Finally learned how to post pics.

[Knepptune]

Our old tms200a. My uncle bought the crane from us and they do a little bit of crane work in Louisville. Anyhow they were doing a job we couldn't get to and needed an operator for the last day. I haven't seen this crane for a year or so but they put a nice paint job on it and it ran and drove same as it always did.

 

[crane operator]

Days are getting shorter aren't they? I don't have much for work lights on a couple cranes- that way when it gets dark I can go home.

Glad to see someone else get to run a detroit. I SAID GLAD TO SEE SOMEONE ELSE GET TO RUN A DETROIT.

Good to see you're busy too.

 

[BobCatBob]

Days are getting shorter aren't they? I don't have much for work lights on a couple cranes- that way when it gets dark I can go home.

Glad to see someone else get to run a detroit. I SAID GLAD TO SEE SOMEONE ELSE GET TO RUN A DETROIT.

Good to see you're busy too.

Now that's funny! After rebuilding a 453n.....twice.....In the Galion, I wear hearing protection.

 

[Knepptune]

Your a funny guy crane op. That cranes actually has the sweetest running v8 kitty cat. Yep it's got a 3208t. Different uncle has the one with the Detroit.

The first pick was in the morning. Kinda takes some adjusting to the fact that daylight doesn't show up at 6:30 like a few weeks ago.

 

[Knepptune]

Been busy as can be. Not in a crane much lately but been super busy fixing stuff. Left for Lexington Ky this morning. Got just south of Cincinnati I lost all power. Felt like it kicked into neutral. Cooler line on the bottom of the transmission decided it would be fun to dump all my transmission fluid out onto I-75 at 6am.
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The clip that's supposed to hold this line in was gone.

Pics aren't great but you can get the idea.

On a side note I really really liked this light untill it turned off no reason. And quit working for good. Considered throwing under the next semi that drove by but made the mature decision. Not proud of what the fix looked like but it's been leak free all day. Got it knepptune-rigged and walked to the nearest gas station for some transmission fluid. (No I don't keep dexron3 in the truck.) Haven't really needed it before. :beatsme

 

[Knepptune]

That last pic is upside down. The bottom of that light is magnetic. Works great.....when it's working.

On to the job
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Pretty simple. Bad starter. After 30 minutes on the phone no one in Lexington has this starter in stock. Two places can have it tomorrow. Tomorrow may as well be next week. Both places have the courtesy to tell me they don't know why that starters not in. They both usually have one in stock. Not today though. Had to drive back to Cincinnati for the stupid starter. A lot of headache for a starter. Told the customer to have the old starter rebuilt and keep it for a spare. Hopefully they do that.

 

[crane operator]

How convenient. Broke down on the side of the road, in a mechanic truck, with all your tools, headed to work on something else.

I'm usually in the crane with my leatherman, 5wr vice grips, crescent wrench, 3lb hammer, and a piece of wire. Not a huge tool selection, but probably all I'm qualified for.

Seriously though- that stinks, I bet rush hour traffic was just starting to crank up, and nobody gives anyone a ride anymore. And at 6am, not much is open yet (autozone, napa, etc).

And nobody stocks any parts anymore either. Sure they can have it tomorrow, but I'm broke TODAY. I don't schedule breakdowns a day in advance.

 

[Knepptune]

Dont think I've operated a crane all week. This dang suspension on our 110t is really starting to p me off. Proximity switches are all working now. Comes up level but the front passenger corner comes up last and it takes way more pressure to get that front corner up then the others. Makes you really appreciate a truck cranes. Nothing complex about those suspensions.


Got this beaut to the shop. Dad just couldn't turn down the deal. It's a rt65s. Was told it has a Detroit. I was all excited to hear some sweet 2-stroke music....but hold on, someone did a really nice conversion and stuffed an old 8.2 Detroit in it. Seems like a good running engine. It has a few little issues, mainly the leak coming out of the torque converter. We'll have the old girl out on a rental job here shortly. Seems like there's a fair demand for bare rentals on Rt's.


Guy brought these boom truck outriggers to be resealed. The pins on the bottom of these outriggers seem like they're always froze up. After working on it for awhile the new kid said he had to leave early all of the sudden. Don't know how much the 20lb sledge had to do with that.

 

[GrainBinMan]

After working on it for awhile the new kid said he had to leave early all of the sudden. Don't know how much the 20lb sledge had to do with that.

And you left him go? Hmm.... sounds like another boss I know quite personally. You should have been working an hour away from the shop with only one vehicle, and see what happens.

 

[Knepptune]

Ah at that point I wasn't sure if he was swinging the hammer or if the hammer was swinging him.

Got to run another different crane the other day.
National 1295

Really a pretty nice rig. I really liked the 450hp engine in it. Pulling a generator out of the basement of the fire station. Pretty technical but not to bad.

And seeing fall is here I Figured I'd add a picture of my hunting buddy as well.

 

[Tradesman]

Ah at that point I wasn't sure if he was swinging the hammer or if the hammer was swinging him.

Got to run another different crane the other day.
National 1295
View attachment 161607
Really a pretty nice rig. I really liked the 450hp engine in it. Pulling a generator out of the basement of the fire station. Pretty technical but not to bad.
View attachment 161608
And seeing fall is here I Figured I'd add a picture of my hunting buddy as well.

Did your sledge hammer swinger come back.
I used to coon hunt with my great uncles it was a lot of fun, but I remember quite a few times sitting in the truck along side a big swamp waiting for the hounds to come back, that made for a sleepy kid at school the next day .

