This is our tms300. Grain was supposed to be 115' tall. Decided it needed to be 135' tall. Had the 110t there to set the dryers so we just set the head with it. Truss set here. Tms300 again. I ran out of cribbing. That pic is after they dug a 3' hole in the driveway for the back of the crane. Last one for tonight. The 110t setting a steel structure. Think it was 6700lb at 120'.
Nice set. how big is your headache ball in the second picture?
150lb. It's not heavy enough for that crane. Its hard to run it fast with all 136' out. It needs a 250-300 lb ball.
Glad to finally see some photos. Keep them coming. Myself, I'm too lazy to post many photos. LOL
Old picture. Tms200 with metal cradle. This crane really put us in the crane business. First crane I ran day after day. That old girl was a lifting fool. It would make picks our 30t terex will just look at and groan. Operator pov. 110t Hanging a grain pipe. Think it was 123' radius. Year or so back. Tree on house. They cut the log right on top of the eave. Weighed 16k. It was all the old girl wanted to lift. Course I took the jib off and put a 4 part line on for that.
Great pics! Keep 'em coming.
Great pics. Nothing like old Grove's. Knew you'd figure out the pic thing.
Our old 35 ton grove was a hoss too. It'd out pick our newer 50 ton in most cases. What brand and model is your 110t?
It's a Krupp Kmk 5090 Before paint After paint It's a really solid old crane. We're the 3rd owner since new. It was in our budget and in Indiana. Really the only disadvantage so far is that it doesn't have as long of a main boom as the newer AT's. Kinda funny we bought this crane thinking it was way more crane then we needed. We've done quite a few jobs with it that you wouldn't have wanted to be in anything smaller. As far as that tms300. It lifts ok. Just not my favorite crane. Lol
Truss job with the 300. Think it took a total of 16 hrs on this building. Moving a grain bin with the 300. Even tho I don't like it that much I get stuck in it a fair amount. Think this one weighed around 15k or so.
I'm guessing you keep a sharp eye on the wind speed moving something like that grain bin? Doesn't weigh much but a huge sail area, yeah?
Well I was really just trying to catch a rabbit that day. I spent half the day waiting for one to run under that bin. Really wasn't that concerned with wind on that one. Set it off the pad they tore the old pad out and pored a new one. Came back and set it on the new pad. Really don't think it was ever 2' off the ground.
Very nice work Knepptune ! :thumbsup The TMS 300 sure looks & performs good . I'm always amazed how agile cranes like your Krupp 5090 are. Can walk them in to some pretty tight spots without issue .
Thanks td. The old 300 doesn't do bad. It still makes a bad noise but we're not spending more money on that issue. One Of our guys asked me how hard it'd be to bend the frame on that thing. I laughed and told him I thought that would be pretty close to impossible. That Krupp is a nice crane. Super nice to get setup. And it's one smooth crane. We've really been happy with how much work we've done with that crane since we've had it.
Yeah Knep , on the grain handling end this year will be interesting as bumper crops with all the rain at the rite time but low price per bushel forecast . Be interesting to see what some of the big grain operations do as far as adding storage & modifications that will relate to crane work ?
Ye hopefully grain prices come back up. Downtown indianapolis. Yes the front of the crane is under the parking garage. They couldn't reach that corner of the building. The front outriggers are sitting on the footer. Had to sit in the middle of a busy intersection and lay the boom over the back and pull into the setup spot. Got it done though.
What where you picking ?
Exterior walls and that top beam.
Modular house swt with the 110t.
Big Berta. We owned this crane for 5 hrs or so. Just sold her last dec. Always had a running joke that Berta brought her lunch box and hard hat to work every day. Had a 3208 cat in it. Those cold winter days it was always the only Piece of equipment you could count on starting no matter how cold it was. She doesn't even have a block heater. Coldest I ever cranked her over was -15 degrees. She spun over and smoked for a little while and we went to work for the day. Really one of my all time favorite cranes. Not the smoothest operating crane but by golly she started and worked EVERY SINGLE DAY.
I'm glad you've learned how to post you got some great crane porn!
Thanks man.
Love the parking garage job. There's always a way.
Rt740 we used to own. This was 2-3 yrs back. This leg was hands down the scariest job I've ever been on. 140' tall. 4' off center at the top. The pipe pushed the distributor back into to the leg and buckled the leg. The distributor was held on by 1 quick clamp. I don't have to many pictures of the pipes. The worst pipe was 148' long and had a 12' sag in the middle. The bins closest to the leg had the roofs caved in from the weight of holding the whole thing up. Brand new set up. We held the distributor up with the 740 and went around and took all the pipes down with the 200. No one got hurt on this job. Me and the foreman in charge of taking it all didn't get much sleep for a couple days. Ended up with a bunch of shiny scrap metal. Dont know how the lawsuit ended up.
View attachment 158526 Sometimes when your small cranes are busy you bring out the big guns. We normally don't send the 110 to set trusses but This job was close to shop and a good customer so we had to take care of them. This barn was 80'x180'. It sure was nice to do it all from 1 setup.
Ok, so what was going on here? The elevator buckled at the top and had to be taken down? Was wind damage? Installation error? If we have a long pipe that is even flat, I don't like it. We try to put a good arch in them, so when the grain weighs it down it is flat.
Bad install. I believe it was turned on one time. I know there was a lawsuit but I don't know what ever came of it.
This pic was supposed to go with post #25
You at least could have taken out block and put in ball to set trusses! You're like me though- whatever it takes. When I send a bigger crane to a jobsite, because I have the smaller crane busy, I will send the larger one at the smaller rate. I used to work for a guy, if the 120 ton was busy, he would send the 175, but only at the 175 rate. I would see us lose work because of it, and I always thought "why not send the 175 with one load of counterweight at the 120 rate?". He always tracked the crane per hour cost/ cost of ownership , much closer than I do, and for him that worked. He was a great guy, and a good businessman- I just always thought that part was kind of strange. I tend to think I would rather keep the customer, and eat a little extra fuel cost. Really, once the crane is on site, it doesn't cost me a lot more to run my 70 ton, than my 25 ton. Yes, over the long haul it costs more, but for a one day thing- its not the end of the world.
