Bucket truck pros and cons

[ropensaddle]

are you talking about a boom safety inspection or a dmv inspection or both?

Just got back in used mine today about twenty trims raised
limbs for customer he wanted them a little higher than I usually
like to raise them but wants his grass to grow! Anyway they
looked nice had neighbors wanting me over to there place so
here we go again lol.

 

[juststumps]

Fix the outrigger would be my suggestion I work off the side all the time
or at least when the rear is hard to achieve.

don't have an out rigger problem...... only 2 out riggers on my truck... work off the side all the time,,, lower boom goes over center...happens sometimes when the chip box is empty,,, the out rigger opposite the side im working off will sart to float a few inches while moving the boom all the way out.. would never work off the side of the truck with the boom flipped...

 

[ropensaddle]

don't have an out rigger problem...... only 2 out riggers on my truck... work off the side all the time,,, lower boom goes over center...happens sometimes when the chip box is empty,,, the out rigger opposite the side im working off will sart to float a few inches while moving the boom all the way out.. would never work off the side of the truck with the boom flipped...

Only two on my truck as well and yes they sometimes float
a little I usually stiff the working side a little extra but have
never seen an upset by what you are describing. I don't
like the float either though!

 

[JimL]

don't have an out rigger problem...... only 2 out riggers on my truck... work off the side all the time,,, lower boom goes over center...happens sometimes when the chip box is empty,,, the out rigger opposite the side im working off will sart to float a few inches while moving the boom all the way out.. would never work off the side of the truck with the boom flipped...

I work over the side with the boom flipped everyday just about. Gain a couple feet of side reach down low that way, up high you loose it being flipped over. I work at full extention over the side of the truck all the time. sometimes it gets a little bouncy but not too bad, had it worse working over the front or back. only 2 jacks on our trucks.

 

[juststumps]

Only two on my truck as well and yes they sometimes float
a little I usually stiff the working side a little extra but have
never seen an upset by what you are describing. I don't
like the float either though!

usally only happens when the chip box is empty.. come back down and do the same thing,,, jack the one side of the truck up higher...

never seen one upend,, rather not be the one to try it.

used to do a lot of high voltage work... all those trucks had 4 riggers,, and had to be set level...bigest was a ALTEC HL125

float makes me edgy,, sinking is worse,, was going up in a basket on the end of a 130 foot boom truck,,, up,up, all of the sudden down down... look down to the operator,, whats going on??? he points to the front rigger.. sunk 2 foot down with pads under it... ok,, lets get down (quick)

 

[ropensaddle]

usally only happens when the chip box is empty.. come back down and do the same thing,,, jack the one side of the truck up higher...

never seen one upend,, rather not be the one to try it.

used to do a lot of high voltage work... all those trucks had 4 riggers,, and had to be set level...bigest was a ALTEC HL125

float makes me edgy,, sinking is worse,, was going up in a basket on the end of a 130 foot boom truck,,, up,up, all of the sudden down down... look down to the operator,, whats going on??? he points to the front rigger.. sunk 2 foot down with pads under it... ok,, lets get down (quick)

Yeah getting down would be my response as well however I
left my crew one day and these guys were not green they had
been in the biz a while!
Came back from getting work orders to see them full to the side
with no outriggers down they had been working it that way for
the setup. I get out and see the truck looked funny and then I
seen why and hollered and was scared and mad. These or most
buckets are designed to hold the forces of boom support by truck
weight but if a spring had broke it would have been bad I wrote the
incident up and they had been taught the right way to set up each
thought the other set the riggers I asked them why the did not notice
the shake and they said I don't know! I did not let them trim while I was away for a great while they were three year men then.

 

[juststumps]

Yeah getting down would be my response as well however I
left my crew one day and these guys were not green they had
been in the biz a while!
Came back from getting work orders to see them full to the side
with no outriggers down they had been working it that way for
the setup. I get out and see the truck looked funny and then I
seen why and hollered and was scared and mad. These or most
buckets are designed to hold the forces of boom support by truck
weight but if a spring had broke it would have been bad I wrote the
incident up and they had been taught the right way to set up each
thought the other set the riggers I asked them why the did not notice
the shake and they said I don't know! I did not let them trim while I was away for a great while they were three year men then.

MY RULE NO1: i fly the thing,, i set the truck up...get some helpful helpers,,that don't have a clue....they like pulling levers,, they think they are helping,,i'm like " don't touch my truck"

 

[ropensaddle]

MY RULE NO1: i fly the thing,, i set the truck up...get some helpful helpers,,that don't have a clue....they like pulling levers,, they think they are helping,,i'm like " don't touch my truck"

No one touches mine either but I was a foreman on clearance crew
when this happened and they wanted me to teach not trim they
want you to give them your replacements. I have since got out of
that and work for myself and work my own truck. These guys knew
what to do and were good trimmers they just had a dumb blond
moment as we all have had!

 

[NORTREE]

nortree do you have any ideas on compensating noise
I may have to take it off and lube the rollers with a needle
greaser or something but would like them quiet!

