Sid? Any body ever operate a boom truck ?

[fastfredracing]

So my buddy Bob, fell off a ladder in the fall cleaning his gutters. He is a crafty old guy with money, and loves to tinker, so he sold his ladder, and bought a bucket truck. It is a 2000 f 550 with a muncie PTO .
He raised the boom fully extended to pressure wash, and paint it. He turned the truck off, and now, the PTO on the truck will not engage.
He thinks he got some of the controls wet, but all the controls for the PTO are in the cab , and I just think that he has engaged some sort of safety.
Anybody know how to get it down? It is stuck between a bunch of trees, and we can't even move it until we figure out how to get the boom down. He said that there is some sort of back up PTO pump, but it will not engage either. ??????

[porsche4life]

Post some pics. What make is the bucket unit? They almost all have some sort of emergency down.

Getting the controls wet shouldn't be a huge deal. Our entire fleet sits out and gets pressure washed regularly. It sounds like its the PTO itself that won't engage? Is it in neutral? Every PTO is different in that regard. One of ours you have to hold your mouth just right and pull the PTO lever while the truck is in reverse. Also is there a power switch for the controls?

Post pics of the Bucket unit, any switches related to it in the cab and the PTO and I'll try to help you out. We've had several around that same era.

[scottmandue]

There is a big kill switch (usually, I work with scissor and boom lifts but not a bucket on a truck)

Typically a big round red button, push down to disable, pull and/or rotate to pop it up and back on. Easy to lean on or bump it to switch off.

[GWN7]

One of our ladder trucks had micro switch problems that wouldn't allow it to be moved if they were in safety mode. It shouldn't matter they got wet because they are designed to be used in wet environments.

[71scgc]

Is there a control box say, behind the seat?
See if there's some sort of shut off on it. Shut it off. Start the truck. Turn the unit back on and see if it resets.
Is there a start switch in the bucket for the truck? If so, try starting the truck from that switch.
The units sometimes get out of synch. I've had it happen to me many years ago, and I don't recall exactly what we did to clear it, but I seem to remember something along these lines.

Carter

[rwest]

The one at work won't operate if the parking brake isn't set, double check that.

[JJ 911SC]

When all fail, listen to the wife and read the instruction

http://www.munciepower.com/clientuploads/directory/Resources/IN/IN11-04%20-%20Preliminary.pdf

[porsche4life]

Jj, likely the PTO isn't the problem. . Bucket trucks are much like jaguars. Way too damned many electronics, mins of which make sense, and all prone to failure...


We have one unit with FIBER OPTIC cable running up the boom for the controls, talk about a bloody delicate nightmare!

[356racing]

Originally Posted by rwest

The one at work won't operate if the parking brake isn't set, double check that.

That's my suggestion too.

[afterburn 549]

Is the PTO engaging?
if not why not.
Hyd. oil in the tank? ?
Is this the remote control style?