Crane Refurbishment Services
Extending Your Cranes Life
In the past few years we at Bode Technical Services have seen a significant increase in crane refurbishment services and replacement services, both here in the USA and worldwide. With our 36 years of experience specializing in crane electronic repairs our clients trust our advice on this matter and often come to us with questions. Invariably the question comes down to, “is it worth it?” A very good question!
To answer the “worth” question we look at two main factors; both having to do with the cost now, versus the cost at some point in the future. Every system is going to fail at some point, its really a question of fixing now and replacing later, or replacing now.
Two considerations around this:
1. Safety – our biggest concern when we hear about malfunctioning crane electronic systems revolves around the potential danger involved. Obviously in an ideal world there would be NO danger when operating a crane, however that is just not realistic. We have to ask ourselves what is the likelihood of something happening, and what is the severity if it does happens. Unfortunately in this industry the severity of an accident is usually high, involving the loss of property and unfortunately sometimes life. Knowing the severity is unacceptably high, we have to look at the likelihood of something happening. Is the electronic issue worsening? Often intermittent problems can be fixed in the wiring, however deteriorating conditions generally move quickly with one small issue causing a larger one, and that one causing a bigger one. As the likelihood of failure increases the risk and repair cost quickly becomes unacceptable. With a deteriorating condition we generally recommend immediate repair and/or refurbishment.
2. Condition – Another big consideration is the condition of all the other electronic components as well as the crane’s mechanical and hydraulic systems. Often we find that the LMI / RCI systems are the “first to go,” understandably so as they are under heavy use in extreme conditions and are more fragile than the mechanical and hydraulic systems. Sometimes replacing individual components is the best route. Sometimes our recommendation with a failing load indication system on an otherwise good machine is for an upgrade to a newer system. We have seen owners who purchased one component for a failing system, then a few months needed another, then a few months needs another; a very frustrating situation! However what is worse is when another piece fails ant that one is no longer available; the owner is then forced to buy a complete new system after having wasted thousands of dollars on the previous components. Several companies such a PAT-Hirschmann or Load Systems International make excellent after market replacement systems. After reviewing a client’s current system and its condition we can make a good recommendation based on what we have seen over the years with that particular LMI / RCI system.
We hope that these two considerations will help you in evaluating your current electronic system. As we had mentioned, every system will fail at some point, however with some smart decisions around refurbishment it can be a simple cost effective maintenance issue not an overwhelming expense or disaster. As always we are available any time to help answer questions you may have. Please feel free to call and speak with one of our knowledgeable technicians at toll free 855.BODE.TEC or 855.263.3832.
Bode Technical Services specializes in crane repair on Terex Cranes, Demag Cranes, Grove Cranes, Liebherr Cranes, and Krupp cranes. Beyond crane repair, Bode Technical Services also utilizes a global network of crane parts suppliers including PAT-Hirschmann, Load Systems International, Terex-Demag, Grove, and Greer to supply fast, cost-effective crane parts. We also specialize in crane refurbishment.