Lol it's a single sheave block. I just had 2 part line on it. We don't send a bigger crane a whole lot. It depends on the who the customer is. If we do a lot of work for someone we'll do our best to take care of them. This barn would have really been all the the 30t would have wanted. We would have had to set up at least 5-6 times. They swing all their metal with a metal cradle. The trusses aren't bad. It's swinging the metal cradle over the back with a full load of metal that the 30-40t cranes struggle with. Really once that crane is on site it runs really cheap. The little six cylinder in the upper is a fuel sipper. It burns a fraction of the fuel that the 300 does. The big Cummins is nice on the road but golly she's a thirsty girl. Cost of ownership is really something I've been trying to buckle down on tracking. It's always better to make decisions based on facts and hard numbers then gut feelings. It's kinda surprising once you track everything. May change your opinion on which cranes are pulling their weight and which ones aren't.
I grew up on these kind of sites. Customers cranes. Notice the stinger isn't pulled out on the smaller crane.
Pool set with the 30.
Ouch on the damaged stinger. Was that one of the pools that come in upside down on the trailer, then you get to flip it? I hate those, I'm rarely running two lines, so I usually just rig one side and flop them over, they always break over fast.
The pool set was my brother. I just stole the picture. On that stinger I've told the owner a hundred times that a stinger is only for roof trusses. Not bunks of prefabbed walls. I don't know if you've been around apartment framers much but those boys could break an anvil with a rubber hammer.
I was on site working on one Customers lull. My brother was setting trusses for another customer. Setting a few tanks. Didn't have much time for pictures.
Sometimes people think just because a crane is rated for say 35 tons it will pick that much with all the stick out and at a low angle! Some do not understand the effect of a long lever with a small weight. You not only have to take into account the length of the lever but also the weight of that lever!
Nice tank farm job. I hate really old tanks, around here they've usually got a sketchy looking little tab/angle iron welded on the top/ or a trailer tie down ring, welded on who knows how long ago. If they're a old gas tank, no one's volunteering to weld on new tabs, just to scrap it. I've never had one break, but I've worried before. Using the national to tip them, or for manbasket to rig you up? Maybe both?
I just read my last two posts here. I evidently hate old tanks, hate flipping pools, don't really like tree jobs. Must be I only like picking up steel skids with a stamped weight, 4 designated pick points, welded on and marked, and having a 50% excess of chart, at 30' radius, in a empty, flat, paved parking lot. I guess if it was easy, old women and little children would be doing it.
Oh!! A perfect world wouldn't that be dreamy, only thing would make it better is if only government workers could it, then it wouldn't get all dirtied up by horrible people like us trying to make money.
Nothing prompted that ugly outburst it just popped into my head. I spent 11 years as a municipal councillor and constantly heard from staff how we couldn't possibly trust profit driven people to do anything when you could spend twice as much an let a civil servant do it.
Lol where the hey are those crane jobs. I need to move there. Used the national for manbasket and tailing the tanks. We've never had much luck trying to lay tanks over with one crane and someone has to get to the top of the tanks to hook up anyway. Those tanks were 12' diameter and 35' tall. Weighed around 17k.
One of the neatest crane jobs I've been on. Setting boats in the water for the thunder over Madison. Basically a vintage hydroplane boat show. We had one crane there. Two other crane companies each had one crane there. Interestingly enough all three cranes were t230's
These boats have p38 fighter plane engines. Guy told me he spent 100k on rebuilding the engine. He did a lot of the work. SOBs shook the crane when they fired up.
Shot of the engine.
Handy dandi ramps for setting up on a boat dock. The small pieces I have my back outriggers are angled on the bottom. Set the on the concrete ramp and the top is level. Little weird sitting on top of water.
knepptune where are you located? im in Charlestown IN just down 62 from Madison.. looks like a neat job,
The Miss Budweiser. Letting the water drain out. These boats weighed between 6-7k. I set the biggest boats. Kinda nice i set the 5 biggest boats. My neighbors set all the smaller boats and they stayed busy. The guy on the very far end was booming everytime I looked over there. I think I made 16 picks all day. Got a lot of time to talk those guys. Interesting group of guys. A lot of them were in the movie Madison. One guy supplied the boats for the movie. Also got to meet ken warby. He holds the world record speed in a boat. 317 mph.
Forgot to add. Those boys sure were nervious about the fuel for those boats. As in firefighters in full gear surrounding the tanks and fire extinguishers filled with aircraft foam.
We're close to Shelbyville. It's a little under 1.5 hrs to Madison.
The other part of my job. Customers lull. At the shop for service and to check it out before the next job. Not sure what I'm gonna do about it. I'll probably take it somewhere to have it fixed. This is definitely a weak spot on these lulls. There's a ton of 8k lulls around with the boom cracked/buckled at this spot.
Is that a welded corner, or bent U shape? Probably from being all the way out, over loaded, then driving around (bouncing)? (by the way, nice yard crane:cool2, use what you got hey) Also nice boat pictures. Did they provide the water ramps? I debated building something similar a few years ago for loading boats at ramps/ launching barges. Decided it was too much work for not enough jobs.
Wait a minute, there's a little grove tms 200 hiding in the corner of that first picture, you just wanted to play with the big crane, didn't you.
Lol that's actually my uncles tms250. It has a bad habit of starting up randomly and eating starters. It's gonna be turned into a parts crane. Swing bearing is shot, frame is cracked and it has a Detroit. 3 strikes and your out. Lol The boom on that lull is welded on the bottom. Top corners are just bent. Definitely caused by overloading and abuse. Unloaded cw's earlier so the 110 was ready to go. Also the set up ramps were supplied. Quess those ramps have been around since the 70s.
