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SCS

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    Idaho

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    experimental aircraft and cranes

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  1. I was driving my Mack truck down the road coming back from a crane job and all of a sudden I thought my drive line lost a u joint. The noise was impressive, and sounded expensive. I immediately pulled over and to my surprise, everything looked OK down under. I carefully got back up to speed, and didn't hear the noise anymore. I forgot about until a week later, when I saw I had lost a light up top, and the noise I heard was the light, still attached by the wires at that point, banging on the cab roof. I have not been able to find a new source for one of these, anyone got a spare from a wreck they want to sell? If so, let me know simkot@ida.net. Thanks
  2. I've been running the 30 ton National '07 for a few months now, a few comments. The passenger seat, anyone else notice how insanely uncomfortable it is? I sat in mine for the first time the other day while eating lunch, and after about 10 minutes got back in the drivers seat. I'm talking about the fixed seat that came with the truck, my air ride drivers seat is a plush ride. They got the angles all wrong, really did a great job on making it so uncomfortable! Luckily I don't haul passengers much, hardly at all. The non self canceling turn signals, what's up with that? I don't know how many times now I've pulled up to a job and got out to talk things over with the crew, and then I turn around to get back in and THEN notice the signal was on the whole time. Seriously, is there some kind of reason they are not self canceling? The friction device, that holds the drivers door open? Mine, at less then 40K miles, seems to be worn to the extant that when you open the door all the way, it will self close to about halfway. Just annoying, the passenger door works as it should. Before I tear into things....is there any user serviceable parts in the door post adjust or anything? Other then that, love the rig! One interesting observation, my local grocer, who immigrated here from Israel , raved about the fact that my "new" crane is on a Mack chassis. He said they were well represented and well respected "back home", who knew!
  3. My local CAT service shop manager, who I trust, suggest I go by my hour meter. Every 300 hrs. A National crane, with by far the majority of my time spent idling in PTO and slightly above. If I can't make enough money in 300 hrs of running the crane to afford that oil change schedule, I'll retire!
  4. Today I fired it up inside the crane shed, I just needed to move it back about 5 feet so I could start work on the end wall of the building. It's a few feet longer then my last rig, and though it fits I don't have room to walk behind and in front, so I am framing out 2' of the end wall, kind of a bump out. That will make all the difference in convenience while being not so big a mod to get the county building folks too excited, or involved. Anyway, the air pressure built up and I put it in reverse and no go. Long story short I messed with it for several minutes before I realized the frigging hand brake was on, as I had wrapped up the reverse camera wiring under the panel and had moved the brake lever earlier, not thinking! That hand brake is very effective....... A picture of a job last week, lifting a 3400 lb swimming pool 55' away and putting it 58' away the opposite direction, after going over the house.
  5. I put the crane truck away last Friday afternoon, inside my locked building. Monday morning I got in it and first i see is the pass. side windshield has a crack in it about 12" long. No previous ding or other damage, nothing happened Friday that I recall could have caused it, just seems odd. Anyone else with a similar rig have this happen? The good news is a replacement will be here in a few days (pretty sure it wouldn't pass a DOT inspection), for a grand total of $52.00 plus shipping. I don't know what I was expecting, maybe 200 or so. Dakota Land Auto Glass is the name of the outfit.
  6. Straight truck, no trailer. I am welding a lightweight receiver hitch on the rear bumper this weekend though. Actually I'll be welding the receiver sq. tube to some angle iron, and then I'll bolt the assembly to the stainless step bumper. I don't want to weld plain old carbon steel to that pretty stainless, bad enough drilling holes in it. This hitch will be for when I need to tow my Toyota Rav4 (light weight). So, no hitch weight to speak of, just push/ pull, and the bumper can easily handle that. The new backup camera is working out great, wish I would have had one on the last rig. It works at night also, it has built in LED lights and a sensor, plus a mike for sound, haven't played with those features yet.
