Decided to start and new thread rather than continue to cabbage onto Aighead's. Got a call from guys with the manlift and they were done with it. Said they noticed a slight leak as the machine got warmed up. Back at the shop I found a 3/8" hose rubbed through from slight movement as the boom elevates. I replaced the same and then rode the basket up and down twice to purge air from this circuit operating the basket swivel each way several times at elevation, and ground level. I then went to the top again and at the extreme end of travel for the boom lift cylinder. I heard the relief valve function and a "Pop"! along with an immediate spray of oil. Blew the main hose for the boom lift cylinder. Safeties worked as they should and boom did not shudder, or drop at all with the sudden loss of hydraulic pressure. However driving the boom back down so I could get out made a real mess of oil. I grabbed a clean, large drain pan and was able to probably capture about half of what evacuated the system so it will be strained, filtered, and reused till a complete change out later this year. I coupled "Fred" to the boom and using the combination of his winch power, weight, and limited hydraulic pressure available though the boom lift circuit, was able to get the boom back to where I can work on replacing the blown hose which is in the center pedestal. I've since relaxed "Freds" winch tension and the boom is held in placed with it's counterbalance valve. The photos do not show the current elevation of the boom which is about parallel to the ground. All that steam cleaning last week to finally be rid of the greasy mess this lift has been for years.....
I like the photos, but why didn't you get a little closer? Got to love the fix one problem to find another one.....
This one was just a 3/8" pressure hose for the counterbalance valve. As much of a cloud and spray as I'd seen from above, was certain it was a larger line. Easy to replace and I had both the hose, and fittings on hand. Takes a little while to get a good tight crimp of the fittings onto the hose with a claw hammer and piece of railroad iron but..... Boom is manual extend and retract. Knew I only needed assistance from Fred and not a dead lift so didn't retract anything. Now to pressure wash again.
Built up and installed a new hose without much issue and operated the lift with all functions to restore an airless system. Now have two of about two dozen replaced..... Lift is hosed with 100R2 hose which is original to the machine built in 1980. I kinda favor 100R16 citing it's 1/2 bend radius of the 100R2 hose so used that as replacement. My fittings are a bit bulkier than the original Aeroquip fittings, so snaked the hose just a bit different as couldn't route behind the solenoid valve bank mounted to a bulkhead as original. All in all a nice little job I'd have enjoyed a lot more had there been money coming in for it rather than going out. Split in hose: Fittings and coil: Decided to not use the claw hammer and railroad iron, so used the hose machine to make the hoses instead: Greased Lightning back to pretty as a pig with lipstick:
Looks like Fred needs some outriggers added to the back . . .
He certainly does and I really have thought about it through the years. Went as far as building a set of "stiff legs" for him but never installed. With the boom all the way retracted about a 5K dead lift is all he's capable of till the rear "hitch" I put on in 1985 is blocked up. I have two 6X6 timbers for the task when needed and they work well for the blocking. Heaviest I've ever lifted was a lathe that weighted right at 12K, but I just picked it straight up and the trailer backed under the load. Probably could have done near the same here by opening the "emergency decent" valves which neutralize the hydraulic system and picked the boom up with the winch but opted for that shown. Pick the wheels clear of the ground, power the boom up till wheels are back down, then repeat. I was certain the counterbalance valves would work as they should. Showed photos to my wife whom promptly reaffirmed her belief in I'm "effing" nuts.....
Well, this showed up this morning so guess I'm now an aerial lift platform mechanic: Leaks terrible from both lifting cylinders and the telescoping cylinder is disconnected it sprays so bad: Removed counterbalance valve cartridges and pushed the telescoping cylinder back closed, then chained the basket so I could take up less room inside the shop when the cylinders are off for rebuild: Rear telescope cylinder mounting pin is frozen in place. Going to weld a large nut to the pin, thread a grade 8 3/4X16 threaded rod into the nut, then attach a sleeve and hollow ram cylinder to apply some pull action directly to the pin. No real access from the rear side but it's plenty crusty from what I can see. The aluminum counterbalance valve block mounts right to the bottom trunion mount where the pin slides through so may need to remove that if applying heat. Want to attempt cold first. At this rate I hope an arab with a camel named "Crazy Clyde" doesn't show up.
