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Hit 5000 hours on the same tower crane and the logbook felt weird
I was filling out my daily sheet on a job in Cincinnati and realized I'd crossed that mark without noticing. It made me think about how much wear the machine must have taken compared to my first day on it. Do you guys track your hours per machine or just total time?
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taylor.jessica7mo ago
My buddy Carl logged 3200 hours on a Link-Belt in Detroit. He said the swing gear started making a different sound around the 3000 mark, like a low hum he could feel in the cab. The company mechanic told him it was just normal wear, but Carl swore he knew every new creak.
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caseywalker6mo ago
Man, @taylor.jessica, that operator's gut feeling is the real maintenance schedule.
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caseywalker7mo ago
Totally get what Carl means, @taylor.jessica. Had a similar thing with an old excavator I ran, where the track motors developed this weird whine right before a rainstorm, like they were predicting the weather. You just know the machine's language after a while. My boss said the same thing, that it was fine, but I pushed for a check and they found a seal starting to go. It's that deep knowledge of the sounds that keeps things from breaking down big time.
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piper_garcia237mo ago
Honestly, I've never kept a separate log per machine. I just track my total seat time. After a certain point, they all blend together for me. I focus on the job that day, not which specific rig I'm in. As long as the daily checks are done and it feels right, that's what matters. The company handles the maintenance history.
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