  7. This one stays down when left there, and a few times I've used it coming up to a stop light, it's quite effective though hard to modulate as easily as the foot pedal. I don't plan on using it in normal driving, except for when I'm giving someone a ride and want to mess with their head a little! It's not something you see every day, point being. Am I correct in assuming it controls only the rear axle brakes? The other day I was doing a job at a grain mill and had all of the 110' main boom out plus the jib and it's stinger, and was working at a tip height of a bit over 160'! Never worked that high before, my previous crane could only go 130'. At that height I was hoisting 1500 to 2200 lb loads of roofing material. I really wanted to get a picture but was too busy, especially as I would have needed to get some distance away to get it all in the frame. the heavy dutyness of the Mack is useful simply as counterweight in this application, the heavier the better. My local competition in the crane biz have Sterling chassis equipped rigs, real plain jane outfits left outside between jobs. Mine is kept inside my radiant floor heated shop, just a different way of looking at how to take care of the equipment I guess. One guy does more work then me but has no rigging boxes or dunnage rack, I guess he just keeps his rigging in the bed and tries to find dunnage for the stabilizers on a job site, the rigging exposed to the sun as he parks it outside. He does more work but makes less money, getting all the cheapskate jobs, I do the less frequent but better paying crane jobs and the appearance of this rig is proving to be a real job getter for me, plus it's a hell of a lot of fun to drive around it! Signs going on this weekend.
  8. I was installing a new radio in the dash the other day, and pulled the lever down while doing so. About 24 hrs later I noticed that the brake lights had been on that entire time. Not making the connection, I checked the foot brake pedal switch, the lights remained on..... finally I pulled the breaker for the stop lights, that worked! A few hours later putting the panel back together I finally figured out the deal:hand brake off, brake lights off, nothing like getting used to a new rig! I have used mine a couple times now when on a steep hill backing into a job site, to hold the rig while I engage the clutch, it's handier then using the parking air brake. Mine seems to pretty much stay where I put it, but I'd never trust it as a park brake, but if I ever have someone else drive the rig I better tell them what it's for, and NOT for. I like it, makes the rig even more unique. Thanks for the info.
  9. I did a quick search, and sorry if this has been answered before, but what is the proper use of the big WHOA lever on the panel of my 2007 Granite crane truck? Does it operate the rear brakes, front, both? It sure seems to be a unique feature, I have had fun pointing it out to others, I just wish I knew what it does, when to use it, if at all.
  10. I just pulled it out off my 2007 Granite. It's a Delphi AM/FM cassette (remember those?) and it has the MACK logo on the front. It works perfect but doesn't have the aux audio input, which I really need as a local station drowns out my Sirius signal. $10.00 plus UPS charges. Call me at 208-716 -0400 if interested. DBA Simko Crane
  11. Got it back to Idaho, I got 4.7 (big head wind, doing 65 mph at 1750 rpm. to 5 + MPG.
  12. Today I was driving 60 miles back from what turned out to be my last job with the current rig I have operated for 6 years now. A Sterling truck with a 22 ton Manitex rider crane. A CAT C-7 engine. I made a note: at 62 mph the rpm was 2100. If I make that same speed at 1600 RPM, I'll be a happy camper.
  13. This thread is interesting to me, good info! My 2007 Mack Granite, which I have yet to even see, has a 4.42 rear end and 22.5 tires. I will be using it to run around hilly/mountainous Idaho doing taxi crane work. It has a 30 ton National crane mounted on it, no cargo other then a few spreader bars and rigging. It should weigh around 52K I'm thinking. I have no real need for speed, 60-65 is plenty, as I get paid travel time so no real benefit in going 70..... As of now, I'll cruise it at 1600 rpm on the long drive back this weekend from Wisconsin. 10 speed Fuller BTW. Anyone want to hazard a guess, or know the math, on what speed I can expect? 60 or a bit above is my guess.
  14. I am flying out from Idaho and driving it back this Saturday, this will replace my current 22 ton Manitex on a Sterling chassis. It has the A1-427 engine, full lockers, and a 10 speed. 45 K miles and kept inside when not being operated. The original owner is the only one who has operated it, never a rental unit! He owns a industrial metal fab business, and the truck bed appears to be mostly or partly anyway, stainless steel. All aluminum wheels, power windows, pretty much all the options from what I understand, something of a creampuff. It's a CV703? I am buying this sight unseen, (can't hardly believe that myself....) largely due to what I have found about the owners fab company, and some long phone conversations. He is getting a brand new 50 ton National crane. I was actively looking for several months, and so many are beater rental units, and/or have tens of thousands of hours, or both. Or, sold months or years ago but still being advertised! This was on the market for about 1 week when I snapped it up. 1500 hrs on the crane, it set trusses ONCE, on a relatives garage, so very low cycle times. This will be my first National, after 1 JLG,(10 ton) 2 Terex's (17 ton) and the Manitex. I understand them to be highly regarded in this category of light crane, supposed to have real smooth controls. This has the newer pilot control system, something my Manitex lacks. I plan to keep good records of my mileage, and will be happy if it's over 6. Probably drive 65, I'm not real sure how it's geared. I'm real happy to avoid a newer power plant, whatever shortcomings this may have at least it doesn't need DEF fluid. I'll post a picture or two when I get it back. My first scheduled job is next Tuesday, setting a pre fab bank vault, so it's going right to work.
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