Fred is not a crane so it doesn't need outriggers, just need to pole up Moving around broken equipment is much easier with one of these trucks
Yes, I have a Leland "Roustabout" 12' bed for my old Mack with full width rolling tail board on the rear. 12' fold down poles with it. 20K Tulsa winch that will be hydraulic driven. Gin pole trucks are very handy and intuitive to work with.
Sounds like short poles, I think I have 10' on my won ton
They will be perfect for the single axle truck as my engine drive welder will be crosswise across the back of the cab. I set the frame length for this setup when I rerailed it. Bed was originally on a one ton Ford truck and worked very well for it's purpose which was small equipment and pumps. I have the original split drum winch, but have opted for an Tulsa 23R with double capstans instead. Have several "Mckissick" sheave blocks and the "A" frame weldment for the end of the poles. Poles are light enough to handle without equipment and store in side pockets alongside the bedsides without disconnecting, or unpinning anything. They will also rest on the headrack but rattle terrible there when traveling. Takes all of about five minutes to set up for lift, or drag up onto the deck over the tailboard.
Got this pin to move with a four pound sledge and long piece of 1.250" cold roll shaft. If the boom is elevated quite a bit and the basket near touching the roof inside, (27'-3") the pin exposes itself on the back side. From this I could stand on a four foot step ladder and get some good smacks in on it. Got the pin moved about 1/2" but that's good for the day. Very crusty and rust jacking just starting. Tomorrow in the early hours before the heat really ratchets up, I'll get it out with heat or the hydraulic assist mentioned earlier. I removed the counterbalance block and that took some time as the steel bolts retaining this to the cylinder base were corroded and swollen in the aluminum block. They will be replaced. Need to get the lift back outside, extend the telescoping cylinder, then heat the mounting trunion base good and drive the pin out. The cylinder then slides out the rear of the boom. Hydraulic repair shop will be here on Wednesday morning to pick them up so hopefully the other four pins come out easily and I can get the other two cylinders out of my lift to ship everything together. Pretty good day for as hot as it is and Sunday, (the day of rest).
Don't put the welder there, a friend has one like that and it's terrible as you can't see anything out the rear window, might be different on your truck. When poles are on the headache tie down one line below the plane of the poles with a chain or something, tighten the winch up. No more rattle.
Mine had a window and bed with a solid headboard so never used it. Back in 1980 I removed the original window and installed a small "Jalousie Window" from a camper for some airflow in the cab. That headboard amplified the airflow so never ran with it fully open as it would push loose paperwork out the door windows and constantly messed up my "do". Never had air conditioning except the 2/40 variety. Truck is a 57 Mack B-61T. Driven so long using only the outside mirrors, this shouldn't be a problem. I've not used this bed myself. Bought the wrecked and rusted truck solely for this. I kept the bed and sold the nice 390 "FE" engine to another party. Transmission was worn out so scrapped the rest. Had a much longer truck with poles and really used it a lot but this one is small and easy to get around with. As a replacement for my one ton Dodge, it should be fine.
Got the pin out but not as wanted. This shows pin alignment and drift to smack with 4lb sledge while standing at the top of a 4ft. step ladder: This shows as far as I could get that sumbitch to move with all the ass I had pounding on it and the block the pin slid through almost red: This shows the next step which is to weld grade 8 hardware to the pin: This is a little 10T hydraulic puller I fashioned to affix to the welded hardware: More to follow.
This shows what 10T of force does to help out the pin. This photo show tack welding the nut to pin and base but it was welded solid before pulling: Hydraulic force pulled the end right off the pin leaving me this: I don't show it but I decided this pin must be soft so got out the Cobalt sawzall blade and hacked it off at the ends inside the boom section. The cylinder then found freedom. I now have to separate the basket and fly boom from the base boom as the telescoping cylinder removes this way rather than through the rear as originally thought. I'll do that tomorrow in the early hours as it's hot now and direct sunlight where I'm at. Forgot I'd snapped this just prior to pulling with the hydraulics: Little b*****d worked pretty derned good for something coming from between my ears.
Have the fly boom just about ready to separate from the base boom then can extract the telescoping cylinder. Old "Fred" will play into this equation once again. More this afternoon.
Here we go again: Separating the basket from the fly boom. I'm an old man and can't swing a 12lb sledge like I used to but got the job done regardless: Use old "Fred" to suspend and hang the basket from: Now able to separate the fly boom from the base boom: More to follow.
