We had a record amount of snow here, 28' total at the ski area above my place! Down in the valley, it collapsed an office roof and the demo/remodel guys called me in to hoist a CAT 305 mini excavator up and over. I was first told it was a 5 ton pick, but to my surprise (sarcasm) it was 13 K on my hook. I managed to put it within 3' of where I told them I would put it, back when it weighed 5 tons, so they were happy. Don't ask how they are going to use it, not my problem, but i think to rip off the 4" thick multiple layers of hot tar roofing. I'll go back in a few days to lift it out again, these kind of jobs beat the heck out of residential truss setting. I'd rather pick one big load once then 50 small ones.
I had a problem with my LMI (Hirschmann) last Friday, it would boot up normal when I turned the key in the op cab, which I often do just to listen to the radio, during down times, but when I started the engine and it re-booted, it would show an error. This had occurred before but it went from rare to more often, to almost all the time by late Friday. Thanks to modern communications, while setting trusses (72' long ones) I was able to contact my problem solver guy in Boise and he got back to me with "it's a low voltage problem." Long story short: the Mack's dual batteries had weakened enough over time to still crank it instantly (the heated building helps) but the voltage was dropping below the LMI's preferred threshold, causing it to not boot up correctly.
Still on the job I contacted my local battery wholesaler, who had 2 in stock, and as luck would have it, his shop was
right on my way back to the yard after my truss job wrapped. I didn't even bother to load test the old batteries, they came with the rig, and LOOKED old, kinda swelled up on the sides, not a good sign. The at rest voltage was high, but put a cranking load on them and the volts plummeted. The LMI worked perfect today, for this mini X pick, the problem was for sure the tired batteries. So instead of maybe days of being broke down searching for the problem, and maybe thousands of dollars, I was fully back in business for $290.00. I sent my mechanic on the other side of the state a 50 dollar bill today, and he didn't even have to get his hands dirty! Not his bill, my idea.
I had a problem with my LMI (Hirschmann) last Friday, it would boot up normal when I turned the key in the op cab, which I often do just to listen to the radio, during down times, but when I started the engine and it re-booted, it would show an error. This had occurred before but it went from rare to more often, to almost all the time by late Friday. Thanks to modern communications, while setting trusses (72' long ones) I was able to contact my problem solver guy in Boise and he got back to me with "it's a low voltage problem." Long story short: the Mack's dual batteries had weakened enough over time to still crank it instantly (the heated building helps) but the voltage was dropping below the LMI's preferred threshold, causing it to not boot up correctly.
Still on the job I contacted my local battery wholesaler, who had 2 in stock, and as luck would have it, his shop was
right on my way back to the yard after my truss job wrapped. I didn't even bother to load test the old batteries, they came with the rig, and LOOKED old, kinda swelled up on the sides, not a good sign. The at rest voltage was high, but put a cranking load on them and the volts plummeted. The LMI worked perfect today, for this mini X pick, the problem was for sure the tired batteries. So instead of maybe days of being broke down searching for the problem, and maybe thousands of dollars, I was fully back in business for $290.00. I sent my mechanic on the other side of the state a 50 dollar bill today, and he didn't even have to get his hands dirty! Not his bill, my idea.
