Rayco Wylie LMI on HTC-8665

[dwightr]

Has anyone out there had any experience with the Rayco Wylie system retrofit on a Link Belt HTC-8665?
I've got problems with the Electronic Telescope Control System box on my 8665 and the Link Belt tech says they are no longer supported.
The original Microguard 414 on the crane uses two boom length reels and controls the boom extension modes.
It seems the only option to really fix it is to go with the Rayco Wylie system from CWSA.
It seems like a nice system but its terribly expensive.
Right now i have a jumper harness made up that allows me to bypass the ETCS box and telescope the boom in and out.

 

[crane operator]

I would contact a couple places before I went full replacement. They may have other options for you.

Basil equipment has been very helpful to me in the past.

https://basilequipment.com/greer-company/

And also these guys:

https://bodetechnicalservices.com/

 

[CraneMechanic73]

You might also try “cranewarning.com”. They are always very helpful in this type of situation. Just out of curiosity, how expensive is the Rayco Wylie system??

 

[dwightr]

$24,815.26 installed

 

[Tugger2]

Try these guys . Cranesmart Systems Edmonton 780 437 2986 Maybe they can help you.

 

[dwightr]

After a couple of attempts to repair the original Electronic Telescope Box I finally broke down and bought the Rayco Wylie system.
Thought I would take a couple of minutes to talk about the good and not so good points.
Good Points
The new system is much more user friendly and the screen is bright and easy to read even in full sunlight. All the information needed to work safely is right on the screen.
Not so good points
The system is slow to boot up and do its self checks. We leave the crane idling a lot more now than we did before, burning fuel and putting hours on the machine.
It didn't come with a dedicated rigging mode switch, the button on the display only puts it in rigging mode for a few seconds and then it goes back into an alarm.
We plan to add a dedicated switch when we get time to get the machine in the shop.
The basic system comes with good documentation but all of the ten or twelve relays and such that are necessary to replace the ETC box are completely undocumented. The technician that put the system on said every machine is a little different and he has all of that in his head. I don't think it's acceptable for a system this complicated to rely on one technicians memory.
Some of the load charts that were in the factory system are not in the Rayco Wylie. It doesn't have on rubber or pick and carry charts. We don't do those type of operations but it could be a big deal for some folks.
The boom retraction doesn't seem quite right to me. Both boom cylinders retract simultaneously regardless of whether A or B mode is selected. The technician says Link Belt is okay with it and we shouldn't be telescoping under load even thought the Link Belt load charts say it is acceptable. We do some work inside of cotton gins where headroom is extremely limited and scoping in under load is the only way to make some picks. Can't get him to put any of that into writing..
Overall my operator is really happy with the system and it's definitely extended the useful life of a 25 year old machine that is in otherwise great shape.

 

[crane operator]

Thanks for the update. Just to clarify- can you no longer do A mode and just put out the big section for heavy lifting up close? I.e. no matter which mode you select all sections extend and you don’t have A mode chart anymore?

 

[dwightr]

A mode and B mode both work correctly when extending the boom but it only does a A mode retraction sequence no matter what mode is selected.
It's only an issue when you need to retract under load in B mode.
We do some work inside of buildings at long radius and low boom angle and sometimes have to scope in the load because we don't have enough headroom to boom up first.

 

[crane operator]

I have two link belts with A and B mode. Mine are 2002 and 2003, so the newer LMI system. Both have a treadle pedal on the floor, and then a toggle switch on the left armrest that can individually select "inner" and "outer", so that the pedal will only control that particular cylinder.

Would it be possible to wire up something like this (toggle switch) to the solenoids so you could individually retract or extend the cylinders manually when you need to? These don't have that complicated of a system - I think its just 12v to the solenoids to individually activate and the treadle does extend and retract- separate from the LMI.

We primarily use the toggle when extending/ retracting, because the sections will get out of sequence and then you can manually even them up. But I don't know that you couldn't slowly use it in a "under the roof" situation for more control.

We rarely use "A" mode, only at the quarry or something when heavy lifting. It really doesn't gain you a lot of capacity in typical operations.

 

[dwightr]

Probably wouldn’t be hard to do that
Just need to get a round2it
Round2it is in short supply around here

 

[Nige]

Round2it is in short supply around here

I have a spare one - you're welcome..........