Did you have your pocketbook out today? 2009 PETERBILT 367 Tri Drive w/Manitex 5096S 50 Ton Boom Truck Only brought $87,000 but it was tri drive. No jib. The newer (2012) swing cabs brought $150-190, which is still a lot of $, but considering a new one is 350-400,000 and the highest mileage one was like 30,000, they actually were auction priced. The 05 altec 38 tonner wasn't bad priced at $85,000 either. I didn't buy anything, but I am looking at a detach lowboy that's on tomorrow's list. We'll see.
That's a little short boomed for a 50 ton but that seems like a heck of a good price. I completely forgot about that auction. A while back I told dad that's an auction we need to watch. Been so busy lately neither one of us remembered. Good luck on the lowboy hunt. Has the bottom fell out of those prices as well. We were just talking That it would be kinda nice to have a lowboy. Could haul smaller cranes at least. Don't think we could haul the 40-50 ton cranes with our truck but we definitely could haul up to 30t cranes with our truck.
I'm hoping the bottom has fallen out down there . I cant find a detach by me that's under 25-30,000. I just can't give that kind of $ for 1-2 times a week. I really want a non ground bearing detach (no hydraulic foot). A scissor neck, or a ground bearing (hydraulic foot/outrigger), I just don't see working for me. I've found a older detach, but I wouldn't mind a little newer if one doesn't bring much on the auction. Been looking at this one, its got a little rust, and some bent up middle stringers, but I don't see anything obviously wrong: https://www.rbauction.com/1996-TALBERT-50-Ton-TriA?invId=9491018&id=ci&auction=FORT-WORTH-TX-2016209 1996 talbert, 25' well. Also this one 22' well (I think my 40 ton would fit) https://www.rbauction.com/1994-TALB...d=9474287&id=ci&auction=FORT-WORTH-TX-2016209 I'm sure I'm not interested in this: https://www.rbauction.com/2001-TRAI...d=9488968&id=ci&auction=FORT-WORTH-TX-2016209 A earlier picture showed the whole side of the neck rewelded and a big ugly patch , where the 1/2 moon of flat paint is on the neck. Both bottom ears where the lift lugs are have been just replaced also. Think they might have been loaded a little heavy on some rough roads?
Have updated in awhile. Been busier then a one legged man in a kicking contest. Took the boom apart on a customers 45t. Rebuilt the outer mid tele cylinder. Just got the boom back on the lull. We'll be putting it back together later this week. Also rebuilt one of the boom cylinders on our tms300. Ran the 300 today for a little bit. They said the ground was solid getting back there. The ground was not solid. Luckily they had a big tractor there.
Grain pipe. Within inches of not being able to do it. Boom truck we used to own. Checked the computer out. Didn't really need anything. Thought I'd get in on the track loader fun. Believe this one was a 953c maybe. I'm sure someone can tell without even seeing the decal.
Looks good knepptune. You can give me a hard time about setting up in a crooked spot, but I don't usually fight mud Was that grain spout one of those you kind of eyeball and say "I think it will reach?" I hate stretching out dead stick and jib and being short 5'.
That grain pipe threw me off. I eyeballed it and said no problem I can reach that easy. It wasn't. Had to take one cable down and setup several times to get the exact right angle were I could reach it and I wasn't hitting the cables. I haven't been that far off on an eyeball in a long time. Felt like an idiot.
Our old tms200a. My uncle bought the crane from us and they do a little bit of crane work in Louisville. Anyhow they were doing a job we couldn't get to and needed an operator for the last day. I haven't seen this crane for a year or so but they put a nice paint job on it and it ran and drove same as it always did.
Days are getting shorter aren't they? I don't have much for work lights on a couple cranes- that way when it gets dark I can go home. Glad to see someone else get to run a detroit. I SAID GLAD TO SEE SOMEONE ELSE GET TO RUN A DETROIT. Good to see you're busy too.
Now that's funny! After rebuilding a 453n.....twice.....In the Galion, I wear hearing protection.
Your a funny guy crane op. That cranes actually has the sweetest running v8 kitty cat. Yep it's got a 3208t. Different uncle has the one with the Detroit. The first pick was in the morning. Kinda takes some adjusting to the fact that daylight doesn't show up at 6:30 like a few weeks ago.
Been busy as can be. Not in a crane much lately but been super busy fixing stuff. Left for Lexington Ky this morning. Got just south of Cincinnati I lost all power. Felt like it kicked into neutral. Cooler line on the bottom of the transmission decided it would be fun to dump all my transmission fluid out onto I-75 at 6am. . The clip that's supposed to hold this line in was gone. Pics aren't great but you can get the idea. On a side note I really really liked this light untill it turned off no reason. And quit working for good. Considered throwing under the next semi that drove by but made the mature decision. Not proud of what the fix looked like but it's been leak free all day. Got it knepptune-rigged and walked to the nearest gas station for some transmission fluid. (No I don't keep dexron3 in the truck.) Haven't really needed it before. :beatsme
That last pic is upside down. The bottom of that light is magnetic. Works great.....when it's working. On to the job . Pretty simple. Bad starter. After 30 minutes on the phone no one in Lexington has this starter in stock. Two places can have it tomorrow. Tomorrow may as well be next week. Both places have the courtesy to tell me they don't know why that starters not in. They both usually have one in stock. Not today though. Had to drive back to Cincinnati for the stupid starter. A lot of headache for a starter. Told the customer to have the old starter rebuilt and keep it for a spare. Hopefully they do that.
How convenient. Broke down on the side of the road, in a mechanic truck, with all your tools, headed to work on something else. I'm usually in the crane with my leatherman, 5wr vice grips, crescent wrench, 3lb hammer, and a piece of wire. Not a huge tool selection, but probably all I'm qualified for. Seriously though- that stinks, I bet rush hour traffic was just starting to crank up, and nobody gives anyone a ride anymore. And at 6am, not much is open yet (autozone, napa, etc). And nobody stocks any parts anymore either. Sure they can have it tomorrow, but I'm broke TODAY. I don't schedule breakdowns a day in advance.
