Bucket Truck Greasing Questions

[kwf]

Couple of Bucket maintenance / operation questions:

1: The dump bed on our truck has body stays for use when conducting maintenance while the bed is elevated and could cause injury/death should a cylinder fail. These seem like good things to always use and I do.
Our bucket has an elevator with a hand full of it’s own cylinders each with zircs. A few of these are inaccessible while the elevator is stowed requiring at least partial elevation to be greased. This puts whoever is greasing the elevator pivots in a position where given hydraulic failure a fatality could be likely. I do not see any props to guard against this occurring.

Am I missing something or is the fact that the elevator is rated for life support and the dump bed is not the reason why no safe guards are provided for the elevator.

2: Is it permissible to disengage the PTO and turn off the truck with the outriggers and booms extended (i.e. lower down to the ground for lunch rather than fold all the way up.).

Let me know your thoughts.

 

[lone wolf]

Couple of Bucket maintenance / operation questions:

1: The dump bed on our truck has body stays for use when conducting maintenance while the bed is elevated and could cause injury/death should a cylinder fail. These seem like good things to always use and I do.
Our bucket has an elevator with a hand full of it’s own cylinders each with zircs. A few of these are inaccessible while the elevator is stowed requiring at least partial elevation to be greased. This puts whoever is greasing the elevator pivots in a position where given hydraulic failure a fatality could be likely. I do not see any props to guard against this occurring.

Am I missing something or is the fact that the elevator is rated for life support and the dump bed is not the reason why no safe guards are provided for the elevator.

2: Is it permissible to disengage the PTO and turn off the truck with the outriggers and booms extended (i.e. lower down to the ground for lunch rather than fold all the way up.).

Let me know your thoughts.

Well the lift could fail while you are in it too! I grease mine through full range of motion with a helper and have done it that way always.

 

[kwf]

Well the lift could fail while you are in it too! I grease mine through full range of motion with a helper and have done it that way always.

Yeah, I was wondering if the hydraulics on the lift were built to a higher level of safety in comparison with the dump bed system.

Do you grease daily/weekly?

 

[lone wolf]

Yeah, I was wondering if the hydraulics on the lift were built to a higher level of safety in comparison with the dump bed system.

Do you grease daily/weekly?

Absolutely they should have check valves so if a hose blows the cyl locks. You can test that by raising it out of the rest a few inches and shutting the engine off then hit the control lever and it should not move. Don't be in it do it from the other controls not the bucket.

 

[lone wolf]

Yeah, I was wondering if the hydraulics on the lift were built to a higher level of safety in comparison with the dump bed system.

Do you grease daily/weekly?

Daily not very practical to keep up with , I prob do it at around 40 Bucket working hours

 

[kwf]

Daily not very practical to keep up with , I prob do it at around 40 Bucket working hours

Makes sense.

What are your thoughts on shutting down the truck while the bucket is unfolded?

 

[kwf]

Absolutely they should have check valves so if a hose blows the cyl locks. You can test that by raising it out of the rest a few inches and shutting the engine off then hit the control lever and it should not move. Don't be in it do it from the other controls not the bucket.

Hmm, I’ll have to try that out, get a real world simulation of a pressure drop.

 

[lone wolf]

Makes sense.

What are your thoughts on shutting down the truck while the bucket is unfolded?

I do all the time just dont be in it at first till you test the holding valves .

 

[kwf]

I do all the time just dont be in it at first till you test the holding valves .

I assume the rational for testing the action with the lower bucket controls upon truck restart is to guard against being in the bucket when a faulty check valve could lead to an unexpected movement?