opinions....best spider lift?

[Lumberjack]

Now, do you have a foot petal that needs to be pushed every time you want to use a function while in the basket?

Yes, it's a deadman switch. There's also a switch on the dash by the controls that you can push instead of the pedal.

Merle is talking about reusable fittings, they're still made but not recommended for lifts.

 

[RoyalTree]

I always have a few reusable fittings around to get equipment back up and running. Gets the day finished and then you can put on a new hose when you have some time. I consider them part of the essential kit on every truck.

 

[tc262]

Now, do you have a foot petal that needs to be pushed every time you want to use a function while in the basket?

It has a cover over the pedal so a little chunk of wood wedges in nicely and holds the pedal down.

 

[baumeister]

It has a cover over the pedal so a little chunk of wood wedges in nicely and holds the pedal down.

Yes, but then it beeps all the time. Unless you disconnect that. I would stay away from disconnecting safety Riggs and get used to them. The foot petal is not noticeable any more. And I have hit the joystick while working by accident before. Glad the petal was there

 

[baumeister]

[/ATTACH]

The SD64 has been out for 8 years, not exactly a new product.

I guess I'm more laid back. To me, 2 hoses in 3 years on a machine with well over 1k feet of hose in it doesn't bother me as a dealer or end user. Both of my Kubota excavators had 2 hoses in their first 3 years, the track loader had a kinked heater hose from the factory... the Rayco stump grinders (both bought new) went through lots of hoses, perhaps that's what desensitized me to issue.

My used Rotobec loader has had 9hoses and 2 steel lines replaced in 10 months that I can remember.... I'm not impressed with its design compared to Palfinger'a Epsilon loader.

Of the ~14 SD64s I've sold in as many months, that I can remember, there have been 5 hoses replaced on 3 machines. Two unrelated hoses one machine had defective fittings, one popped in the top boom's metal hose tray, and I replaced two on a jib where a clamp had damaged them. One had a slow leak (saw a drip on the shop floor) and I replaced the other because of a blemish in its jacket from the same clamp.

The one that popped in the hose tray is the only one that caused a work stoppage.


I'd be interested to see the leak on the wheel motor/gear box. It may be a more simple fix than replacing the whole gearbox.

Thanks for that. It certainly makes me feel better. I am very careful with my equipment and get easily frustrated if a 100,000 machine is out of commission even just a couple times in the early years. What frustrated me about his last one is that it could have been easily avoided through better design. I am keeping a closer look out now. The hose that popped is the top one that runs through the frame on the main boom knuckle. In the picture right where the group of hoses go into the frame. Looks like a real time consuming PITA job. Any advice there?


Here is another picture..... I have a lot of these. I call them " can't do that with a bucket truck!!!!"

 

[Lumberjack]

I looked at one this morning, my course of attack would be to cut the cable ties and remove the chafe protectors, find both ends of the hose, tie a piece of throw line to the end, look for any hidden cable ties, and pull it out... shouldn't be a big deal.

 

[Lumberjack]

Another happy customer picked up his SD64 this morning! (Meurer Brothers, Belleville, IL. Their family hosted last year'a Jambo, this particular SD64 was at this year's Jambo)

 

[RoyalTree]

Carl,

What is it that stops the sd64 from having 360 continuous rotation?

 

[Lumberjack]

There is a metal stop that prevents rotation. After that, the hoses and electrical lines are the next limiting factor (no rotary manifold).

 

[RoyalTree]

I assume the stop is there due to the hoses. Anyway to add a swivel of some sorts for the hoses and etc?

Do you feel this gets in your way at times? Have you ever worked in a unit with continuous rotation? Maybe some of the guys that have gone from a bucket truck to this type of lift can comment on this.

 

[Lumberjack]

It's not a big deal in the slightest. When I first got it I was thinking it may be worth looking into, but it's never been an issue. The dead spot is straight over the end opposite the basket when the basket is stowed. I don't spend much of my time working over that end, it's usually when taking down multiple trees from a single location... when you're setting up line up the side of the canopy of the tree on that side with the centerline and all is well.

Adding a manifold would be a massive pain given how many channels/circuits that would be required. Just like the two man basket, I've never had an owner of an SD64 complain about continuous rotation... it's just not an issue the vast majority of the time.

 

[baumeister]

Remove the chafe protectors!?!? Do you cut the out!? Why and how would you get them back on. I had a couple guys from hose connections come out. They did a great job but took them 5 hours. Glad I didn't have to do it. They pulled it through the chafe protectors. I did not run the hose through the frame again to avoid a repeat breakdown. Just ran it around the frame. Seems like there were too many hoses in there anyway. Put chafe protector and plastic rotection over the hose. Looks great.

 

[Jackjcc]

No offense to anyone but...My pick at the expo was the "tracked lifts" 72' working height jobber. 34.5" wide.
They claim it is the only one designed for tree work. Simple...No computers. electric over hydraulic with manual switches for all controls at hydraulic valves. How about the sweet armor package, the out riggers had some nice heavy guards over the pistons and even lights, other important things were tucked and had heavy steel over them. There were dents and dings on this machine. Very streamlined booms, nothing to hook or hit on the booms.

They are out of Pa. 7hr drive away. Probably going to go to their factory, mostly to see the test area.
I was a test technician (electric/mechanical) for Bombardier Mass Transit in my last life: Acela high speed locomotives, NYC subway, LIRR metro.
Probably going to have one brought to our shop for a demo in December hopefully.