Dont think I've operated a crane all week. This dang suspension on our 110t is really starting to p me off. Proximity switches are all working now. Comes up level but the front passenger corner comes up last and it takes way more pressure to get that front corner up then the others. Makes you really appreciate a truck cranes. Nothing complex about those suspensions. Got this beaut to the shop. Dad just couldn't turn down the deal. It's a rt65s. Was told it has a Detroit. I was all excited to hear some sweet 2-stroke music....but hold on, someone did a really nice conversion and stuffed an old 8.2 Detroit in it. Seems like a good running engine. It has a few little issues, mainly the leak coming out of the torque converter. We'll have the old girl out on a rental job here shortly. Seems like there's a fair demand for bare rentals on Rt's. Guy brought these boom truck outriggers to be resealed. The pins on the bottom of these outriggers seem like they're always froze up. After working on it for awhile the new kid said he had to leave early all of the sudden. Don't know how much the 20lb sledge had to do with that.
And you left him go? Hmm.... sounds like another boss I know quite personally. You should have been working an hour away from the shop with only one vehicle, and see what happens.
Ah at that point I wasn't sure if he was swinging the hammer or if the hammer was swinging him. Got to run another different crane the other day. National 1295 Really a pretty nice rig. I really liked the 450hp engine in it. Pulling a generator out of the basement of the fire station. Pretty technical but not to bad. And seeing fall is here I Figured I'd add a picture of my hunting buddy as well.
Did your sledge hammer swinger come back. I used to coon hunt with my great uncles it was a lot of fun, but I remember quite a few times sitting in the truck along side a big swamp waiting for the hounds to come back, that made for a sleepy kid at school the next day .
Nice 1295. Old boss in Iowa had one just that color, mounted on a volvo/white chassis. Short outrigger span and 95' main, was a great truss and hvac crane. The jacks had quite a bit of stroke also if I remember correctly. New to you, or just working for someone else? I just could never remember to pull the valve lever, between swing and outrigger controls, ended up in the cab a few times wondering why it wouldn't swing, then having to hop back out again.
Tradesman. He's back. He's a good kid and a hard worker. Most kids these days didn't grow up like we did. I think that sledge just took it out of him. As far as waiting for dogs to return. The gps tracking systems of today have eliminated that bs. Also that's one of the benefits of a walker dog. Right or wrong they will get treed pretty quickly. Crane op We really need another crane. We're trying to make it through the winter and buy something early spring. We trade a lot of work with the guy that owns that boom truck so we called him to see if he could do a few jobs for us. His only other operator was out with injury so we worked out a deal to rent his extra crane. We pay him an hourly rate based on the engine hours we put on his crane. I really liked that crane. It's mounted on a gmc chassis. 18' o/r span. It does have a lot of jack stroke. It doesnt have a front bumper o/r jack which would be nice. The truck frame could stand to be a fair bit stiffer. When the front wheels come off the ground that frame flexes a bit more then I'd like to see. Like I said tho. I really enjoyed the 450hp cat under the hood.
For some reason I've been having trouble loading pictures. Anyway, just some shop projects. Which I really do more repair work then crane operating anyway. Rt65s had a leaking seal in the torque converter. Rebuilding a swivel on a customers rt635c. Think crane op said he may have one to do on his rt700. Enjoy it man. We pulled the whole assembly. Bottom seal lost a piece. Hose clamps with a business card inserted to shrink the seal back down to size so that you can get the barrel back over the tower. Yes there's probably a better way. But this has always worked for me. Sliding the tower back into the barrel.
Finally sent this loader home. Got it back to the owner and he decided he wanted one more cylinder resealed.
Absolutely awesome! To bad we don't live near each other, I truly enjoy working on equipment.
I've actually been putting off my swivel. I can't decide if I want to try to leave it in the crane, and leave it wired, slipping the new rings over the wiring, or just pull it all out, and re wire it. It mostly just drips a little fluid when its cold. It leaves a puddle about the size of the bottom of a 5 gal bucket when it sets overnight. Once its warm (hyd oil) it stops. Every time I've tried to leave a swivel in the crane when resealing, it ends up leaking. I have 3 quick connects on the frame for the wiring though, and it looks like I could drop the inner hyd portion, leaving the outer can on the crane. Then thread the old seals off, and pass the new seals over the wiring, doing it all under the crane, then jacking the inner back up into the outer. I also have the female of the quick connects upstairs, I've thought about undoing both, then just fighting past the wires out on the shop floor rather than in the crane. I don't have air or water in my swivel, so it's not too many ports. I think 12-14 or so. I know I'm not starting replacing it tomorrow, because the crane is going out to set trusses. Then its got a tree job next tuesday. I'm not sure I want to tear it apart on friday, hoping I get it back together and working right by tuesday morning. I'll probably just wait till after the tree job. And then there's a cell tower the thursday after. I don't imagine its going to heal itself. It would be even nicer if I had some tools left to fix it with.:Banghead
I think the Rt700 and rt635 are very similar. I think the barrel had to come off the bottom of the tower. We just disconnected the cannon connectors from the frame and left the wiring intact. I was trying to avoid taking all those connectors off the top of the electrical swivel and sliding those wires down the center of the swivel. This is what I was happy about avoiding on this repair. This part is my least favorite part of a swivel repair. On the older groves I've always left the tower on the crane. On those removing the tower is a major pia.
Boy, I recognize that mess of wires, I've done that twice on a older grove. So you unplug the 3-4 connectors on the top, and the bottom. Pull all the hoses top and bottom. Pull the whole works out. Then separate on the ground. I didn't see the wire looms in your pictures on the top. The ones from the elec swivel to the upper frame. I helped do a tms 870 in the frame, it had been done once before, the water is what always leaked on it. I find the older groves with air throttle in the upper, the air chambers go. Mine is leaking from the very bottom seal, oil coming out between the barrel and the bar that holds it from rotating on the frame. I haven't had any crossover. How long for in and out? .
That's what we did. With the barrel coming off the bottom of the tower we didn't have to do much with the wiring. This one wasn't crossing over at all either. Just pouring oil out of the bottom of the swivel. It started out as a drip and I told the owner I'd try to get the job he was on finished before we did the swivel. I really didn't want to do this one on a muddy apartment project. I've had one guy working on it alone. I think he's spent about four days on it. I know he had to use a cheater pipe on most of the hoses. I really think if you had two guys on it you could do it in two days. The guy that's on it is very steady and typically doesn't have many redo's. He's just not the fastest. It's definitely a bigger job then resealing one on an older grove.
