Shop Addition-2Ton TCM Forklift

alskdjfhg · Apr 3, 2017

Bought this 2ton TCM last Saturday, moved it today. Sure is a cute little thing.

These small forklifts don't get much attention. But been living without a small inside lift for the last few weeks, and it's been a real PITA.

Never heard of the maker before, made in Japan. Looked decently made, with Nissan engine. I liked how its designed so I can repack with cylinder glands without pulling the whole cylinder.

It was half the price of the same sized Hyster or Yale. But unlike those, hasn't got a leak on it, starts with the key and functions like it should. Mast height even fits the barn as if I planned it out.

I love my 25k Hyster, but it really is a bull in a china shop. Once I get all the machines moved inside, might think seriously about selling it....

Don't have a forklift jack, so think I'll have to use the big Hyster to pick up this little fellow so I can change the oil etc.

Didn't mess with taking a staged photo to really show the size difference between the two forklifts, but it's striking.

Garwood · Apr 3, 2017

alskdjfhg said:
It was half the price of the same sized Hyster or Yale.

Did the Hyster or Yale happen to have sideshift? (Looks like yours doesn't though there's a 3rd lever?)

alskdjfhg · Apr 3, 2017

Garwood said:
Did the Hyster or Yale happen to have sideshift? (Looks like yours doesn't though there's a 3rd lever?)

Some did some didn't, one also had a fork positioner. And yes mine does have the 3rd valve, but it's capped off.

Wasn't too in love with the sideshifter in the first place(probably gonna get flamed for that), most obstructed the view so much I was always getting off the machine to see where the forks were.

I also like that this one dosen't have a big "backstop" behind the forks, again less in the way of the view.

Real reason I went with this one, is that apart from a cautionary fluid and filter change, it's ready to go to work. The others I looked at all had issues, and I don't need any more machines with issues right now.

Garwood · Apr 3, 2017

Sideshift is pretty handy. It allows the impossible every so often for sure.

I think fork positioning is a luxory, but sideshift is more of a requirement.

alskdjfhg · Apr 3, 2017

I can understand why its nice, and I'm sure one day ill get a lift with it.

An 8,000lb boxcar with all the options would be super nice.

But for today, a good running, cheap, simple lift is more valuable than a "nicer" machine that needs work and is more money. Cash is tight and UH keeps demanding money.....

m16ty · Apr 4, 2017

I had a guy give me a 3000 lb capacity Cat lift awhile back. Only thing wrong with it was a bad master cylinder. The guy that had it said the master cylinder was obsolete was the reason he didn't want it anymore. I don't know where he checked but the local Cat dealer had one for $200.

That little lift has been the handiest thing in the shop. Mind you we have lifts from 3k to 100k but when you need to move a skid or get into a tight space, that little 3k is handy.

bryan_machine · Apr 11, 2017

What's UH?

That 25K lift migh be a bit much at times, but I bet you an 8K boxcar special would be a very nice complement to the smaller lift. (But your barn/shop looks less cluttered with doors and passages than mine, you might get away with just the 8K)

alskdjfhg · Apr 12, 2017

bryan_machine said:
What's UH?

UH is the University of Houston.

It's is already to the point where the 25k Hyster is pretty much useless inside. It was perfect to move the 70,000lbs of iron thats inside the shop currently, but won't do much good about the next 70,000lbs. Just no room to maneuver.

I need to get the little dump truck running so I can haul crushed concrete to finish my yard so the Hyster can live outside with the P&H crane. Those two compliment each other pretty well.

kb0thn · Apr 13, 2017

Out of curiosity, what will you be doing or making in your shop?

A few years ago you were talking about a Grove RT56. I bought one last fall to play with at my farm. Pretty good entertained for a $3,000 craigslist purchase! ;-)

alskdjfhg · Apr 13, 2017

kb0thn said:
Out of curiosity, what will you be doing or making in your shop?

Absolutely no idea. Priority is get school done, and get the farm and shop on their feet. IE overhaul all the farm machinery and machine tools. Having enough "fun" just getting power turned on.....

If I'm actually able to get that done in a reasonable time, be nice to try and chase paying work. Most of my stuff would be suited to heavy equipment repair, hydraulic cylinder work, pumps, but basically what ever I can fit in the machines I'd do it.

