Our brand new (to us) boom truck was almost a bust! We found a great deal on a used boom truck that will be extremely helpful going forward with construction. With a working boom truck we can move large lumber loads, tilt up walls, lift beams, set columns, set roof trusses, and more. After finding a great deal on a used one on Facebook marketplace we jumped on it. It was located in the mountains about 3 and a half hours from us so we made the trip up to get it. A roofing company was closing it’s doors and looking to get rid of the truck fast. Everything worked great when we got there so we purchased the truck and started the trip back through the mountains to bring it home!
Unfortunately, we had a series of unfortunate events trying to get the truck home. First, the road through the mountains was closed coming back due to flash floods. We attempted to circumvent this by going a different route, but that mountain pass was closed as well. After a several hour delay, the main road opened back up and we continued on the journey home.
Our boom truck problems only continued from there. Before we could make it out of the mountains, the truck broke down. There was smoke coming from the engine so we immediately pulled over to investigate the problem. Upon inspection we discovered that the engine overheated because of a blown radiator hose. This meant we would need to tow the boom truck the rest of the way home. At this point we were just hoping that the blown radiator hose didn’t cause damage to the engine that could be extremely expensive to fix or take the truck out of commission entirely.
After a daunting 14 hour day of driving, traffic, flash floods, detours, waiting for a tow on the highway, and one expensive tow truck ride home we finally made it. We may not have made it totally intact, but at least we got the boom truck home.
The next morning we inspected the damage and ,fortunately, the blown radiator hose did not damage the engine at all. A tow truck bill, $100, and a new radiator hose later we had the boom truck up and running! We immediately put the truck to use on our construction site by placing our steel columns. The truck will definitely come in handy moving forward!
To hear more about our boom truck bust and our eventful road trip, subscribe to our YouTube channel Tekton Home Construction! Check out our video below about the boom truck purchase.
Kendra Ann 