From one of my Hi-Ranger manuals "If the chain becomes dry internally,as evidenced by noisy operation when lower boom is moved,apply penetrating oil,such as Whitmore's open chain lubricant at the ends of the rollers"

 

[juststumps]

nortree do you have any ideas on compensating noise
I may have to take it off and lube the rollers with a needle
greaser or something but would like them quiet!

rope, missed this first time thru...maybe will help...

started 2 1/2 yrs ago this gig....tell the boss " hey this aint right,,, bucket jerks" the JERK i work with is of the mind set,,, so it jerks,, its always jerked !!!

boss calls HI-RANGER,,, guy tells him it need to be lubed,, (no grease fitting where the bucket pivot meets the upper boom) spray WD 40 on the shaft...so we spray,, like thats going to help , the guy i work with is from south texas real south about 2000 miles south hard worker but an idiot !!!

annual boom inspection,,10 issues...2 of the 10,, inspector says "bucket jerks, and there is chain slapping in the lower boom.. i won't red tag it,, but it needs to be fixed...

boss calls some more,,,gets a guy that say the chains are out of adjustment,,and the bucket jerking is called (ratcheting) caused by the chains being out... we now have an offical name for it

guy says he has to pull everything out of the boom,,, measure every thing for spec.including measuring every link on the chains.. if it all in spec,, re
assemble,, and adjust.. $1800.....if the chain is worn,, add price of chain...

or just rip the guts out and put in new chain and adjust for $2500

boss is going for the $2500 our truck is an 2000,, guy said on a hi-ranger it should be done every 5 years,, we're going on 8

 

[undercut]

interesting

yeah so knowing the cost to keep equipment up is not a bad idea. what do you guys think it cost a year to keep a high ranger running safely on average?

 

[juststumps]

yeah so knowing the cost to keep equipment up is not a bad idea. what do you guys think it cost a year to keep a high ranger running safely on average?

i don't deal with the money end of the biz,, but if the thing is making money for you ,, you have to set some aside...

the two things that the inspector cited,,, chain slap and bucket jerking =$2500... over 8 years that aint bad

the other 2 things that failed,, were nicks and dings on the fiberglass on the boom and the bucket.... guy doing the chain said "i can do it for a lot more money,, or just go to a marine supply house,, get some gel coat and do the glass work your self"

the reast of the stuff was,,
loose bolt (tighten bolt)
faded decals (buy decal set)
no grease on the out riggers ( throw some grease on them)
no capacity lable on the bucket ( buy label)
cut side wall on a tire ( nothing wrong with tire )
missing bolt on the frame (replace bolt)

all piss ant stuff....

i don't know what the inspection cost,, but it was 2 guys all day....

they went over the whole truck top to bottom... dielectric test,, leakage test on all the cylinders,, etc... probably isn't cheap... yearly thing

but in the long run,, throwing a few grand into maintaining your rig, every year,, probably is a good idea...

 

[undercut]

6tdi-pbi

i found out that it was built in 1976. I have a few questions

Which way should the round valve thing that makes the bucket rigid be in operation and in stow away (it is to the right next to the bucket control on the upper boom if i am remembering correctly.

is it ok if there is a little fluid leaking from that area? is it normal or should it be fixed immeadiatly?

should i have to idle the truck up to run the boom or can i just leave it at an idle?

I was testing it today and it didn't really come alive until i idled it up a little, when it was dropped off we were operating it at an idle fine.

Is checking the cables and easy proceedure like taking all the plates off and inspecting with a flash light?

Is there anyone that is close in ct or mass that will come inspect it? dueco will inspect it, i guess they are in boston but they want me to take the truck there and then there is cues in new hampshire. I figure they will charge more for the drive but it might be worth it. I would like more local if possible.

thanks for any info

 

[undercut]

missed cues other location

i just noticed the north frankling location on cues website. i think i will try that. i wouldn't mind taking the truck over there since it is only 45 mins or so away. fewwwwwwww

 

[undercut]

got plates

Truck is on the road, registered and inspected under cdl If you see me taking a corner stay behind the white line.... I was so nervous at the dmv as far as inspection. It was tricky getting the temp plates. They wanted tax numbers and little misc crap that sent me going back and fourth. I was ready to have a blinker fail or weighted out on the scale. the funny thing is i talked to the inspector so long about tree work that fifteen minutes later i think he felt bad that we held up the line. He gave me the slip and said i was all set. I was like so what do i do? pull in the garage? he said no, your all set go register it. keeping a straight face (jumping up and down in my head) good thing the truck looking clean. next I went to pay for the plates and i filled out my check in correctly. I thought it was all over since i brought one check (dooohhht!) So anyway, i said what can we do white it out, cross it out and i can initial it. They insisted that i need a new check. I said i wish you guys took credit cards. Then to my surprise she said "today is our first day accepting credit cards". At this point my mind was blown. Walk through inspection. f-up my only check, then put it on a credit card. I should have bought a lotto ticket.

 

[hornett22]

man you did get lucky.

i hope you went to Mohegan afterward.

 

[undercut]

main mast bearing

what is involved in replacing the main mast bearing on a high ranger 6 tdi boom?

 

[NORTREE]

Are you reffering to the bearings in the turntable for rotation? I thought mine were bad several years back and had a tech guy from CUES take a look at it. He pulled the cover from the turrett and had me lift the boom out of the cradle and rock it bak and forth and had a smirk on his face and told me to watch the gearbox as he did it...the gearbox was LOOSE! He said that was common on Hi-Rangers and he cut the "safety wires", tightened the bolts, re "safety wired" it and it was fine. If you actually need to replace the bearings then I would think that would be a big job as you would need to be able to raies the boom assembly off the turrett. I believe the manual does tell how to do it.

 

[hornett224]

i belive it's a bunch of steel dowels.

cut to length and laying in a round tray.that is how the one i looked at was,i don't remeber if it was a high ranger.i'd check the gear box first as well.

 

[undercut]

interesting

thanks for the info guys...
do you think it is possible to get the manual?
sounds like your man knows what he is doing nortree.. you think there is a way you can get the guys name and number for me? i would be interested in his opinion.