may have a day getting it all ready. as far as removing the old stick its pretty straight forward. if you have never removed or installed a stick before I would figure 2 days in it so IF something happens you are covered