Bleeding Hi-ranger bucket contols

This is just speculation, but if you mean up in the handle of the pistol grip then there us likely a normally closed valve and when you squeeze it it opens allowing air flow. A bad connection, cracked line, or a partially stuck open valve could all be the source of the air leak. Maybe try spraying the area with soapy water like checking a tire for a leak?


The bleeding of these lines still have me puzzled, but admittingly I have not needed to service that portion of the controls so I am just guessing here.
 
I used a 1 gallon weed sprayer put the small quarter inch feral fitting on the end of the tube put hydraulic fluid in and pump the tube that goes up to the reservoir up in the pistol grip kept pumping to keep a pressure of 20 to 30 PSI in the system and then open the bleed screw on each of the controls till all the air was out of the tubes it’s much faster than holding the palm switch and waiting for it to cycle
 
Jehinten said:
Just to follow up, I have since gotten this repaired and wanted to share what I did in case anyone else needs the info on their truck. I continued to try and bleed the controls like I explained above and was not getting anywhere, so I decided to rebuild the pistol grip controller up by the bucket, assuming that if air was getting into the system it had to be there as the only connections were up at the bucket controls and down at the bottom controls. The controller rebuild was fairly simple, there are 6 functions and each one has 4 o-rings in it to replace. The job took me about 3 hours but could have been done quicker. Once reassembled I continued the bleeding process explained above and managed to get all 6 functions working again.

Edit: forgot to mention, to rebuild the pistol grip controller only cost $8, well worth it to go ahead and rebuild. Especially if your having trouble bleeding the lines.
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Do you know where you got the rebuild kit for the pistol grip
 
Elwood09 said:
Do you know where you got the rebuild kit for the pistol grip
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I took one of each o-ring to a local shop that had a large inventory. They had each one that I needed.

Before going there I stopped by Grainger and got a bit of a run around. A lengthy process of the guy trying to measure them, then being told that I had to buy a minimum of a 100 of a certain size, then they we're the wrong size anyways. The other shop sold me only what I needed and had me set up in about 5 mins.
 
Jehinten said:
I took one of each o-ring to a local shop that had a large inventory. They had each one that I needed.

Before going there I stopped by Grainger and got a bit of a run around. A lengthy process of the guy trying to measure them, then being told that I had to buy a minimum of a 100 of a certain size, then they we're the wrong size anyways. The other shop sold me only what I needed and had me set up in about 5 mins.
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The right shop sure makes a difference
 
Jehinten said:
Just checking to see if any of you guys who do your own repairs have bled out the 1/4" tubing running from the lower controls to the pistol grip? I replaced all of the control tubing due to it becoming brittle and one breaking at the elbow and I have followed the only advice that I have been able to find online in bleeding the lines.

I have the truck and PTO running and I raised the boom straight in the air and with the palm switch engaged I have cracked the bleeder screws open on each function. I ran it like this for an hour one evening and three hours the following and I am still getting pockets of air coming out and the pistol grip will not control any of the functions. I have tried this with all 6 thumb screws open at once, one screw open at a time, and with all of them closed to build up pressure and then opening one of them.

My question here is am I following the correct steps to bleed these lines out? Is 3-4 hours of pushing hydro fluid and air out long enough to clear the lines of air, or is it a longer process than that? I have checked all of my fittings and none of them are leaking fluid, so they should not be allowing air back into the system.

Hopefully my explanation of what I have done so far makes sense and any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Justin
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Hi Justin. im about to go and replace all the lines on my 1981 gmc HiRanger. any advice on the line replacment would be much apreiciated ! (quart7 of them)Quarter inch ones
 
VikingJohn68 said:
Hi Justin. im about to go and replace all the lines on my 1981 gmc HiRanger. any advice on the line replacment would be much apreiciated ! (quart7 of them)Quarter inch ones
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Hello. It's been some time since I've done this job, but I'll share what I can remember of it.

First off, tie a pull string (throwline is a good choice due to its strength or a purpose-built string for pulling wires through conduit) to the old lines before you remove them. Another option is to have an electrical fish tape on hand, although the pull string may be easier.

I also used a wire pulling lubricant on the tubing (I have an electrical background, so the techniques used for hard pulls was what came natural for me)

At first I bundled all of the new tubes together and taped them every foot, don't do that. You'll need to pull some of them individually to get the excess pulled through.

Have a helper, it was quite a job to get some of these pulled in. The chanel is quite tight and any twist in the tubing makes it even tighter.

I followed the bleeding technique that you quoted above, it eventually worked but was very time consuming. I'm not sure of a better way, but at least it wasn't labor intensive.



Sent from my SM-N986U1 using Tapatalk
 
Thank you for getting back
Jehinten said:
Hello. It's been some time since I've done this job, but I'll share what I can remember of it.

First off, tie a pull string (throwline is a good choice due to its strength or a purpose-built string for pulling wires through conduit) to the old lines before you remove them. Another option is to have an electrical fish tape on hand, although the pull string may be easier.

I also used a wire pulling lubricant on the tubing (I have an electrical background, so the techniques used for hard pulls was what came natural for me)

At first I bundled all of the new tubes together and taped them every foot, don't do that. You'll need to pull some of them individually to get the excess pulled through.

Have a helper, it was quite a job to get some of these pulled in. The chanel is quite tight and any twist in the tubing makes it even tighter.

I followed the bleeding technique that you quoted above, it eventually worked but was very time consuming. I'm not sure of a better way, but at least it wasn't labor intensive.



