The 3-month change in my sit-down crane seat that had me laughing

I got a new Liebherr LTM 1050 about 3 months ago and the seat felt fine at first. But after 60 hours of running jobs around Portland, the foam broke in just the right spot. Now every time I lift a heavy load, the seat squeaks like a rusty gate. My oiler started calling it the 'fart cushion' because of the noise. Has anyone else dealt with a seat that breaks down weirdly fast on a newer rig?

3 comments

3 Comments

phoenixb347d agoMost Upvoted

Wait, 60 hours? That's basically nothing for a seat in a rig this new. I've seen cheaper seats in beat-to-hell city trucks hold up better than that lmao. The fact that your oiler already gave it a nickname means it's bad enough to be a running joke on the job. My first thought is maybe the foam density is wrong for your weight or the way you sit, but that's still a huge miss from Liebherr for what those cranes cost.

eva_thompson7d ago

The oiler calling it something tells you everything you need to know really. I've sat in a lot of overpriced stuff in my time and usually by hour 60 you've either settled in or are plotting how to set it on fire. Seems like Liebherr forgot that a seat isn't just a place to park your lunch cooler. Maybe they hired the same guy who designed those rental car seats that feel like concrete after an hour. Either way, at that price you shouldn't be needing a chiropractor on speed dial.

craig.mila6d ago

I mean, phoenixb34, I get what you're saying about 60 hours being nothing for most rigs, but actually that's not really true for how seat foam works sometimes. idk, in my experience, a lot of seats in new cranes break in fast, like the first 50 to 100 hours are when the foam settles. If it's gonna squeak or have a weird spot, that's usually when you find out. It's not like the seat is worn out at 60 hours, it's more like the foam just landed wrong from the start. The nickname thing is funny though, yeah, once something gets a name like "fart cushion" you know it's not gonna be fixed anytime soon.