So I broke my new bucket truck already...

[Altissimus]

"Rocky" ... always smarter than "Bullwinkle"

 

[Levi]

Sure, just curios of the personal significance....

 

[SkwerI]

Way back about 20 years ago when I was climbing for a local guy, he had a groundman who would do voice impressions. One of his impressions was Bullwinkle. Whenever I would do something that impressed him he would quip "Hey Rocky, watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat!" I was flattered and liked the nickname, so I adopted it. I began using 'RockyJSquirrel' as a screen name online. Later on I think it was TreeTx Nate who spelled it as skwerl. I liked it as well and adopted that spelling, first as Rocky J Skwerl and eventually just Skwerl.

 

[Levi]

Nice! I saw the rotator picture of you in Legget (noticed the plate), looks like you had a good time on Nor Cal!

We checked it out last spring, helluva time.



Damn... sideways...

 

[Burnham]

The first west coast get together...I think the thread is stickied somewhwere. An amazing gathering...best ever.

Brian, the fix looks right and proper. Well done. Wondering though, don't need to close off that triangle in the last pic?

 

[PCTREE]

Wonder what ever became of Erik, I know he got messed up when his bucket failed.

 

[SkwerI]

I saw that piece of shit truck and knew it was nothing but problems. How long ago was this? Last time I saw him he had invited himself down to visit me, showed up with no money in his pockets and then 'borrowed' a bunch of quarters out of my change jar. After he left I never spoke with him again.

 

[Altissimus]

Hehehehe , gotta love houseguests. Couple of hideous surgery pics were posted , didn't look fun

 

[Limbrat]

Great looking job Brian. I was wondering about the front facing guard too. Booming into brushy stuff you might pick up a lot of junk in there.

 

[SkwerI]

I ran out of material for now. We'll see how it works and modify/improve it as needed. And I usually don't boom directly into the brushy stuff, I prefer not getting a face full of that.

 

[SkwerI]

Update on the truck. The homemade guard is working out perfectly. However, the truck has been giving me fits otherwise. Blew the turbo and the truck was down for 5 weeks, and now the dash gauges have quit working and I'm getting a U1016 code which means the PCM is not communicating with one or more other functions. I hate electrical/computer issues.

 

[Burnham]

Sounds like a real bother.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Geez!

 

[Raj]

That sucks.

 

[Bodean]

Oh poopsticks!



Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[SkwerI]

Figured I'd dig up this thread rather than start a new one. Last week my truck began blowing hydraulic fluid out of the turret, all over the ground under the truck. The seals failed in what they call a rotary joint. The purpose is to connect hydraulic lines from the truck to the boom. Since the boom has continuous rotation you can't just run lines up through the turret or they would twist up. Seems it is a common weak point in these trucks (I also had the same failure in my other truck).

The guy who did my other truck is no longer around. That was Rich, the guy who Gigi at Dot Palm referred to me. He disappeared a few years ago and I can't reach him any more. But my used parts contact at Altec in Birmingham referred me to a guy in Sarasota who can do the repair. I already ordered the seal kit so he said he would fix it for $600. He said he's done so many he can do them in his sleep.

I was able to open the bypass valve slightly to reduce hydraulic pressure which has reduced the leak by 90% and still gives me enough pressure to run the bucket. That will get me through till I can get it fixed next week.

The electrical issue has mostly gone away by itself. I suspect a wire was grounding out somewhere but vibration and dust buildup has mostly eliminated contact any more. My speedometer still flutters once in a while and my fuel gauge works about 95% of the time so I'm going to just ignore it. I have the 100 gallon transfer tank in the truck now so I always have extra diesel fuel available.

 

[Raj]

Crap! Hope it works out.

 

[Altissimus]

Blown seals ... Drat

 

[MasterBlaster]

My guy has to call a fella outta New Orleans. Pricy but he does outstanding work.

 

[SkwerI]

I never followed up on this. The used parts guy at Altec (Tom Friday) gave me the name of a guy in Sarasota who could fix the leak. I ordered the seal kit from Altec and my employee Ron took the truck down to Sarasota on July 5 (I was in Birmingham buying another truck). The guy's name is Mark Lamb and his company is called Fleet Tech (754) 581-4678. He usually doesn't use customer supplied parts but I ordered them before finding a mechanic to fix it. He agreed to work within my availability and get it done in one day. Ron had a long day and a wreck on the interstate on the way home made it even longer. He rolled in about 8pm but the truck was fixed and we went to work the next day.

 

[Raj]

Good news!

 

[gf beranek]

That worked out well for ya, Brian. Good deal.

 

[pantheraba]

Good to share his info..nice to find good skilled guys.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Excellent!

 

[Burnham]