After unbolting the wear blocks the telescoping cylinder slides right out: Rolled seal in the end of the telescoping cylinder: Base boom cylinder rear trunion pin was stuck but knocked right free with a drift. I didn't show it but strapped to the skid steer forks for balance and picked it clear: More to follow.
Now have two of the three cylinders ready to go to the repair shop. The repair shop has postponed till Friday for pickup but I'm not in a real hurry. I'll use the extra time to pull a couple on my lift spoken of in the past to have repaired also. These are the telescoping cylinder and base boom lift cylinders staged for pickup. I yet need to get this arm cylinder extracted but will wait till morning as it's damned hot now and directly in the sun: Hope these last two pins push out easy enough. I need to remove and temporarily relocate the ground control station for access to the lower rear pin to drive it through. I know it will go back together easier than it's come apart but I've really earned my wages with this one. Owner is kept apprised nightly so he knows the cost he's incurring. Another gent stopped by asking if I'd have a look at his scissor lift unit this morning so these are becoming very good advertisements it seems.
That's good keep Ole Fred bussy
Truly earns his keep.
He's easy on the eyes too
There are few things around here my wife would support replacement for. "Fred" is one, the skid steer the other as both are used so often. I could purchase brand new and have support for the purchase. I won't as don't need the expense, nor want to have to operate profitable to justify that expense. I don't compete for any work; it finds me. I would like to have a boom truck with about a 20K lifting capacity however. Had "Fred's" swing cylinder start leaking today and for some reason couldn't get the outrigger to come down. It a low pressure system, (1500psi) so maybe way too low from wear. That bed is vintage 1956.
Talked to the owner this morning and have sent him a lot and more photos of this job than posted here. He was kind of surprised at the amount of hours I've in the machine so far, (15) and of course concerned for the overall cost. He has never been around this type equipment, (as far as repair) and didn't readily grasp the concept of a "stuck" pin, and the amount of effort/time it takes to get them removed. He was really surprised to hear and I quote myself, "This lift hasn't seen a grease gun in years". Asked how I knew this to which I replied, "pins don't stick when kept greased"; to which he then replied it's never been greased in the nine years he's owned it. I update my customers daily so this was standard operating practice for me and it eliminates confusion when the invoice slams down. Everything is fine after open communication so we proceed without further adieu.
Talked to my wife last evening about "Fred" and the constant need to be worked on before being able to be worked with. She is on board for his replacement without pushback. I typically do things at the shop autonomously from the family, but he's been around so long, he is part of the family. However as most any can see, he is past his prime and deserves retirement. I'll start the hunt for a truck mount boom crane in the next few days. One of my former shop managers sold "National" brand cranes before being laid off when the office in Peoria, IL closed up and I always liked their products on jobsites.
No "Fred" action to report and I know how disappointed ya'll are over this but I did get the third cylinder extracted this morning early. Took almost two hours as both pins were very tight but did shove out, and the third pin for a link arm so it could be removed for clearance took a bit of work also. All in all, really pretty smooth. Here are some photos: Couple of 1X4 boards to use as a guide for my drift after the ground control panel is removed from it's mount: Starting to move after about 20 pounds with a 12lb sledge: Notice the rust on the pin: Pin travels through three bores on each side plus the bottom cylinder mount. Voila!! She's out with the assist of the skid steer: Called hydraulic shop and they still cannot pick them up till Friday so gives me a bit of time to work on my lift.
Grease is very cheap
It certainly is and very hard to beat into owners of equipment how important it is.
Cylinders leave in the morning for rebuild. Hope to have them back early next week and can button this one up.
Third strike and this vendor for cylinder repair is out, and history for me. I drove the three cylinders over to another repair facility 34 miles distant this afternoon. Not far at all and I didn't know they existed but it is a relatively new startup. They are equipped for the task I did see. I don't have a lot of tolerance for vendors not doing what I need them to do when I need it done. Have even less tolerance for being between a pissed off customer and vendor who is sandbagging me. Been jacked around on three jobs with this outfit in the last month or so, but won't happen again. Hopefully have the cylinders back the middle of next week if nothing special required. These are all counterbalanced cylinders so those will be calibrated also.
I have a hard time with some vendors because I’m small game to them. When I find a guy who does what he says he’ll do, I stick with ‘em. I feel your pain.
