Boom Truck

[bwmarine]

Got a sweet deal on a 30ft boom truck!!!
A customer of mine saw that I was using a local tow truck to have an engine pulled out of a large boat; after the truck driver left and the engine was on the ground he told me he had a great deal for me. He told me he had a truck he would give to me real cheap that he had not been using for a few years. I told him I would take a look at it... the next day I went over his house and could not believe what he had and so cheap. He told me I could have it for 1500.00. I asked that I wanted to here it run and check the hydrolics before I bought it from him, he told me no problems and come back the next day as he had not ran it for a few years.
When I came back he said it needed a new battery but could start it from jumpers and that he had to put a new filter and fluid in the hydrolics because there must of been water in the filter and it froze and all the fluid had drained out.
So anyway gave him a check and he drove it to my place. I had to put a new battery in, top off the hydrolic fluid, oil change, coolant change, tune up and carb clean.
It is way cool and have used it several times for r&r engines and it is so sweet not to pay a tow truck driver 50.00 out and 50.00 back in. Will pay for itself in a very short time.
1979 2.5 ton 30ft boom truck - 180 rotation (blocks were welded in for stops so the boom did not go over the cab , I beleive if they were removed it would have a full 360) - 8000# with boom retracted and 1600# fully extended. I can think of all kinds of uses in the future for it... I like it!

 

[deereguy]

Looks cool- need any pole barn trusses set?

How are the brakes on that beast? Does it seem road-worthy?

 

[GT2]

Nice find! Let the building commence!

 

[bwmarine]

Looks cool- need any pole barn trusses set?

How are the brakes on that beast? Does it seem road-worthy?

Trusses were the first thing that came to mind for other type uses, also taking some trees down... trunk sections can be set into a trailer in large sections rather than smaller pieces. I am sure I can come up with many more uses...
Plan on some additions to my home in the very near future ... trusses
The brakes do need to be pumped before use or you wont have any. Dont know how long they last from there as I have only been using it on my lot. After pumping them up there is very good brakes so not sure exactly where the problem is nor do I really want to get into them.
I did not drive the truck on the road so I am not sure how it handles I know the guy said he had it on the road and it takes a bit for the flat spot on the tires to smooth out. When I bought it I had no intentions of putting it on the road and I believe tagging it would be expensive as it is over the weight for conventional tags.

 

[deereguy]

We have an '69 IH CO 1800 Grain truck and an '78 IH 1800 Boom Truck with a roll-back bed on it, the brakes are the same way on both, if you use them daily- your in good shape, let them sit- that's different. Actually haven't driven the boom truck but 1x in 3 years- so I will live vicariously through you and this thread on that, the grain truck has helped make a lot of money this past fall hauling grain, both seem like great trucks.

I think the trucks from those era's may have had some brake issues if I recall.

Good Luck!!

 

[bwmarine]

The thing has a huge gas tank!!! When I went through the carb I also replaced the fuel line and put an inline fuel/water seperating filter. I did not reattach to the tank though, I just plugged the fitting at the tank and ran the fuel line to the top front corner of the bed, tie strapped it in place and installed an outboard fuel fitting on the end. So now I can use my 6 gal test tank that I run outboards on to run the truck. This way I know I always will have fresh gas when I want to run it.

Its an old truck but it will pay its keep ... ^^^ "cool" on the IH's

 

[kthompson]

Try bleeding the brakes and see if that solves the pumping problem.

 

[bwmarine]

I would get into the brakes if I were going to get it on the road... but they work good enough for what I will be using it for. Just not interested in trying to get them to work better... scared I may run into $$$ with parts - labor. Pump em up and I am good to go...

 

[Eagleview]

If the brakes pump up , it is only shoe adjustment . When the pedal is pumped , the shoes come out as far as they can on the first pump , when the pedal is pumped again , another lot of fluid is grabbed before they can retract and the shoes come out the rest of the way until they make contact with the drum with the next pump . If left for a couple of seconds , the return springs pull the shoes all the way back and you have a low pedal again . Adjust them up before you damage the cups in the master cylinder as they are being forced deep into the cylinder , over possibly a dirty or pitted area instead of working within the first inch of the cylinder .

 

[kthompson]

Glad Iron Horse brought up adjusting them, did not think about this truck probably has drum brakes which requires adjustment compared to most disk brakes. In addition to what Iron Horse warns about with not adjusting them, it is not impossible the wheel cylinder may end up not able to give the push required without coming clear of the wheel cylinder. This really is not costly, you will need a brake adjustment wrench maybe but some can be adjusted using a large flat screwdriver. The adjustment is a lot like the third arm on a tractor one way runs it out and the other runs it in to release the brakes. Find you an an old mechanic if you can and ask did he just run them until tight and then backed off (and how many times) or did he jack up the wheel and tighten them with turning the wheel by hand to determine the drag of the shoe. Doubt this last method will work on your drive axle.

I suspect you have a single chamber master cyl and if so, if one wheel cyl blows all brakes loose pressure.

While checking and adjusting the brakes, check the front wheel bearings to be sure they are greased fine and the rear axle oil. Sitting for a long period of time these can dry out or leak out.

If this is your first boom to operate you need to do some test lifts to find out how much variance there is in stability of lifting over the rear of the truck and the sides. Keep load as low as possible when swinging so if it begins to tip you can quickly get the load on the ground, hopeflully prevent something serious.