Bucket Truck Stuck

Royce. Before you have this misadventure compel you to buy new equipment keep a cool head. I had an engine failure in one truck and total brake failure in my other during hurricane Sandy drive me to buy new.
I'm having a lot of warranty issues the dealer won't deal with. I thought the same thing. New truck= no problems. It's not always the case.
 
Gorman said:
Royce. Before you have this misadventure compel you to buy new equipment keep a cool head. I had an engine failure in one truck and total brake failure in my other during hurricane Sandy drive me to buy new.
I'm having a lot of warranty issues the dealer won't deal with. I thought the same thing. New truck= no problems. It's not always the case.
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Agreed. These new trucks are so damn computer dependent. Plus they're getting more and more choked to comply with EPA regs, which usually means higher operating temps and less power.

At least with the old ones you know watcha got and you can diagnose most problems without a supercomputer hooked to it. We still use a 1994 Kodiak with a Cat diesel daily. Simple, reliable.
 
Royce, I feel for you. my bucket had two safety switches. does yours? also, I had an outrigger issue with a faulty sensor too. Eventually kept a spare switch in the truck. I bet the customer will not make this equipment malfunction a reflection of you. A year from now they will remember your good work and honest practices more than the weekend lawn ornament! Good luck today;)
 
Is there an emergency set of fittings to hook up to another hydraulic power source? Like another truck or portable hydraulic unit from an equipment rental.

If you don't have a service manual, not just the operators, might be a good idea for the future.
Altec tech support has also been pretty helpful with any issues/questions I've had. Just try and source the needed parts elsewhere.
 
Well I figured it out. It was the hydraulic pump. The spline was stripped. I was able to pull the pump off of the PTO and put a few pieces of small cut up hack saw blade. It was all I had at the time. I put those pieces in the female end and then bolted the pump back one. This gave enough friction to turn the pump enough for me to get the boom down. Boy I am glad that is over. I have a new pump on order and will send the old one out to get rebuilt to keep as a back-up spare.
Thank you all for your help!!
 
As far as backup pumps go, you don't want to mix regular hydraulic fluid with the bucket's system. The buckets run either aviation grade hydraulic fluid or transmission fluid to maintain viscosity through varying temp. range. Plug anything else in and you might end up draining and replacing fluid and filters and that could run as much as another hydro pump. Just saying
 
james mauldin said:
As far as backup pumps go, you don't want to mix regular hydraulic fluid with the bucket's system. The buckets run either aviation grade hydraulic fluid or transmission fluid to maintain viscosity through varying temp. range. Plug anything else in and you might end up draining and replacing fluid and filters and that could run as much as another hydro pump. Just saying
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I assume my truck was designed to have another bucket truck to back up to it and plug in. There are easy access emergency and test ports on the rear of my altec rear mount.

Would probably be easier to change the fluid in a portable hydaulic power unit first then in the truck later.
 
I have an Altec boom also. Before that a old Saturn Teco and I had a good service guy on the old truck that taught me as we went through hose replacement and any repairs. Changing the fluid makes a good plan but some service guys would show up and pay no attention and plug right in, then want to bill for the fluid exchange or never even mention it. So it's up to us to keep up with what we can.
 
frashdog said:
I assume my truck was designed to have another bucket truck to back up to it and plug in. There are easy access emergency and test ports on the rear of my altec rear mount.

Would probably be easier to change the fluid in a portable hydaulic power unit first then in the truck later.
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Are you sure those aren't just lower hydraulic tool outlets?
 
ROYCE said:
Well I figured it out. It was the hydraulic pump. The spline was stripped. I was able to pull the pump off of the PTO and put a few pieces of small cut up hack saw blade. It was all I had at the time. I put those pieces in the female end and then bolted the pump back one. This gave enough friction to turn the pump enough for me to get the boom down. Boy I am glad that is over. I have a new pump on order and will send the old one out to get rebuilt to keep as a back-up spare.
Thank you all for your help!!
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Well after all that time up in the air; you now have a really good idea if you have a cyli der or two that needs a repacking job! Glad it's over.
 
craneguy1 said:
Well after all that time up in the air; you now have a really good idea if you have a cyli der or two that needs a repacking job! Glad it's over.
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I had to leave it overnight and then one full day before I could get back to it to work on it. That was the first thing I looked at was to see if the bucket settled at all. I had it about 8" front the roof line when I left. It was in the exact same spot when I returned. Made me feel good about the cylinders at least.
The new pump costs 1800 dollars. I was surprised by that.
 