Mine right now drips sometimes, sometimes it doesn't. We actually had replaced a big return hose on the bottom last spring, and the old hose was pretty flexible, but all they had for a new hose that size was really stiff (2 wire vs 4 wire I think). It took two of us and a big push to get it bent around and hooked up on the bottom. I got to thinking about all the strain we put on that hose to attach it, and wondered if it was flexing/ pushing the bottom of the can over, causing it to leak. I replaced the hose with a more flexible one, but I'm still leaking. I set trusses with it all day today, and it didn't drip hardly at all (5-10 spots in the dirt dime sized). The other day it was just setting on the trailer, not running, and was drip, drip, dripping ( I know, it depends on how fast you read that, to know how fast it was dripping, but it was pretty quick ). I'm not tearing it apart until I don't have a job for 5 days. Or until its leaking bad enough I can't use it.
I read pretty fast so it seams like a pretty bad leak. Lol The worst part about swivels is that for some reason it seams like once they start leaking they go pretty quickly. A cylinder can have a small leak for years and never really get much worse. Seems like once a swivel starts leaking it doesn't take long to go from a few drops to oil running out. I wouldn't think a hose pushing on it would cause one to leak. I wouldn't argue against it to hard tho. And I agree with giving yourself 5 days to get it done. It was harder then I expected.
Haven't been in a crane to much lately. Did set some trusses with the 110t last Saturday. Longest reach was 147'. Dad did most of the operating. I hauled the cw up there and helped get setup then moved a forklift for another customer. Gave dad a little break when I was done with that. Did a boom cylinder reseal on this little bt3400. Usually I'll lift the boom with just the crane but this was light enough I just used the forklift on one end and used the crane to catch the back of the boom. Little project for local farmer. New clutch in a jd450c. It really surprised me that it doesn't have a single mount on the front of the engine. The engine is completely held by the bell housing bolts. Really surprised me.
Little project for local farmer. New clutch in a jd450c. It really surprised me that it doesn't have a single mount on the front of the engine. The engine is completely held by the bell housing bolts. Really surprised me. [/QUOTE] Doesn't sound right. I seem to remember a spacer block on each side, inside the side frames and a couple 7/8" bolts on each side going through the side frame and spacer into the cylinder block. Could be all wet too, it's been like thirty years.... Check those side frames over real good at the back end where they bolt to the housing, they were famous for breaking out there, several updates in the design. I got to where I could swap one out pretty quick, seemed like the 450C's we had needed one about once a year, but then we had apes running them thought they were D5's. Time to do it would be now with everything opened up and the engine out.
Lantraxco, Not sure if this link will work but if it does are you referring to items "5" in this sheet? Tried looking for "mounts" and "supports" but was not seeing any thing. http://jdpc.deere.com/jdpc/servlet/com.deere.u90490.partscatalog.view.servlets.HomePageServlet_Alt
Looking at the machine I couldn't even see where the motor mount should be. I told my helper he was full of it when he told me there's no front motor mount. I'll definitely look into it a little more but it doesn't look like it has a bracket or anything for it. Khansen your link just dumped me out on the homepage for that site. Appreciate the input guys. I'll take all the help I can get. On that note if there's a Krupp suspension expert lurking around here I'd pay good money to talk to you.
Link just took me to the home page, but I got there, yes #5 Possible the engine has been changed, different or newer, and there was no place to put the bolts...
Well try this up in the left top corner there should be a box marked "Model Search" put the model number in there, 450C, then click on find, select the one for Dozer, then select Alpha Numeric, now click on "F", scroll down to "Frame Side" and you should be on the page that shows the "spacers" #5 that lantraxco is talking about. Here's the picture off that page:
If that dozer had motor mounts in the front they're long gone. It doesn't even have holes in the engine for mounts. I'm not sure what to think. Anyhow got the 65s out on a rental job. Customers rt630 in front.
These cranes shine on apartment building. Bunk of walls is anywhere from 3500 to 5000 lbs. Being able to take a full bunk out 75-80' saves some back wear and tear.
Didn't realize those two pics were the same. Anyhow I have to include a pic of Bertha. I'd hate to try to figure how many walls, trusses, and bunks of plywood she's lifted in her day.
Next project. Tms250b. Needs clutch and transmission. Owned by an Amish guy that frames houses. He only puts about 300 hrs a year on this crane. Here's why it wouldn't stay in gear. He's been having some issues with the crane losing all the electrical when his driver moves the crane for him. Think we found the issue.
Holy cow! That wire bundle/wrap looks like a fire was lit underneath it! Are those gear teeth "beveled" or clutch gave out and gear "modification" took place? That looks challenging!
Fun, fun, is that the sliding clutch in the back box? Looks like you might need the tester and a few heat shrink connectors.
Finally got that darn darn job finished. When we pulled the crane in the shop we turned the big master switches off and didn't think anything more about it. Pulled the transmission and the next morning all the wires were melted. It did have master switchs but they had been bypassed at some point. I hate that it happens in our shop but it would have happened somewhere and better in a shop then out on the jobsite. Anyway when I posted those pictures I didn't realize it also melted all the air lines between the engine and frame. The only think I can think of is when we pulled the transmission we wiggled the wiring harness enough to get the bare spot against the frame. Lesson learned on making dang sure the batteries are physically disconnected though. How it didn't completely catch fire is beyond me. Anyhow the transmission gears are worn like that from someone trying to get into gear and grinding it. The wiring harness turned out pretty well. There are things that work on that crane that haven't worked for a long time. Btw crane op. Those 250's with the 3208 are pretty underpowered. Not as bad as the 250's with the little jimmy in them but still not real good. I was a little surprised when that crane hit 60mph and maintained it. It took 5 miles to get there but still 60mph is cruising in one of those/
Dang it! now I can smell that burn insulation! Just lucky on the "no fire" thing. Company I worked for in the last few years lost a few machines from electrical fires on parked equipment. Ruling came down that all equipment not factory equipped with master disconnect switches had to have them installed and every machine was to have switch shut off when parked for any reason. Then, due to having a fire where I believe three haul trucks went up from one catching fire, the next step was to say that no two machines could be parked over night closer than 30 feet to another. This was a real pain as not long before we had installed a "hitching rail" system with electric outlets for block heaters where we could park all the equipment in a nice line. It made it easy for myself and another guy who came in early during cold weather to run down the line doing quick preshift check of fluids and start up machines so they were ready to go when operators showed up. Now equipment is scattered all over the quarry and a major pain so operators have to deal with starting them up cold.