Time to generate a bit more revenue with the lift. Loaded up to trim some tree canopy's and clear an area to dump clean concrete demolition into. Haven't heard back on the other lift cylinders as of yet. Hopefully no problems with them.
Cylinders returned freshly rebuilt for the second manlift a few minutes ago. $1600.00 for the rebuild of all three. Owner shuttled them back to me. Said he was surprised at the amount as was I in reality. $300.00 is their base labor charge for rebuild plus the packing kits. They didn't charge for pressing the pin remnant which I'm told took a bit more than 45 ton to remove on their shop press. I only had 30 ton available so I feel vindicated which is good after the ass beating I took over it. Hopefully everything slips together tomorrow morning without drama.
After messing around with 5 stuck pins including a 5" excavator boom house pin, porta powers, and a portable cat hydraulic press. I have come to the realization that heat is the best way to go, used in combination with an air hammer or a hydraulic press. The problem always happens when you can't drive it out, do to access issues. But i have heated a boss assembly got the pin to move and watched it reseize when the heat was removed. Also don't ever reassemble a dry pin and bushing. Use grease. If you can bring that boom by my house I need to clean my gutters!
I have a "Broco" burning bar setup and was almost tempted to use it on this but really for a 1.50" diameter pin, didn't want to get into the machine by not driving it through straight. I've went through the center of 4.00" pins or better quite easily but it's messy and hot. However, most formerly stuck pins usually tap out easily afterward.
Wife is all over replacing "Fred" with something more modern and easier to use. Third time she's asked if I've located anything yet since my original postings. Probably better capitalize upon that while she's in the mood.
Two lifting cylinders installed a lot easier than they extracted. I did use a bore flap wheel, (60 grit) on the pin bores to polish off the rust and a wire wheel on the bench grinder for the pins. Pins almost pushed in by hand only but very snug. Will get to building up the telescoping boom tomorrow as in the direct sunlight and hot. So far going very easily. Newly selected cylinder rebuilder did a very good job it appears.
Received photos a bit ago of my lift with the guy trimming trees at quite a distance up. Says it works very well and without any issue. I gave some pretty detailed training and he's a smart guy so really don't expect anything to turn up.
Little progress on this lift. Hasn't settled any that I can tell in the several hours left alone. Whodathunk the use of a welding clamp and precision 1X4 board for pin alignment? Pin pushed right through with very little effort: I'll build up the telescoping boom in the morning and remount the basket. If everything goes correct, this will leave tomorrow evening:
My lift at work: Far cry from this where it had been setting a few years derelict when the prior owner's grandson started playing with the wiring and achieved to make nothing work other than the engine run. Birds, and/or field mice made a mess of the wiring which took quite a spell to sort out. I pay homage to "Off" for the assistance with this as I've never worked on one prior:
Built up the telescoping boom this afternoon after replacing a frantic daughter's home air conditioner condensing unit contactor that was incinerated. Just happened to have one from many years ago when I carried spares with me. No involved photos but reinstalled the cylinder internal to the boom, then all eight wear pads for the sliding boom, and pushed it all together closed. Pin bore in the cylinder base is just a bit tighter than I'd like for the new pin so going to open it up a bit with a flap wheel tomorrow after I find my drill extension. After I get that pin installed, then I'll remount the basket and run full testing. Hopefully call it done tomorrow, and color it gone.
Didn't take my phone with me this morning but reattached the basket and a couple of hydraulic lines and ran the lift through it's paces. All was going well and I was exercising the basket level function and when driving it back level from a nose down attitude, a hose blew, (suspected) internal to the boom. I think I can extract the cylinder by laying/rotating the basket back on it's mounting pin and extract the basket level cylinder to get at the "whip" hoses which are at it's rear. Hoses are routed through bulkhead fittings in the sides of the telescoping fly boom. Hoses are a mess on the machine as can be seen in several prior photos but he won't allow it to be rehosed? Much of this goes on and he may change his mindset. I'll post more photos shortly as going back out to the shop to ascertain failure. Needs a cup of coffee as morning comes at 4:30am for me everyday it seems.....
Yep, hose blown at a connection. Not really hard to tell they need replaced. Camera didn't focus well on this one but you can see oil streaming as the side is pressurized: Little more oil slick in the drive. Ain't no Exxon Valdez but still: Crusty hoses. One on the top is the leaker, but I think I'll replace both: I think I have these 90 degree fittings but it's getting hot out so will wait till later in the day to make up new hoses. For now my safety strap will have to do for support: Lift is now movable under it's own power with those lines plugged. I'll probably clean up a bit and run it inside to avoid the direct sunlight.
