The crane at the Port of Savannah looked totally different after 6 months

I worked a job at the Port of Savannah last spring on a Liebherr LTM 1050. The thing ran smooth, no issues. Came back to the same yard this fall and the whole hoist mechanism felt sluggish... winch sounded rough, load sway way worse. Turns out they stopped doing the daily grease schedule. One of the old timers there told me, "she's dry as a bone inside." Has anyone else seen a crane go downhill that fast just from skipping lube jobs?

3 comments

3 Comments

knight.felix1mo ago

That "metal grinding against metal with no cushion" line @dakotab93 said is spot on... but what gets me is how fast the crane operators themselves start adapting to the roughness without realizing it. They'll start feathering the controls more, slowing down their cycle times, and then call it "normal wear" instead of a lube issue. I've watched a guy on a 220 tonner add 20 seconds to every lift because he subconsciously compensated for the drag in the winch. By the time management finally noticed the production drop the internal damage was already done.

dakotab931mo ago

Agree with you completely. I've seen a 50 ton Grove eat itself in under 4 months because the night crew got lazy with the gearbox checks. That dry bone sound is unmistakable once you hear it, like metal grinding against metal with no cushion. The thing is these machines are designed to run with constant lubrication, skip it for a week and you're basically sanding down the internals. Once that wear starts it compounds fast, by the time you feel it in the controls the damage is already done. A full rebuild on a hoist drum assembly will cost way more than a few tubes of grease and 15 minutes of someone's time.

oliverhernandez1mo ago

@dakotab93 nailed it, a strict daily grease schedule turned my crane around in two weeks flat.