Summit Racing has some heavy duty mechanical electrical ("masters") disconnects, up to 300 amps or more I think. I use one on the plane to totally kill all hot wires as close to the battery as possible. Some have provisions to be operated with a pushrod or push/pul cable, for remote mounting.
The big master switches from Napa have always worked for me. That crane was a time bomb anyway. The only wires we touched were the wires to the nss and reverse sensor. And that was just a small pigtail coming off the main harness. It had to have a bare spot up by the radiator and got against the frame. Anyway a little truss job on a hill. And back to wrenching. Fiber gear in old Berta
Truss job on a hill? Looks to me like you got level without any pads on the front set of jacks- just on the nose- that's a level spot in my book. There's more of that funny looking white stuff on the ground in your pictures too. I recall something like that stuff from my former home up north. I recall it being mostly uncomfortable, and generally unhandy for working conditions. You guys should get together and find out what's causing that. There's probably some fancy scientific term for it like "global cooling". I think I've heard of it on the news...
House set couple days ago.
Don't know why its mandatory to bury the manlift 200' from the road and then call your friendly mechanic to come fix it.
And crane op. I'd dang near take snow over this blasted mud. My boots have been caked solid for two dang weeks.
Why just get it stuck, when you can go ahead and get it stuck really well. Looks like they were at least trying to throw some boards and plywood under the wheels, not that that helps any when its that wet, Carpenters . It was fairly wet monday here, it rained all day Sunday. But most places here, there's only 2-4" of dirt, then its all rock. It can get a little slimy on top, but we don't have many places where you're going to sink to your axles. The job I took the RT to on monday was that way. It was hard 3" down, but slimy on top. The rock makes it dry out pretty fast too. I'm sure today I could drive anywhere I wanted on that site.
im with you knepptune on the mud!!! its made a mess outa my truck, my boots are like ankle weights!!! At least I got to see the sun a couple days this week!! the snow is welcome for me at least it will make the mud stiff!!! crane op that's not the case here with mud here!!! u can burry just bout anything to the belly pan or running boards fairly fast, & as KNEPP pic shows in the most inopertune places/time!! I haven't had my service truck planted yet this year...knock on wood!!! winter isn't over yet either!! LOL
New bearings, new seals, and new brakes. Neat little telehandler.
Bad IAP valve on this boom truck. Thought his outdoor speakers hardwired into the trucks radio was kinda funny. Also did anyone order a house. Everything was included in that package. Walls, trusses, beams, really looked an entire house ready to be assembled. Also looked like it was ready to fall and kill someone if you got to close.
First time I've ran a crane since the truss job on a hill. Maybe 70' trusses. Not even real how long the barn was. Anyhow it was a nice easy day. No smashed fingers and I wasn't coated in grease and oil at the end of the day. Not sure how I went from operator to mechanic but somewhere I took a wrong turn.
[QUOTE="Knepptune, post: 683016, member: 33024 Not sure how I went from operator to mechanic but somewhere I took a wrong turn.[/QUOTE] That happens to the best of us Knepp , one day happily operating then all the sudden phone rings & have to go turn a wrench for a customer . It's good to be loved Nice work all around be it operating or wrenching Bro ! That pre fab home was interesting with the walls , trusses and OSB all in one package dumped off at the job site . Looks like that system would allow a smaller crane / boom truck to lift it all in place piece at a time .
I have a good customer who sells those type of pre fab houses. Several tractor trailers show up and I unload them. Meanwhile the floor and foundation work is already completed, so wham bam we start setting walls. The exterior walls have the doors and windows installed, and are fully sheeted! They have imbedded nuts to take the lifting eyes, they supply them, and it's all balanced pretty good. Less carpenter time on site, more crane time, sounds good to me.
We'll need to go load this on a trailer. And yes that bunk of 2x4's is what he was carrying. Apparently he tipped it forward and dumped the load, then when the back came down it snapped the axle.
surprised it broke, doesn't look like the machine was ever abused.
If you where in my part of the world you could just drive right in over the frost, all nice and clean. I was supposed to leave at six am on Monday to take my 32 ton charts to the dealership and surrender them so that Elliott would send my derated charts and new chip to me for the end of the week, but when I woke up it had snowed a little bit, the snowplow was stuck in front of my shop. It took a grader and the plow about a half a hour to clear about 100 yards of road.
Ran this little rt230 Wednesday and Thursday. Light stuff. Really a pretty nice little unit. We rented this crane from one of our customers. He didn't have work for it so we used it. He owns some rental equipment but doesn't do repair work or have a place to keep it, so we do all of his repairs and store his stuff at our shop when it's not on a job. Works out pretty well.
Makes sense that this structure was completely assembled upside down. Anyhow, ended up being easier to flip it then I thought it was gonna be. This one's for you crane op. Check out the windshield. Lol Structure ended up weighing around 13k. I think I was good for a little over 15k.
Spent today installing a new computer in another customers rt230. It had the old a450 computer that's darn near useless. Replaced it with the updated rci510 system. These rci510 are by far my favorite crane computer system. Super user friendly and easy to use. Grove may make a better crane but but terex gets big points for the Greer systems in their cranes. Greer beats Pat by a country mile in my opinion.
