Whether you are stuck at home or trying to go away for a vacation, summertime is also a time for bad weather. Hurricanes, thunderstorms, and derechos can keep utility equipment operators busy no matter what is going on. Staying safe means never skipping your daily pre-operations check or knowing where the manual is … and much more. Everyone knows that bucket truck operators are busy for days and have lots work to do after storms -- repairing wires, fixing traffic lights, and trimming downed trees/limbs. There are two important pieces to staying safe on the job -- having the right … [Read more...]
Auger Bits & Pieces
The UEP Guys sat down with Robert Frost of Frost Auger Tooling, Inc. If we did podcasts, this would have been a good one. But alas, we thought having a blog for you to read at your leisure was even better than a podcast! Frost Auger is proud of their product, and they deserve to be – they use only quality, American-made steel. No shortcuts – their auger shafts are heavy duty DOM tubes, not piping. For you steel geeks out there, you know that DOM (Drawn over Mandrel) tubing is very high quality. You won’t see this little dinky auger anywhere near their factory. But what a clever idea … [Read more...]
Little PTO
Who can forget the muscle cars of the 60’s and 70’s? The Pontiac GTO was the poster child. Here’s how Ronny & the Daytonas put it: Little GTO You're really lookin' fine Three deuces and a four-speed And a three-eighty-nine Oh wait, this blog is supposed to be about PTO’s, not GTO’s. :roll: So, what the heck is a PTO? Per Wikipedia, a power take-off (PTO) is any of several methods for taking power from a power source, such as a running engine, and transmitting it to an application such as an attached implement or separate machine. PTO and pump attached to an engine shown … [Read more...]
Airing It Out … How to Bleed the System
Now that winter is over ... time to "get the lead out" and the AIR!! What does that mean anyway ... "get the lead out?!" Oh well, back to the important part of this blog. ;-) Have you ever tried working the upper controls of your bucket truck and the system seems sluggish? It’s a frustrating thing because you just can’t get the boom to move as much as you want it to – the system doesn’t respond crisply. Obviously, your first step is to consult the unit’s maintenance manual. A blocked control orifice could be causing your problem, or you may have air in the lines that carry hydraulic … [Read more...]
A Bucket Truck Owner’s – Twas the Night Before Christmas
Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the hydraulic house The bucket trucks were in their bays, quiet as a mouse. Their buckets and liners were hung by the upper boom with care Anticipating that a downed wire or damaged tree soon would be there. The tools and ropes were nestled all snug on the truck beds While visions of sugar-plums danced on the control heads And mamma with her saw scabbard and I with my tools Had just settled down to work on the triple valve spools. When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter It was clear that this would take much more than just … [Read more...]
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