All the other lifts were very similar when you compared their weights, out rigger spans, with regards to their in air reach performance. I did not see one lift that stood out with respect to these attributes.

Every one said their lifts were fast or faster.
We are going to do a time study with our bucket truck to see comparison.
Anyone else with a lift want to time for me:
1-from set up, stowed position to max vert reach
2-from set up, stowed position to max horizontal at that max height
3-from final position 3 180degree rotation.
No one at the show that I spoke with had these times. I kinda thought that was odd.

The trackedlifts display were the last for me to visit, so I had more questions by then.
I was speaking with Miroslaw the president about the cut and toss technique with regards to dynamic loads on the lift. He smiled and told me one of the tests they do at full reach is attach a 14' rope with 300lbs on it and drop it. The resulting dynamic load is over 6000lbs. He said the outriggers on the opposite side do not come off the ground. When the weight is taken off, the basket is exactly were it was. Nothing is bent or broken.
He reiterated make sure you wear your harness and helmet!

How bout the price? $99,000

I've been running this lift for the last year. I'm very impressed with it, it does a lot, but as the operator I know what it can do and all our consultants have no idea. Tough to get them all to come see how it works.

Very efficient for arb pruning and sets up in tight spots.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Lumberjack]

Remove the chafe protectors!?!? Do you cut the out!? Why and how would you get them back on. I had a couple guys from hose connections come out. They did a great job but took them 5 hours. Glad I didn't have to do it. They pulled it through the chafe protectors. I did not run the hose through the frame again to avoid a repeat breakdown. Just ran it around the frame. Seems like there were too many hoses in there anyway. Put chafe protector and plastic rotection over the hose. Looks great.

Like I said, I personally haven't dealt with a hose replacement through the lower boom yet, but I have looked at it a few times before. From what I've seen, aside from the chafe protection, the replacement looks fairly straight forward. I don't see a situation where it would stay on. As far as replacing the protection, I'm a fan of plastic spiral wrap, stand alone or in conjunction with the Condura nylon tube (what it came with). The tubing is cheap and available in large rolls. Taking a step up cost wise is the same material (nylon) in a split tubing configuration with Velcro holding it closed. It sure makes getting it off and on far easier, but from a manufacturing standpoint it's not needed all that often.

 

[baumeister]

Like I said, I personally haven't dealt with a hose replacement through the lower boom yet, but I have looked at it a few times before. From what I've seen, aside from the chafe protection, the replacement looks fairly straight forward. I don't see a situation where it would stay on. As far as replacing the protection, I'm a fan of plastic spiral wrap, stand alone or in conjunction with the Condura nylon tube (what it came with). The tubing is cheap and available in large rolls. Taking a step up cost wise is the same material (nylon) in a split tubing configuration with Velcro holding it closed. It sure makes getting it off and on far easier, but from a manufacturing standpoint it's not needed all that often.

Yes I used the plastic spiral wrap on the new hose. Looks great. Hmmmmm. No chafe wrap. Well, the areas I have had go on me has been through the chafe wrap. The plastic would be better. I have a couple of drive hoses by the wheels rubbing through. I will try that in the future. Thanks.

 

[Jackjcc]

The nice thing about lawns is that they tend to be very compacted. I probably use mats 1/5 of the time in the summer, some people just want zero turf damage. Driving a straight line and turning slow does little damage and just walking back and forth on it takes care of what you can see. At 34.5" the whole point is to fit it where lifts aren't supposed to go. We have a nifty too and I like it, but it isn't a spider lift. It weighs 6900 pounds and moves at 1.5 mph, so we call it the crawler. It has a small 2 cylinder diesel and the boom moves just a bit slower than the 55' nifty we have.

Tomorrow we are working on a tree in a back yard with a 36" gate and permanent fence all the way around, this lift can do it and most can't. It's got a niche is all I'm saying and that's why I like it.

I won't say it's better, but it can do certain things other lifts can't.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Jackjcc]

74ft tracked lift timing numbers, taken in 10 degree F with 0 degree wind chill.

Full extension to close: 2 min
180 degree rotation: 1 min 20 sec
Close to full extension is faster than the opposite.

The cold slows this lift down immensely. Last winter it was stored inside and started before leaving. It cycles hydraulics at idle so it can keep it warm. This winter I'm storing it outside over night and after the first week I'm pushing to get back inside. It never warms up and the upper booms can be incredibly slow if left fully extended for more than a few minutes. The fluid loses all heat that far from the pump pretty quick.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Lumberjack]

Thanks for that, Jack.

I've timed the Nifty Lift SD64 going from stowed booms to full height in 67 seconds. I want to say I remember 360* taking right at 2 minutes. I've never timed the fully erect boom to stowed time, but it's faster going down than up.

 

[Jackjcc]

Thanks for that, Jack.

I've timed the Nifty Lift SD64 going from stowed booms to full height in 67 seconds. I want to say I remember 360* taking right at 2 minutes. I've never timed the fully erect boom to stowed time, but it's faster going down than up.

I'm sure the nifty is faster at all metrics. There's a trade off for the 34.5 width.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Merle Nelson]

Yes I used the plastic spiral wrap on the new hose. Looks great. Hmmmmm. No chafe wrap. Well, the areas I have had go on me has been through the chafe wrap. The plastic would be better. I have a couple of drive hoses by the wheels rubbing through. I will try that in the future. Thanks.

Any reason not to wrap hyd lines at frame wear points with a piece of rubber hose slit length wise and banded in place? Lumberjack? Anyone?