Couple more pics. The new system came with the display, computer, and reel on the side of the boom. I did have to have the hoses made to come from the boom cylinder to the computer. The old system uses pressure transducers connected directly the the boom cylinder. On the new system the transducers are inside the computer box. Basically bolt the new components on, set the zero points on all the sensors, set the span on everything and go.
Love that windshield holder . What's the cost on the new computer? around 8? Also- the pictures of the busted rear axle on the telehandler- its always amazing how well they can get around on a horribly muddy site. They will just keep hogging through the mud, until something breaks. I have seen rear axles break like that, telescope out with a load, get the rear end coming off the ground, operator gets scared, dumps the load, telehandler comes down from 6' up in a heartbeat. Will the housing need replaced also?
The new computer ended up around 7k. I haven't looked into that telehandler to much yet. I don't think it busted the housing at all. It stripped all the nuts off the studs. Almost looks worse then what I think it actually is.
What could you possibly need a 12 part line for. Crane said this block weighed 3200. And I don't doubt it. We were told 140k. Turns out that was the the total weight of the engine. We only lifted the front. They rolled the dolly out.(guess that's what it's called). Dropped remanned electric motors in and rolled it back under the train. And just so you guys know, my gosh is the hoist slow when you've got a twelve part line on.
Did they have one of those 2" steel chokers with the steel protector, or did you have to supply the rigging? ( I hope for the riggers sake it was a big roundup ) That's one of the unhandy things about having 3/4" cable, on a big crane like that. It is nice to reeve with, but for line pull, something with 1 1/8" cable or so, is a whole different ball game. Either way- looks great- nothing like heavy picking! Love it when you rig up for 140 and it only weighs 70- much better than the other way around.
They supplied the rigging. They had a basket looking deal. Looked like about 4-1" cables that all fed into a big steel bracket. It is nice when they're high on the weight. The only part that stunk was the 12- part line. It was super slow. One drawback on that 110t is the fact that it only has one winch. Doesn't even have the plumbing for two winches.
Knepptune Is that locomotive lift at Honda's yard? Looks familiar.
Yes it was. You from this area?
Yes. Shop is near Millhousen, south of Greensburg. I have seen your cranes all around the area.
Well if you ever need anything lifted you know who to call.
Had to reseal the tele cylinder on this 65s. Or so we thought. And yes the 110 makes a super yard crane. Mainly because it's rare to have anything else at the shop. But I guess that's good. Close up of my firehose strap protector. Seals weren't all that bad. Tube carrying the oil to the retract side broke off of the cylinder. Tube rewelded ready to go back in. Great little yard telehandler. To rough to go out on any job but it is a handy little fellow.
I think I have some kind of a issue like that with my one 25 ton. We've resealed that thing, and I've still got a bypass going on, its not fast or anything, just a little bump. I've seen it in one other 25 telescope cylinder, and now your pictures. I'm thinking I might have a small crack in mine, letting fluid seep. Looks like that one was pretty fast retract/ no telescoping.
I think I've got a problem like that with one of my 25's. I've seen one other 25 do that, but it was just a hairline crack, and would act like it needed a reseal. We resealed mine, but it still has a little bump in it, not fast. I've never seen one totally broken loose. Just wouldn't extend? or would and then come back/retract itself?
That one was kinda weird. It would barely extend, but it would extend if you tried to retract and revved the engine. It would only retract if you boomed strait up and tried to boom out.
I like the fire hose strap protectors . Good idea Knepp !
I've used old firehose as a protector for years when re-setting tombstones. Ed
Yeah Bumpsteer , imagine it worked great for that task . We currently use short pieces of old tire flap's to guard straps . The young guy's will next wonder " what the heck is a tire flap " ? LOL Even have some poly corner guard's we use once in awhile . HeavyEquipmentForums I like the fire hose idea .
Haven't done much in a crane lately. Set a few trusses. Telehandler in for transmission work. Has good pressure on the charge pump and all the electric is good. So out it'll have to come.
On to the bad news. 110 decided to pump a bunch of coolant and compression into the crankcase. Luckily it was just 10 miles from the shop. Had about a half gallon of coolant in the bottom of the oil pan. The oil on the block is not from where we pulled the heads. Had to be coming between the head and the block. The head gaskets all looked good. Getting the heads checked out. I do like the individual head design on the engine. Kinda neat having eight separate heads but it's a lot easier to pull the heads.
Don't know why these didnt show up on the last post.
Apparently I'm having trouble posting pics.
Pictures showed up for me, doesn't look like fun though. Nothing ever breaks, except when your using it. I think I've got a miss, and have been losing a little coolant, in one of my used 8.3's we put in last year. I'm thinking head gasket on it.
Turns out it's losing coolant past the liner seal. So ye if we have to do one liner seal we may as well do them all. Don't really want to go through this again next year.
Knepptune, I might have missed it but what engine is that you have the heads off? All those separate heads remind me of the KT1150/19 Cummins design but yours is for sure not a Cummins.
It's a v8 Mercedes diesel. Om 442 La. It's definitely a different animal. Overall it's a really simple design, You can just tell it wasn't designed by Americans. Lol And the parts are a little harder to find then a Cummins. We do have a rebuild kit located and ordered. That really was one of our biggest concerns when she went down.
I think there's actually more support, now that detroit and mtu are the same parent company, than in the past when mercedes diesel parts were nowhere.
Ye I dk. Seemed like the Detroit dealers didn't want anything to do with that. Definitely could be making a difference tho. We got the parts ordered from International Crane Parts. I'm still gonna have to track down a manual or at least find some torque specs for that engine.
That explains why I didn't recognize it! The only Mercedes I had any thing to do with was an inline six in a Sterling truck we had and the only thing I did to that was change oil and filters and a belt that always seemed to want to trim off the first rib or two. Pulleys were all nice and lined up but after a day or two the belt would shead the rib off one side. But if you just left it like that it would go for a year or more with no more trouble. Then someone would get all excited and say I had to replace it. Then a day or two later it was the same again!
