Graddall 540-9 Late 90 boom shakes on retract when extended within the top 1/3

[Framer]

Looking at purchasing a late 90's graddall 9000 lb, 40 feet top reach with 4500hrs. I like the machine and the price is excelent. The only problem is that the boom shakes while retracting the top 3rd whether its raised or lowered. Wondering how serious this problem is. Talked with the owner of the Crane company I often use and he said it could be the grease on the boom (not enough), low on hydraulic fluid, or one of the two cables that pushes out the second boom could be out of adjustment, or the boom could be bent. If the boom is bent should i stay away completely, and what kind of services does a company that x-rays and inspects the boom do. The machines like $23000 canadian which is about the lowest anything goes for in alberta. Any help would be appreciated.

[ATCOEQUIP]

If the boom was bent enough to be a problem, it would be noticeable. Now, with the boom fully extended and near horizontal, it's going to have some sag to it. But it shouldn't look like a fishin' rod with a large mouth bass on the end of it. As for the chatter, the first thing you want to check is the adjustment of the extend/retract chains or cables, whichever the machine uses.

[Speedpup]

If the boom was over loaded the sides start to radius outward / bow. This happens at the point where the most load is where it goes into the bigger boom section. There are specs for it on the JLG web site. Don't think you need to x-ray it. Experieced visual inpection should catch any problems. Check for cracks also and clean the grease off.

It is easy to check hydraulic level, grease it, or check chains. I did look at a Lull and the boom was doing something similar. After some close inspection I did see that the sides were bowed out from overload. Boom sections if available new are 6000+ and 3000 + - for used. Then you could have 3-4 man days in labor I would guess.

If you can't find the specs I'll take a look again. I know sometimes it is a PITA to find stuff.

Check on machinerytrader.com to see prices. No clue what it adds to get one from USA to Alberta?


Gradalls are now JLG as the name Gradall was dropped this year.

http://www.jlg.com/en-US/ProductLine.html?BaseProductLineNodeId=d91e781d-85a0-4eb8-a6a3-410d78ad8fa1&ProductLineNodeId=80b5517a-0af7-479b-a3f3-9618d495523d&GroupProductLineNodeId=80b5517a-0af7-479b-a3f3-9618d495523d&ProductRootMenuId=d39badf6-70c2-4fa3-a03c-268cb1f085d7


bottom right orange button takes you to service and operator manuals. I looked for 20 minutes but didn't find it. It is there and shows maximum tolerances of boom distortion.

My opinion boom bent no deal at 23,000 you could spend some big change and then still wait for it to get fixed. 23000 in todays market should get you a good machine ready to work. Don't get sucked in by a paint job.


member 544D10 here runs them try to PM him if he don't chime in soon.

[skyrptz]

check your boom rollers and your inner boom for irregularaties if your boom rollers are out of adjustment then when you retract your boom you will have all kinds of shuddering
(21yrs exp gradall mechanic)

[Speedpup]

check your boom rollers and your inner boom for irregularaties if your boom rollers are out of adjustment then when you retract your boom you will have all kinds of shuddering
(21yrs exp gradall mechanic)

Gradalls have rollers? I thought they were pads only? I don't really know, Thanks!

[Framer]

How much would it cost if there was a problem to fix. Is it worth it?

[skyrptz]

my sincerst appologies i was referring to the excavator style take care all