Knuckle Booms & Drywall Booms

When you have been repairing cranes for as long as we have, you start to see trends in the types of parts that wear out or are common to replace. I will relate this to Knuckle Booms and Drywall Booms. A Knuckle Boom is defined as a crane that is truck mounted and can fold in order to be transported. It typically uses a hook to lift the load. A Drywall Boom is different in that the boom is usually stretched and stored with the forks overtop of the truck cab. Typically it is used to fork lift bundles such as drywall off of the decks of the trucks and into tricky construction locations. Both of these types of booms share similar build features. Crane Tech inspects many different types of knuckle booms and drywall booms. We repair many different types as well. The most common replacement components for booms are hydraulic hoses. Due to the pivoting nature of the mechanics of the boom, the constant flexing or rubbing eventually causes the outer rubber coating to crack. Cracks lead to leaks, and you must replace the hose. Since many of these cranes have remotes on them, we find that the solenoids often need replacement. The solenoid is a rectangular component which bolts to the control valve. It is a high technology electrical component that provides linear motion to execute a particular movement that is controlled by the operator by the transmitter. Solenoids are subject to multiple cycles and can eventually give up. Heat can be an issue. So can pressure spikes in high demand and cycle circumstances. Hydraulic cylinder leaks are a fairly common repair requirement. Our team rebuilds so many different types of cylinders. We pressure test them prior to replacing them onto the booms. Wear components such as boom slides is another part requiring replacement. We rebuilt a boom about 3 years ago where all of the slides needed replacement. Talk about a job. Remove all the sections and scrape buckets of grease off of the sections prior to doing any work. Pin bushings are not as common. I use the comparison of excavators to knuckle booms. While excavators are hard on pins bushings and build and bore situations, knuckle booms do not dig. They lift. Knuckle booms have very little “impact”. The result is that pins and bushings tend to last. We had a Hiab 238 that went thru sequencing valves every year. We did our best to maintain the equipment. Parts are expensive – unfortunately – so we try to spend your money like we would spend our own. This means we will replace only the parts that need replacement. In my next few blogs, I will talk about hydraulic flow rates and expected hydraulic pressures surrounding knuckle booms. Stay tuned for other topics surrounding knuckle booms. The idea is to pass information to you as much as possible so that you can self diagnose issues. Our team is here for you. We work as hard as you do. If you are in Barrie, Oro, Orillia, Collingwood, Orangeville, Tottenham, or Alliston give us a call. We inspect cranes, auto hoists, elevating lift platforms, bridge cranes, knuckle booms, drywall booms, racking to name but a few. Remember that the Crane Tech Inspection team can conveniently inspect all of your lifting equipment at the same time. One call for all of your lifting equipment! Call us at 705-734-0012. See us on Instagram. On the web www.craneservices.ca. We know your equipment best!