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lifting misadventure

JHOLLAND1

Titanium
Joined
Oct 8, 2005
Location
western washington state
this weeks project is restoration of S 60 genie boom lift
it rode a miller type trailer into a roadside gully when the pintle hitch fractured /separated from Freightliner dump
two Peterbuilt recovery vehicles winched the genie onto a beaver tail trailer and in process shredded ground control +platform and aerial control

right rear wheel and tire mangled

now at my shop I lift rear of machine--to remove tire and rim--genie rolls forward planting frame in ground

I planned to fab toe jack but implemented Chisholm Moore ratchet jacks in my inventory--these were bespoke made for US military --gang of 4 would lift 20 foot conex laden at 48K

I chopped 16 inches off top of one CM unit and placed under rear frame--these jacks are rack and pinion--it lifted all 12,000 lbs with around 20 lbs crank handle force

walking beam and bottle jacks used for added insurance

so the torq hub planetary is ready for new rim+wheel
and I will then focus upon upper and lower controls plus new platform
 

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look closely at foreground pic 4--a 20 ton bottle jack is mashed from swing axle drop--I was under machine and impact with bottle jack allowed Genie to roll forward with only a minor head strike--small price to pay
better to be lucky than smart:)

last pic is what is left of hub piloted rim which will be joined to new rim for precise fit
 

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WOW! glad you are OK, but where to start with "whats wrong wrong with this picture" soft ground is no place to attempt this kind of maneuver!!
 
One of those days

First let me say I am glad know one was injured, and yup shit happens.
I agree with Cyanidekid, jacks + soft ground = :mad5:
Having been in the soft ground Jack spot I can throw out a few suggestions.
1 Large steel road mending plates (~3/4-1" thick I don't know the weight of the Genie)with as large a foot print as is manageable under the Jack(s). The scrapper we use has loaned us these big heavy plates on the 1 or 2 occasions we need them.
2 Place cribbing under key points as you jack, I always anticipate a jack(s) failure.

Sorry to see what happened, be safe but looks like you well on your way outta the mess.
 
more of the story

the low profile 20 ton bottle jack--the mashed one--was seated on doug fir plank 3 in thick 10 in width 24 in length--compressive strength of doug fir around 7000 psi --load this jack supported 12K ---- total genie weight 25K

so in theory the plank should have supported the jack base--but it failed when two other jacks were removed --interior of plank contained multiple beetle tracts

I had a slab of 1.5 in thick kraft paper phenolic sheet 4 foot square--weight 100 lbs and yesterday sawed this into 4 pads for jack support--for years I have carrier one phenolic pad in pickup for jack base --flat tire contingency-- phenolic compressive strength 35K psi

no more wood for jack bases

but real issue of boom lift roll off is 10% down sloping grade lift is situated---normally planetary drives on 4 wheels would act as braking mechanism--but each one was defeated by inversion of end cap of torque hub drive---so they free wheeled-- the extraction crew reversed the end caps on all wheels-- and on my second attempt at elevating the lift I attached a hold fast line to dead head--my 26K weight champ lift truck--and chocked wheels of champ--so far this system works

pic illustrates torque hub planetary with end cap which free wheels drive when reversed
 

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the low profile 20 ton bottle jack--the mashed one--was seated on doug fir plank 3 in thick 10 in width 24 in length--compressive strength of doug fir around 7000 psi --load this jack supported 12K ---- total genie weight 25K

so in theory the plank should have supported the jack base--but it failed when two other jacks were removed --interior of plank contained multiple beetle tracts

I had a slab of 1.5 in thick kraft paper phenolic sheet 4 foot square--weight 100 lbs and yesterday sawed this into 4 pads for jack support--for years I have carrier one phenolic pad in pickup for jack base --flat tire contingency-- phenolic compressive strength 35K psi

no more wood for jack bases

but real issue of boom lift roll off is 10% down sloping grade lift is situated---normally planetary drives on 4 wheels would act as braking mechanism--but each one was defeated by inversion of end cap of torque hub drive---so they free wheeled-- the extraction crew reversed the end caps on all wheels--

THREE lessons to be learned here,

1) those hubs can be easily converted to freewheel, (or possibly can be stripped out internally)
NEVER ASSUME THEY ARE PROPERLY FUNCTIONING WITHOUT TESTING (on an old salvage unit)

2) WOOD IS A NATURL, VARIABLE MATERIAL. AVOID RELYING ON A SINGLE PIECE FOR A CRITICAL LIFT, AND LOAD IN COMPRESSION ONLY
two examples of better practice; proper cribbing uses multiple pieces of wood, and that is totally fine, and under the pads on crane outriggers they use plywood pads on asphalt, but they are square and uniformly loaded, you effectively beam loaded the one board.

3) SOFT GROUND IS INHERENTLY AN UNKNOWN, ALWAYS INCLUDE AT LEAST A 5 TIMES SAFTEY FACTOR.
a 1 X 1' ground pad is just not enough to lift 3-4 ton on soft ground, id think 2' X 2' is a bare minimum, and the pad has to spread the load over the entire surface (assume you have a hole under the middle of the pad. for that id think 5/8" thick steel is needed at minimum. or something like two sheets of 3/4 ply at 2' sq. and a 1.5' sq. of 1/2 " steel on top.

again, really glad you are ok, and thanks for posting, good to know about those hubs in particular!
 
Inspect the boom on that think carefully before using it.

I almost bought one for insurance salvage after it rolled off trailer and over. The booms on them are over-reinforced on bottom for the lift cylinder lug, but the webs (sides of the box-section) are thin, thin, stuff, and once they buckle even a little the boom will fold.
 
Inspect the boom on that think carefully before using it.

I almost bought one for insurance salvage after it rolled off trailer and over. The booms on them are over-reinforced on bottom for the lift cylinder lug, but the webs (sides of the box-section) are thin, thin, stuff, and once they buckle even a little the boom will fold.

Was it you, or OP, that asked about my lift last year? With OP's description of the damage, I was thinking it was same machine, maybe not?
 
If you don't kill yourself getting it fixed, you'll really like having the lift. I picked a cheap Genie S40 lift and I absolutely love it. It was cheap, so it has issues. But getting to wherever you want without using a ladder is awesome.

As I am sure you have found, Genie has every manual for the thing right on their website. I've found that buying the parts factory direct is the most expensive, but there are a multitude of dealers selling OEM parts with dramatically different prices. $40 switch from genie might be $25 from one dealer and $6.50 from another.

I get to rebuild the anti-oscillation cylinders on the non-steering axle of my lift. As I've acquired more heavy equipment I invested in a pair of 20 ton jack stacks with big bases. And a 20 ton air over hydraulic jack. On flat dry ground with sufficient bearing capacity, lifting is so easy. Just put the 20 ton jack in the middle of the axle, lift the whole thing, and then set jack stand(s) and the height and location desired.
 
donor wheel rim

unable to locate needed 15x19.5 inch tire and rim with required 11 inch hub bore to accommodate 11 inch torque hub planetary construct in effect on this early series Genie S60

scrap yard partner donated proper rim and tire assembly removed from LiftAll
but 9 inch bore was present
so---I cut mangled Genie rim apart--cleaned up on Romi lathe--then welded Genie hub plate to donor LiftAll rim

cut away obstructing 9 in donor plate and drilled 10 new penetrations thru donor rim allowing hub piloted mating with 11 in Genie drive hub

all in all---savings of $1000 :)

pics illustrate Mitsui Seiki jig borer

reground 1-1/2 in counterbore cutter to angled counter sink required to seat lug nuts



YouTube
 

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