Swing brake locked up on me mid lift last Wednesday

I was setting steel beams at a school renovation down on Elm Street when suddenly my swing brake just seized up. We were maybe 30 feet up with a 2 ton beam swinging and I had to feather the controls to keep it from spinning out of control. Ended up having to set the load down gentle and call the shop for a backup rig. Has anyone else had their swing brake actuator fail without warning like that? Im thinking about switching to a different brand of brake pads but not sure what holds up better on these older Grove cranes.

2 comments

2 Comments

olivia_murphy7d ago

Yeah that sounds terrifying, did you have to change your pants after that? I swear swing brakes on Groves have a mind of their own, especially the older ones. I had a similar thing happen on a 40 tonner a few years back, except mine locked up while I was just slewing empty and I nearly spun myself right off the deck. Took me a solid hour to unstick it with a crowbar and some choice words. I'd say try the aftermarket ceramic pads from a place like H&E, they hold up way better than the stock stuff on those older drums. Just be careful with the adjustment, too tight and they'll grab like a pitbull on a pork chop.

gibson.mark7d ago

Man that's wild. I heard a story from a crane inspector last year, said he saw a Grove lock up so hard the operator nearly got thrown into the counterweight. @olivia_murphy you're dead right about those ceramic pads. A buddy of mine runs a fleet of older Groves and he switched to H&E pads on all of them. He said it cut his brake problems by like 80 percent. The stock pads just don't have the same grip when they heat up. And yeah, that adjustment thing is no joke. Too tight and you're fighting the brake all day.