Boom failure,Lima Ohio

Rugged made
Wesspur
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Glad you did

The truck has a different set of booms on it,and Ernie is back to work,but still hasn't got all his strength back yet .The owner of the truck,is on this site,but has been working long hours,due to the recent ice storm.Maybe he will step up to the the plate.Come on Tom,don't be shy.
 
check the hydraulic oil daily

A friend of mine at a large national company went to pick up his aerial lift at the garage after a new piston was installed on the upper boom.he decided to test it out on the spot.one leg in the bucket,one on the outside step ,he brought it full stick.as soon as it passed center it collapsed from 65 feet.both legs crushed,pelvis and testicles blown apart,spine broke in i think 3 spots.
The mechanic had forgotten to refill the hydraulic oil after replacing the piston.
check under the truck every day for leaks and even if there arent any check the tank!!
 
greg carr said:
A friend of mine at a large national company went to pick up his aerial lift at the garage after a new piston was installed on the upper boom.he decided to test it out on the spot.one leg in the bucket,one on the outside step ,he brought it full stick.as soon as it passed center it collapsed from 65 feet.both legs crushed,pelvis and testicles blown apart,spine broke in i think 3 spots.
The mechanic had forgotten to refill the hydraulic oil after replacing the piston.
check under the truck every day for leaks and even if there arent any check the tank!!
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Sorry to hear about your friend but it sounds like something else failed on that unit, modern buckets (after 1970 I think) are designed with check valves to prevent a piston collapse in the event of hydraulic failure. If the piston loses pressure it locks into place. Good idea to check the oil level, but it sounds like that unit had more than a hydraulic failure.
 
Load check valves will be closed, but if the cylinder (or hydraulic motor) has filled on one side with air which is compressible it will not prevent movement as it would if full of oil. The Denis Treelength Delimber had a trombone that was powered via cables and a Hydraulic motor. The shaft seal could allow air in under vacumn and the motor would suddenly free wheel in vacumn. The first time it happened to us, the head went through the garage door over night and sabotage was suspected. The second time was witnessed and a narrow miss of a mechanic.No one near the controls. The safety locks were used after that and a strict bleeding procedure whenever any repairs or hose changes done. Motors were modified by changing end plate and seal arrangement.
 
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;) Thanks Netree, I haven't heard that in a while! Dont put too much faith in the check valves. Pistons can come off the shaft inside the cylinder too. I am not familiar with that particular boom but some of them have a maze of cable, pulleys and roller chain out of sight out of mind. There is a darned good reason for periodic maintenance by someone who has the factory procedure available to him and is following it to the letter.
 
thought I'd revive this thread for those of us,me included,with old Hi-rangers,I have the same machine as this myself
 
Al Smith said:
Today,at aprox. 2:30 pm,an arborist was injured,after the failure of the lower boom section of a 65 ft High Ranger.Ernie Smith[no relation],was swinging the boom,in an over center condition,when the failure occured.He is now in the hospitol,with a broken arm,and collarbone.The boom collapsed through the top of a 35 ft soft maple,which probabley saved him from worse injuries.I got the call,about 3:00 pm,and,with the help of another tree service and a Pettybone lift,got the boom,out of the tree.Ironically,this truck has had annual boom inspection,since owned by the present owner,and was slated for one,the end of this month.Another scarey thing,I used this truck,less than a month ago,to take down the big red oak,I made a post on.I wiil send three pictures.
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Scary
 
ALC is all i have to say. no seriously, we looked at other booms trucks and the fiberglassed ALC booms are what we want. great machines too and verry responsive controls.

glad he was alright. coulda been alot worse for sure. i wonder how hes gonna be lifting big saws after the broken collar bone :/
 

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