Sent from my SM-N
Jehinten said:
Hello. It's been some time since I've done this job, but I'll share what I can remember of it.

First off, tie a pull string (throwline is a good choice due to its strength or a purpose-built string for pulling wires through conduit) to the old lines before you remove them. Another option is to have an electrical fish tape on hand, although the pull string may be easier.

I also used a wire pulling lubricant on the tubing (I have an electrical background, so the techniques used for hard pulls was what came natural for me)

At first I bundled all of the new tubes together and taped them every foot, don't do that. You'll need to pull some of them individually to get the excess pulled through.

Have a helper, it was quite a job to get some of these pulled in. The chanel is quite tight and any twist in the tubing makes it even tighter.

I followed the bleeding technique that you quoted above, it eventually worked but was very time consuming. I'm not sure of a better way, but at least it wasn't labor intensive.



Sent from my SM-N986U1 using Tapatalk
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thank you!
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Probably just written text not conveying info as well as in person Sean. I've heard it said that using the phone drops off 30 % of info because no visible body language and written word drops another 24% because no inflections etc.

Or....he could be a gruff old coot that we would both enjoy working with but only say a handful of words back and forth in a day. Just the way I like it. :)
 
Reach said:
I would wonder the same thing, especially since it’s fiberglass. Steel would be different in my mind. I wonder if the manufacturer of these booms puts an “expiration date” of some sort on them?
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No they don’t. Does anyone understand what a boom inspection entails? Or how exactly it is done? I’m clearly in the wrong place here. Sounds like it to me,from the idiotic questions and the sensitivity of some. Clearly suggests this is a younger crowd of newbies.
 
VikingJohn68 said:
No they don’t. Does anyone understand what a boom inspection entails? Or how exactly it is done? I’m clearly in the wrong place here. Sounds like it to me,from the idiotic questions and the sensitivity of some. Clearly suggests this is a younger crowd of newbies.
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It seems to me that your reply to me is rather arrogant and very condescending. I am familiar with the way a boom inspection is completed, but have never owned a fiberglass boom. I have been in this industry now for 20 years. We operate cranes up to 115 ton class, and both track and wheel mounted lifts, which all have metal booms, not fiberglass.

I am also familiar with the aviation industry, and know that critical components of aircraft, specifically composite helicopter rotors, do have a fixed life span in spite of their being very carefully inspected much more rigorously than a fiberglass boom ever will be.

I also know that a wood helicopter rotor never expires, there are some that have been in service continuously since the Korean War. Those however have likely been repaired (you can do that to a wood rotor, but not composite).

This is what caused me to ask the question, as I do not know the answer and have a genuine want for knowledge on the subject, as I try to maintain a base of knowledge across even parts of the industry I may never cross.
 
VikingJohn68 said:
No they don’t. Does anyone understand what a boom inspection entails? Or how exactly it is done? I’m clearly in the wrong place here. Sounds like it to me,from the idiotic questions and the sensitivity of some. Clearly suggests this is a younger crowd of newbies.
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Ok.

I asked a clear, basic questions that you didn't answer, rather, you got reactive, condescending, etc.

VikingJohn68 said:
Of course it is. Proper maintenance keeps these going for a long time. It has current safety inspections. You must be new to the Industry???
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You started speculating that I must be new the industry with a statement/question.

Personally, I've never owned a bucket. I've flown a Versa-lift 60' for over 2 years. For our trees, 60' is a good start. Once, it got me to within 40' of the first live limb on a tree that I climbed to, maybe 2/3's height, so to about 170'. Without a bucket-truck start, I've only climbed up to about 140', 160', 150' and 150' in big trees, not counting the big trees I've Wraptored into.

I've only used a 50" bar on an MS 880 off a springboard once. That was neither my saw, nor my springboard, as they belonged to the State of Washington. I've only got a 42" bar, MS 661, and my springboard isn't quite as nice.

Perhaps that makes me a newb. Dunno.



What I've read about mandatory retirement may not have been accurate/ applicable to you machine. I've never heard of people using that old of aerial lifts, except maybe for that guy, Erik, who had the catastrophic failure and catastrophic injury.

Seems like some manufacturers have a mandatory retirement age. Just an excerpt from something I read, possibly non-applicable:
I've never posted, usually just read for an "FYI" type of thing, but this is what I do for work (aerial lift repair)

LRIII - Good solid unit, but cable drive upper boom. More cable maitenence. Altec requires drive cable replacement every 5 years, cable slugs will be stamped with a date. The same is true for the leveling cable unless they have a yellow stripe, then 8 years.

LRIV - Another quality product. If joystick upper control watch for saw dust build up in the linkage. Same for the hi-rangers

XT's - I'm soso on these. Good lifts, but the Altecs are more product for your dollar. XT's have tendency to wear knuckle bushings, which can be costly. Also have a problem with the weak basket bushings, which if let go can actually wear into the boom. Some thing to watch for. Also the joystick thing.

LR50 - Two words. Stay away. Older unit and Asplundh no longer owns the product line. Sold to Altec in 1991 and turned into the LR series. Mandatory retirement after 25 years, mandatory rebuild after 15 years, cable replacement every two years. If it is past the 15 or 25 year mark you will not be able to buy factory parts.

I see lifts of all makes, models, size, and age range everyday and I think one of the Altec not Asplundh LR's is your best bet. Depending on condition of course. Just my opinion, ultimatley the end user is the final judge.

Good Luck, Higgins



Maybe I'm just "in the box" and a "newb".

Carry on.
 
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