Hydraulic Pump Options for Bucket Truck

[gtermini]

So I bought this bucket truck on the cheap ($1800) for my pops to work on the roof and cut trees around the home place. It works mostly as it should, save for some rat chewed wires from sittings out in the ding weeds.

The bucket is 12V electric over hydraulic and the batteries that came with it were old junk. I threw a couple nearly new matched RV deep cycles I had in it to get it moving. The battery life is TERRIBLE! Going up with the bucket and once around about kills them even with the engine running. The 460 gas vacuum of an engine only has a single normal sized alternator, which seems lame to me, and I really don't think running it all the time would be ideal anyways. I think it originally had 4 or 6 series banked 6V AGM batteries like a big motorhome or golf cart.

I'm not really keen to throw half the price of it again at a new set of batteries, especially since this thing may only see 10 hrs of use a year. The gears in my head are saying the best thing would be rig it up with a stand-alone pony engine hydraulic pump. It would need a second larger reservoir to feed the pony pump and probably a selector valve so the 12V system could stay intact.

Anybody have any thoughts on what they'd do?

Oh and here's a couple pics of it

[oldnslo]

I've sold ALOT of batteries in my former auto parts life, and highly doubt the the deep cycle is the right battery for that application. I sense that you need a higher-amp, and shorter draw cycle (similar to a starter motor), with good reserve capacity, vs a lighter continual deep drawdown (and continued charge/recharge cycles) for your application. This presumes that there is a charging system of decent capacity (more like 80-90 amp) in play from the OEM.

Check with the equipment mfgr for battery specs, and then perhaps evaluate your battery performance with a set of swapped in higher capacity starting batteries to compare your deep cycle battery life results before you spend bucks.

[skfarmer]

i know it is not a gas  sipper but how much does it really use ?   3 gallons an hour x 4 dollars a gallon x 10 hours is  120 dollars for the year.  another  motor and  will be a lot more than that and it will still use a gallon an hour. that isn't even counting the added maintainenece.

 

i think proper batteries is the best place to start  and then maybe  upgrading the alternator if need be. it must have worked at one time.

[gtermini]

it must have worked at one time.

I'm trying not to forget this and fix what isn't broken.

I'm not too worried about fuel usage. My main hesitation is having a grand in new batteries die in a hurry from sitting around unused and outside. Whereas a little honda engine is pretty darn reliable in my experience.

I sense that you need a higher-amp, and shorter draw cycle (similar to a starter motor), with good reserve capacity, vs a lighter continual deep drawdown (and continued charge/recharge cycles) for your application. This presumes that there is a charging system of decent capacity (more like 80-90 amp) in play from the OEM.

I'll see if I can rob some 8D's out something around to try out. I don't trust the charging system now as it's a little butchered and the isolator needs the wiring cleaned up. Any recommendations on a battery that won't degrade just sitting around?

[oldnslo]

Batteries have 2 enemies. Heat, and vibration. Other than that, all batteries will discharge over time. The 8D is a great choice in power tho. Again, borrowing something to see if it is the remedy is a great start and is a near no-cost option.

[Midnitemack]

Batteries have 2 enemies. Heat, and vibration. Other than that, all batteries will discharge over time. The 8D is a great choice in power tho. Again, borrowing something to see if it is the remedy is a great start and is a near no-cost option.

Worst thing also for batteries is sitting in a discharged state , why not mount one of those smallish solar panels next to the batteries with a controller  and they will always maintain a good state of charge.


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[slip knot]

is the amp draw of the hydro motor ok? it may be the culprit. IIRC they are similiar to a starter. it may need some love.

[gtermini]

is the amp draw of the hydro motor ok? it may be the culprit. IIRC they are similiar to a starter. it may need some love.

I need to asses that for sure. There was a rat nest in the brush housing, which doesn't help anything.