 

[crane operator]

Nice 1295. Old boss in Iowa had one just that color, mounted on a volvo/white chassis. Short outrigger span and 95' main, was a great truss and hvac crane. The jacks had quite a bit of stroke also if I remember correctly. New to you, or just working for someone else?

I just could never remember to pull the valve lever, between swing and outrigger controls, ended up in the cab a few times wondering why it wouldn't swing, then having to hop back out again.

 

[Knepptune]

Tradesman.
He's back. He's a good kid and a hard worker. Most kids these days didn't grow up like we did. I think that sledge just took it out of him.
As far as waiting for dogs to return. The gps tracking systems of today have eliminated that bs. Also that's one of the benefits of a walker dog. Right or wrong they will get treed pretty quickly.

Crane op
We really need another crane. We're trying to make it through the winter and buy something early spring. We trade a lot of work with the guy that owns that boom truck so we called him to see if he could do a few jobs for us. His only other operator was out with injury so we worked out a deal to rent his extra crane. We pay him an hourly rate based on the engine hours we put on his crane.

I really liked that crane. It's mounted on a gmc chassis. 18' o/r span. It does have a lot of jack stroke. It doesnt have a front bumper o/r jack which would be nice. The truck frame could stand to be a fair bit stiffer. When the front wheels come off the ground that frame flexes a bit more then I'd like to see. Like I said tho. I really enjoyed the 450hp cat under the hood.

 

[Knepptune]

For some reason I've been having trouble loading pictures. Anyway, just some shop projects. Which I really do more repair work then crane operating anyway. Rt65s had a leaking seal in the torque converter.



Rebuilding a swivel on a customers rt635c. Think crane op said he may have one to do on his rt700. Enjoy it man.

We pulled the whole assembly. Bottom seal lost a piece.

Hose clamps with a business card inserted to shrink the seal back down to size so that you can get the barrel back over the tower. Yes there's probably a better way. But this has always worked for me.

Sliding the tower back into the barrel.

 

[Knepptune]

Finally sent this loader home.

Got it back to the owner and he decided he wanted one more cylinder resealed.

 

[BobCatBob]

Finally sent this loader home.
View attachment 162004
Got it back to the owner and he decided he wanted one more cylinder resealed.
View attachment 162005

Absolutely awesome! To bad we don't live near each other, I truly enjoy working on equipment.

 

[crane operator]

I've actually been putting off my swivel. I can't decide if I want to try to leave it in the crane, and leave it wired, slipping the new rings over the wiring, or just pull it all out, and re wire it. It mostly just drips a little fluid when its cold. It leaves a puddle about the size of the bottom of a 5 gal bucket when it sets overnight. Once its warm (hyd oil) it stops.

Every time I've tried to leave a swivel in the crane when resealing, it ends up leaking.

I have 3 quick connects on the frame for the wiring though, and it looks like I could drop the inner hyd portion, leaving the outer can on the crane. Then thread the old seals off, and pass the new seals over the wiring, doing it all under the crane, then jacking the inner back up into the outer.

I also have the female of the quick connects upstairs, I've thought about undoing both, then just fighting past the wires out on the shop floor rather than in the crane. I don't have air or water in my swivel, so it's not too many ports. I think 12-14 or so.

I know I'm not starting replacing it tomorrow, because the crane is going out to set trusses. Then its got a tree job next tuesday. I'm not sure I want to tear it apart on friday, hoping I get it back together and working right by tuesday morning. I'll probably just wait till after the tree job. And then there's a cell tower the thursday after. I don't imagine its going to heal itself.

It would be even nicer if I had some tools left to fix it with.:Banghead

 

[Knepptune]

I think the Rt700 and rt635 are very similar.

I think the barrel had to come off the bottom of the tower. We just disconnected the cannon connectors from the frame and left the wiring intact. I was trying to avoid taking all those connectors off the top of the electrical swivel and sliding those wires down the center of the swivel.

This is what I was happy about avoiding on this repair. This part is my least favorite part of a swivel repair. On the older groves I've always left the tower on the crane. On those removing the tower is a major pia.

 

[crane operator]

Boy, I recognize that mess of wires, I've done that twice on a older grove.

So you unplug the 3-4 connectors on the top, and the bottom. Pull all the hoses top and bottom. Pull the whole works out. Then separate on the ground.

I didn't see the wire looms in your pictures on the top. The ones from the elec swivel to the upper frame.

I helped do a tms 870 in the frame, it had been done once before, the water is what always leaked on it.

I find the older groves with air throttle in the upper, the air chambers go.

Mine is leaking from the very bottom seal, oil coming out between the barrel and the bar that holds it from rotating on the frame. I haven't had any crossover.

How long for in and out?
.

 

[Knepptune]

That's what we did. With the barrel coming off the bottom of the tower we didn't have to do much with the wiring. This one wasn't crossing over at all either. Just pouring oil out of the bottom of the swivel. It started out as a drip and I told the owner I'd try to get the job he was on finished before we did the swivel. I really didn't want to do this one on a muddy apartment project.

I've had one guy working on it alone. I think he's spent about four days on it. I know he had to use a cheater pipe on most of the hoses. I really think if you had two guys on it you could do it in two days. The guy that's on it is very steady and typically doesn't have many redo's. He's just not the fastest. It's definitely a bigger job then resealing one on an older grove.