Used drywall trucks
A used drywall crane truck can be a smart buy or an expensive lesson. Here is where to look, what to check and how we can help.
The trucks that used to be listed here have sold
This page used to list individual trucks: Western Stars and Sterlings with Fassi and IMT cranes, a Ford with a Palfinger PW350, Macks with IMT 16042s, a Volvo with a Prentice TeleStick 33. Every one of them sold years ago. When we have a used drywall truck or crane truck for sale now, it is listed on the crane trucks page at drywallcranes.com. If nothing there fits, call and tell us what you are after, and we will keep an eye out for it.
Talk to someone who builds drywall trucks
Tell us the crane, the truck and what you need: a new build, a used truck, a part or a repair. Give us the model and serial number when you have them.
What to check before you buy a used drywall truck
Most of the cost of a bad used drywall truck is hidden in the crane. Before you buy, or before you ask us to look at one for you, check:
- Crane hours and the serial plate. Match the plate to the paperwork, and ask for the service history
- Cylinders. Look for rod scoring, weeping seals and drift with a load held in the air
- Slewing. Rotate the crane through its full range under load and listen for knocks
- Boom pins and bushings. Slop at the knuckle and the boom foot means bushings, or worse
- Outriggers. Every leg should extend, set and hold without creeping down
- Controls and the remote. Every function, from every control station, with no dead spots
- The bed and the mount. Cracks at the crane mount, the crossmembers or the frame rails are a stop sign
- Forks. Check the tines, pads, rollers and the rotator, and whether they suit the crane
- The chassis. Miles, engine hours, transmission and differentials, like any heavy truck
We can inspect a truck at our shop in Orlando before you buy it, and tell you what it needs and what that will cost.
Mounting a used crane on your truck
If you already own a good chassis, a used crane mounted on it can cost far less than a complete truck. We source used knuckle boom cranes by make and model, build the bed and the mount, and plumb the hydraulics and the outriggers, the same way we build a new truck.
Parting out a crane
Sometimes the right answer for a worn or damaged truck is to part it out. We buy and sell used crane parts for drywall trucks. See crane parts.