I think the Grove I was looking at was an RT58, didn't get it. Eventually got a P&H 440TC though, a 40ton lattice boom, friction, truck mounted job. A 30ton RT crane would be much handier, but the P&H is more fun to run.

kb0thn · Apr 13, 2017

alskdjfhg said:
I think the Grove I was looking at was an RT58, didn't get it. Eventually got a P&H 440TC though, a 40ton lattice boom, friction, truck mounted job. A 30ton RT crane would be much handier, but the P&H is more fun to run.

I had a typo in my post. Mine is a RT58. 1965 vintage, I think. And you are right, the 14 tons from the RT58 isn't much when it comes to moving big stuff. Moving empty 20' containers is easy enough. Even carrying them with the crane is possible, if not nerve wracking. But I wouldn't want to do much more than lift straight up and left the semi drive out from underneath if there was any weight in the container.

I would like to try a friction rig. Would love to get an old Manitowoc with Vicon and play with it.

-Jim

m16ty · Apr 13, 2017

For a older crane, I'd rather have a friction rig. Old hyd cranes seem to spring leaks everywhere and can cost a pretty good bit to fix.

alskdjfhg · Apr 14, 2017

m16ty said:
For a older crane, I'd rather have a friction rig.

Came to the same conclusion myself.

If the boom cylinders leak, you pretty much have to have another crane to brake the boom down enough to just get to the cylinders.

I have a small boom truck with leaking seals, so I will doing that myself here soon.

If you have the numbers for the seals or find a decent seal shop that will measure glands, the seals themselves are pretty cheap. But the equipment and time to do the work wont be...

With a friction crane, it is nice to set the drum dogs and not have to worry about anything leaking down. But hydraulic booms sure are faster to move from site to site and setup different boom lengths.

That being said, hydraulic is probably better to first learn on. The analogy I can come up with would be learning to drive in a car with an automatic, vs learning in a B series Mack with two sticks.....

kb0thn said:
I would like to try a friction rig. Would love to get an old Manitowoc with Vicon and play with it.

The P&H is a pretty new fiction rig, mid 70's vintage, but it sure serves as a reminder how nice modern equipment is.

Big cast iron hand levers (3' long), foot brakes, rough seat, no cab insulation, and you basically share space with the 4-53 power plant(with a straight pipe.....). Hats off to the folks that actually ran these for money back in the day.

I'd love a little crawler dragline myself. Be super handy to have around the farm.

ewlsey · Apr 14, 2017

When I was a kid the scrap yard had a crawler dragline setup with a magnet. It had some kind of Detroit power plant. That was a rough and ready rig. I remember being there one day and they had run the track off. How they did that in a perfectly level yard where the longest move was less than 100 yards is beyond me, but they did it.

m16ty · Apr 14, 2017

The biggest problem we have with older hyd cranes is the rotary coupling, that transfers all the hyd hoses up to the rotating boom. You want to talk about something hard to get to and deal with, the rotary coupling is it.

alskdjfhg · Apr 15, 2017

m16ty said:
The biggest problem we have with older hyd cranes is the rotary coupling, that transfers all the hyd hoses up to the rotating boom. You want to talk about something hard to get to and deal with, the rotary coupling is it.

Yup that's for sure.

On another forum I'm on, there are a bunch of guys that run crane/rigging companies with older hydrualic cranes. Since they do their own wrench turning, theyve posted pictures of doing the rotary coupling.

Dosent look like fun in my book.

Both forklifts got used today. Little guy was just the ticket for splitting a little tractor for a clutch.

And the 25k machine was perfect for moving a couple of lathes.

ewlsey · Apr 15, 2017

A See-and-See lathe? Wow.

alskdjfhg · Apr 15, 2017

ewlsey said:
A See-and-See lathe? Wow.

Don't get too excited....

Got it for free and its been sitting under a tarp for close to a year now.

Most likely scrap.

Got that Pacemaker and a BUNCH of other iron from the same folks. It was a "get it out of here or it goes in the dumpster deal".

ewlsey · Apr 15, 2017

Looks like a Fanuc. I bet we can make that run.

alskdjfhg · Apr 15, 2017

Yes it is, Fanuc OT.

The guy that I bought the little forklift from, hes a CNC tech that used to work for Fanuc.

He was pretty confident it would run as well.

Who knows, be something if lives again. I was told months before they decided to replace it with a Hass, it had a retrofit of some control board at a cost of 15k and was holding 10ths.

I was gonna haul it straight to scrap when I got it. But opened the door the turret was full of tooling, had a hydraulic 3 jaw chuck, with hard jaws. Took that as a good sign.

Shop Addition-2Ton TCM Forklift

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