Got the v8 running. Ended up milling the heads, new main and Rod bearings, new liners and piston rings. Runs great so far. My brother sent me these pictures the other day. Customer we set some trusses for called in panic wanting a crane asap. My brother got it back to rubber side down. Sent a guy up to check the forklift out. Guy says he's gonna use it like is. Not gonna spend the money on it. Those kinda decisions irritate me but anymore I just make them sign a receipt that says they are aware of the extent of the damage so it can't come back on me.
How stupid... that's gonna fold up like a politician wired to a polygraph. Hope it doesn't kill anybody.
You wouldn't see that dent at a ritchie bros auction though! Seriously- I probably set up one or two of these a year, and there are a lot I don't see- they stand them up with a wrecker, backhoe or something. Almost every one I have stood up has been with someone traveling with the boom up at a high angle, and go over a terrain change, hill- ditch- or like coming off of that concrete. You just know he was booking down that concrete, and whipped it off into that mud and it flopped right over. Isn't gravity a bi%$# sometimes.....
Also- glad you have the 110 back running.
Not trying to get too political but operators like that guy are why we need something like OSHA. Just glad you had them sign off on the damage I would also document it by printing out the pictures and save them with a copy of the paper he signed. Feel sorry for the guys who work for this guy as he has no concern for the safety of his workers!
Got a stupid question: how could they come back on you? So they don't say you damaged it when setting it back up? Just trying to learn as much as possible. Thanks.
Don't think they could due to us standing it back up. As we do a lot of repair work my concern is if I send a mechanic out to check the machine over, I have to have proof that he knows the extent of the damage. It would to easy in case of an accident for the guy to say, well I had it inspected, no one told me the boom was bent. Then if he has a receipt stating we were in fact there looking at the forklift it's my word against his if I don't have paperwork listing the defects with his signature under it. And yes it should be illegal to be that careless. But it's a free world. His guys don't have to work for him. I wouldn't.
To some extent that maybe true, but unfortunately they might need the money and have no other options but to work for him.
I agree Knepp ! If you feel this cat is a risk I would decline working for him again in the future . Save all the paper work next time the phone rings needing a crane to set this guy's the Lull back on it's wheels . A simple " Sorry we can't help you " and move on Man . This guy sounds like a real dandy ! Why work for him ?
Update on the engine rebuild in the 110t. So far it's running good. We had the intercooler recored right before it started leaking water into the oil. With fresh internals and full boost, it's a new engine. Went from barely dragging itself along at 43mph on a flat spot to cruising at a cool 50 mph. 7 mph may not sound like much but the biggest difference is up hills. You can actually pick up speed on a slight upgrade now. So I'm happy about that.
Setting some steel. There's a little courtyard in there. 4K or so 130'-140' out. Nothing to serious. The problem was the setup. We couldn't get the cw's to the crane in the setup area, so we loaded the weights on the crane and backed into place. Nothing but an AT crane would have made into this setup spot. The stone just collapsed away and the crane sank. The ruts were a good 2' deep. Locked in all the axles and differentials and backed her in. Also when you have one side on the crane in a 2' rut that suspension is a life saver. Auto level the crane with the suspension and set her up.
The second setup spot was much nicer. Further reach tho. Couldn't quite reach the last beam so I don't know what they're gonna do. Had about 2200 at 159'. We were about 10-12' short.
Earlier this week. 65s hydraulic pump leaking oil. It ended up being a leaking seal between the pump sections. Rather then removing the pump I took it apart in place and put a new seal in the section that was leaking. Makes you appreciate the old grove pumps. Incredibly simple, incredibly tough. The right way to build things.
An employee and i were talking about courtyards last week. Every school in the area was built with one in the 70's, and every school on the area has eliminated them for classrooms, or plans to in the near future. They sure are a pain to close back up after the fact. Buggy's, pumps and cranes for everything!
If they are really stuck to set the he last beam, you could drop in a small mini excavator style crane or I think they make a spider lift style crane as well. We had to drop a mini excavator into a building one time because the engineer forgot a fire wall and it wasn't caught until all the block walls where up
The last beam is 1700lbs and needs to go about 15' up. If they hadn't set a transformer between when the job was measured and when it was done we'd have been fine.
Well they can yank that transformer back out then
Small unit today. Tight setup spot again. Sucks setting the crane up load cw's and then back into place. We were to close to the building for the cw's to clear so we had to go up and over with the unit. 17k at 75' or so.
Crossovers tubes on a cummin 855. Screw is broke off in the head. Guy just wanted the 0'rings changed but I couldn't get the other three screws loose either. Apparently someone before me tried to fix ignore and decided that one broken screw wasn't that big of a deal. de Another one of those how do you even break that deals. Got a welding shop lined up for that repair.
New pins and bushings on a 9k gradall. Really the only knock I have against gradall is that the steering pins and bushings Just don't have a terribly long service life. If you own a gradall do yourself a favor and grease the steering pins every ten hrs or so. I
On the manlift axle leveler- I bet they slid it off a trailer loading or unloading, or else pulling/ slamming on it when stuck.
How long have they been using it with the U bolt mod?
As far as I know he's not been using it. That was his get It mobile fix. Had a little trouble finding a weld shop that wanted that job.
The break on the manlift makes you wonder what type of steel it is or if proper welding procedures were followed such as preheating. The crack started at the edge of the weld.
Ye I'm by no means a welder or metal expert. That whole ear is broke off. I would have thought it would have broke the cylinder ram before the frame. The piece that's broke is 2" thick.
I have a hard time believing that, why would they bother with double nutting it lie that if they were not having a problem with it loosening up? Can fully understand a weld shop wanting to stay clear of the possible liabilities. If the factory could not make it strong enough to hold I'd be worried about the repair work.
Ye I dk. They had it sitting off by itself on the job. Either way I'm not their parent, if they want to use it, they're big boys.
Guess who came back from rental. Old girls been out since October or so. The slave cylinder on the clutch went bad but other then that we didn't have to make any repairs.( I guess we did have to fix the heater.) Think it was a bad wire or something. This house was bigger then it looks. Took the jib and dead stick. Was there about 6 hrs. The little building was at a Wendy's. Just moved it to another spot. The next day we drove it down to Louisville for another month rental job.