Pump and motor repair
The pump is the heart of the boom. We diagnose with a flow meter instead of a guess, then rebuild or replace with the numbers for both paths in writing.
Call (504) 385-9868Every slow boom in the metro gets blamed on its pump, and about half the time that is wrong. Slow function can be a tired pump, a bypassing relief, a restricted suction line, or fluid so contaminated it will kill whatever new pump you bolt on. Boomworks Hydraulics settles the question with instruments: a flow meter on the pump warm and under load, gauges on the circuit, and a fluid sample under a scope. You pay for the component that failed, not the one that got blamed.
PTO driven gear pumps, the workhorses on most boom trucks, typically replace rather than rebuild, and we keep common patterns moving quickly. Piston pumps and the hydraulic motors on winches and rotation drives are rebuild work: torn down at the Kenner bench, worn rotating groups and bearings replaced, and tested before reinstallation. Typical pump jobs land between $1,800 and $4,500, motors between $1,200 and $3,200, with the drivers listed in the cost guide.
The part nobody budgets for is what a dying pump already did. Shed metal circulates, and it settles in valve spools and cylinder glands. When teardown shows debris we say so immediately, flush the system, and check downstream components before the new pump eats the same dirt. It is the difference between fixing the failure and repeating it.
Pump and motor questions
My pump whines but the boom still works. How long do I have?
Not long, and every hour costs money. Whine is usually cavitation or wear, and a wearing pump sheds metal into the system while it dies. Caught now it is a pump job. Caught later it is a pump job plus flushing plus whatever the debris jammed.
Rebuild the pump or buy a new one?
Common gear pumps under about $1,200 new almost always replace. Piston pumps, big displacement pumps, and obsolete patterns rebuild. We put both numbers in the quote so the math is yours to see.
Why does my crane get slow on hot afternoons?
Hot, thin fluid stops hiding pump wear. Internal leakage that is tolerable at 80 degrees becomes obvious at 180. A flow test warm tells the truth in twenty minutes, and summer in Louisiana finds every tired pump by August.