Swivel rings need more maintenance than anyone wants to admit

I was working a job in Pittsburgh last month setting steel for a new parking garage. My swivel ring started binding up on the third pick of the day, and the oiler said it looked fine that morning. Turns out grit from the site had worked its way into the raceway because nobody bothers to wipe the seal clean between lifts. I took it apart on the ground and found chunks of concrete dust packed in there. Has anyone else had a swivel seize up mid-lift because of this?

3 comments

3 Comments

susan_allen4d ago

Hold up @caleb_bell5, are we really acting like a little concrete dust is gonna kill a swivel ring mid lift? I've seen guys run them through way worse without touching them for days and they still spin fine. Tbh, most of the time it's just guys not knowing how to work the thing rather than some big maintenance problem.

caleb_bell54d ago

The 5500 pound limit on those standard swivel rings is actually a working load limit, not a breaking strength. A lot of guys mix those up and end up overloading them on smaller lifts without realizing it. On your binding problem, I've seen that same concrete dust issue more times than I can count. The seals on most swivel rings are just wiper rings, not true sealed bearings, so they let fine grit right in if you are in a dirty environment like a parking garage pour. A good habit is hitting the swivel with a rag and some WD-40 around the raceway after every few picks, even if the oiler signs off on it. Have you checked the swivel bearing itself for any flat spots or pitting from the debris?

ivan4624d ago

Yeah the WD-40 trick works but you gotta wipe it down good after or it just traps more dust. Those wiper rings are basically useless once concrete fines get in there. I've pulled apart swivels that looked fine on the outside but the raceway was chewed up bad. Usually happens when guys skip the daily lube on the bearing itself not just the swivel part.

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