Inside the telescoping boom tube. You can see how the fittings penetrate the boom: Kinda oily inside here: This is taken about twenty minutes after the hose blew out and I rode the basket down floor level. This level cylinder does not have a counterbalance valve built into it but rather a piloted double check valve so once the pressure bled off through the compromised hose: Blurry photo of the cylinder with the hoses attached just after sliding it out of the telescoping boom:
The oil will help your road out
Dust control at it's finest.
Built up new hoses as had the fittings and reinstalled the cylinder. All functions now work apparently leak free. Snap gauge and micrometer reveal cylinder base bore and second hole for retention pin pass through are .010 smaller than the entrance hole for the pin. The area I had to cut through for the cylinder removal is right where this transition took place. Being old I didn't see the .010 difference in bore diameters. I dropped the new pin at the machinist's house and he'll get it addressed tomorrow morning. Rode it up a ways to exercise the circuit without problems. Done for now
Usual suspects around here:
Reclaiming the oil from my man left when it blew the hose. So far I've recaptured almost 8 gallons. The funnel has a very fine screen in the bottom of it so it plugs easily, what is in the 5 gallon buckets will be run through my filter cart before it goes back in the machine.
The machinist friend found a stainless shaft so remade same to correct dimensions and it slipped right into the bores with light tapping from a 1.5# hammer. To the end I welded the original retainer strap and reused the original countersink retention fastener. Sprayed the area with "Rust Oleum" brand meadow green paint and covered it back up. Lift is now done and owner in in route to pick it up.
Two shades of green. Done, and Gone! Probably shouldn't discount the third shade of green either; cash.
Finally found an air compressor gasket kit for old Fred's Midland El-740 compressor and ordered the same today. The set has been on national back order for many suppliers for well over a month. Haven't been able to put the air compressor back together, or have service brakes after getting it freed up.
Popped another hose on my lift yesterday and promptly evacuated about 20 gallons onto the ground. Was up in the basket at the very peak of my shop roof when wanting to extend the basket out just a bit for access. Hearing a slight "pop" down low and within the engine enclosure I knew what happened. As I rotated the boom away from the building so I could lower to the ground I started seeing a deluge of hydraulic oil dumping out. Getting to the ground I shut the engine down and sure enough the hose feeding the solenoid valve bank, (JLG calls these "Bang Bang" valves) has blown a healthy hole through itself. This is just a 1/2" hose and I have some of that and fittings in the shop, but I'm tiring of replacing hose and fluid so ordered a 328' roll of 3/8" R-16 hose and will take an inventory of the machine to ensure I have enough of the type(s) fittings needed. Most of the hose on the machine is 3/8" and I believe original so going to replace all of it with this go round. Most of the 1/2", 5/8", 3/4", and the 1" I have on hand in enough quantity to do this job, but the 3/8" feeds the telescoping boom and basket hydraulics so quite lengthy.
Where did you find your gasket kit and what is your filter cart setup?
Finally got around to replacing the blown hose today. I had the hose, and correct fittings so really wasn't too dramatic. Now snaking that stiff sumbitch over and around along with through it's original routing took some time with not much to show for it. When I rehose the machine complete, I'll probably incorporate a 45* fitting where the original is straight to lessen the radius this hose goes through. Both ends are swivel but 1/2" hose is still stiff to bend and contort when it's cold. I started the machine and cycled the functions that ceased operation when the hose burst. All back to normal now but down about 15 gallons or so in the reservoir. Have replenishment fluid available so may top it back up tomorrow. Called for a 200gl red, off road fuel drop for the first of the week, so need to get a move on with finishing this tank.
The gasket set came from www.finditparts.com as they were OEM Midland parts, and the filter cart I have is a "Schroeder Brothers" in it's beginning(s). I've modified this a bit to filter other fluids with a filter change.
I got the kit from them and got air blowing out of my el740 haldex now, thanks! Mine isn't plumbed into the intake air filter system but has a small cavity for a "screen" filter. Do you happen to know what sort of filter is supposed to go in there? steel wool, brillo pad, scotchbrite sponge, oiled foam etc?