Gents, Long story short: My tenant was in the process of replacing the hoses on the telescoping boom of his 450A when he suddenly passed away last November. I finally had the chance to try and finish the job so I can use the lift and ready it so his wife can sell it, and I'm having a heck of a time snaking the hoses through the boom. Is there any "easy" way or recommended procedure on doing this. I've been trying all day, even trying to pull the old ones through with the backhoe... Thanks, Scott
Hey all, Still no luck with this. The manuals I downloaded don't really cover it from what I have seen. Can anyone help?
hey buddy ill point you in the right direction. do you have the machine completely stowed meaning boom down and telescoped in?
make sure all the clamps on the push tube are off. And on the catrac there are more. Then the best way is to get the new hose connected to the old hose and snake it through with a union. If you have too much trouble around bends wipe Go Jo soap on the hoses and they will slip on by. I work on these machines every day I specialize on Genie and JLG
Hey, thanks for the reply. Yes, everything is retracted. I have unions on the old hoses, and pulled them into the upper section of the boom about 4' but it's really tough. I actually wrapped a small chain around the old hoses and pulled them with the backhoe, but I stopped when they started to stretch.
They can be a real b**** to do but I've never had one that bad. Are you sure you have every clamp removed? Like stated above there will be clamps on either end of the boom tube as well as each end of the hose track. JLG also has clamps under those long, tin guards that are mounted to the boom or jib. Also possibly have clamps at the back end of the boom where the primary and secondary booms are joined. Can't remember if those are on the 450 or not. Also, look for zip ties on the hoses, sometimes they get put on the bundles in really weird spots (usually by other mechanics). Most times I tie a rope to the hose and pull the hose out through each section one at a time (ie through the tube first, then out of the track, etc) since there's less friction acting on a 4-6' length of straight hose than a 20-25' hose that makes 3 or 4 sharp bends. Reason I use the rope is simply because we have the hoses built by sample, rather than wait a week or more for OEM hoses. I find Windex or soapy water makes a decent lube and it dries without too much mess.
You haven't lived until you've changed them on a ultra boom. It helps to have someone "pushing" as your pulling.
So after about 6 more hours of pulling I was able to get them through. I learned a couple of things: 1. Tape the heck out of the hose ends where the ferrule and union are to reduce them catching on anything in the tubes 2. Cut off the nylon sleeves at the knuckle joint. Once I did those things I was able to pull them through pretty easily. Thanks for all the suggestions. Now to figure out why the level alarm keeps going off when I raise it and the idle control constantly powers down when I try to drive it?
Might have to recalibrate the tilt sensor. Pretty easy to do but you need the analyzer.
Let know if you need help with analyzer .I can bring you mine and help you get that headache figured out .
Unscrew all the clamps on the hydraulic hoses. Some of them are hidden a little deeper in the boom section rear end. Make sure boom is in stowed position first though. Then get a friend to pull on one end of the hose so you can identify and label the hoses you plan to remove. I don't think you need a backhoe, but old hoses can be pretty stiff and require quite some force. Most times, 2 man's strength and a strong rope will do the job.
my tilt alarm was forever going off. Was very annoying. Cant advise it for everyone, but I simply disconnected mine. Has not gone off since.