Bucknut said:
Our Terex bucket got stuck in the up position about two weeks ago (at the shop, thank goodness). After fiddling around with the electric PTO for a while it came down, but still wasn't right. We have had issues with the "demand throttle switch" in the past (hydraulic/electric switch that tells engine to rev up when boom trigger is depressed), so we ordered a new one and replaced that. No luck.

Long story short we took it to the shop where they had it diagnosed and fixed in an hour. Turns out the ground wire to one of the batteries was attached to a positive terminal, which was totally screwing up the computer. Not sure if it was sporadically disengaging the electric PTO or what. We had had the truck in for some bed work (at a different shop) about a week before these issues. Their guy noticed how sluggish the truck was to start in the cold and suggested putting 3 new batteries in. They were borderline anyway, so we said go for it. Well, with 3 batteries in sequence he must have lost track of that ground wire. It really messed things up, but for some reason we never connected the dots between putting in new batteries and the entire boom not working.

Any chance you've messed with your batteries lately?
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Where is the "demand throttle switch" located? or is it different for each truck? I have an old (88) C70 with a pittman boom on it, and this switch seems to be sticking. Once in a while the throttle will go way higher than it's supposed to, when I'm using the boom.
 
CatskillMountainTree said:
Where is the "demand throttle switch" located? or is it different for each truck? I have an old (88) C70 with a pittman boom on it, and this switch seems to be sticking. Once in a while the throttle will go way higher than it's supposed to, when I'm using the boom.
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On ours it's installed just behind the outrigger/tower selector lever behind the passenger side cab, but it's probably different for each manufacturer. Here's a pic of our old one, to give you an idea. This is on 2005 XT55 tower:

image.webp

Also, check to make sure your bucket controls are totally clear of sawdust and sticks. Those can jam levers in positions that keep throttle open too long, even after the trigger is released.
 
Bucknut said:
On ours it's installed just behind the outrigger/tower selector lever behind the passenger side cab, but it's probably different for each manufacturer. Here's a pic of our old one, to give you an idea. This is on 2005 XT55 tower:

View attachment 30737

Also, check to make sure your bucket controls are totally clear of sawdust and sticks. Those can jam levers in positions that keep throttle open too long, even after the trigger is released.
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Thank you.. :)
 
ROYCE said:
Well I figured it out. It was the hydraulic pump. The spline was stripped. I was able to pull the pump off of the PTO and put a few pieces of small cut up hack saw blade. It was all I had at the time. I put those pieces in the female end and then bolted the pump back one. This gave enough friction to turn the pump enough for me to get the boom down. Boy I am glad that is over. I have a new pump on order and will send the old one out to get rebuilt to keep as a back-up spare.
Thank you all for your help!!
Click to expand...
What was the pump? Where did you get it?

I randomly just got a catalog in the mail with tons of hydraulic stuff.
 
First time posting on here, hoping I can get some help. Fairly certain that I need to drain the hydro fluid from my bucket truck and replace it, but I have no idea how. Should I unhook a line from the pto pump, as that is the lowest point? Will the lines and cylinders just drain themselves with gravity? How much fluid should I expect to catch and replace? Reason for replacing is boom will not rotate, other function work as they should. Hydro system has had ISO 100 hydraulic fluid put in, Terex recommends ISO 15. Model number is 5TD.52PBRI 380. HI ranger bucket.

I'm fairly good mechanically, but haven't had any experience with working on hydraulic systems. Just need to be pointed in the right direction.
 
Wait for a diagnosis before you take on a fluid change

If only one function won't work focus on that system. Controls. Safety switches. That sort of thing

The fluid is probably ok since all the other systems function. After you get it running you should probably get on a routine preventive maintenance regimen of changing filters
 
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