Hitachi crane mode

[IceHole]

What does "crane mode" do on a Hitachi excavator?
Not sure what other machines have it, but my ZX40-3 does.

Only thing I can tell is it makes an amber strobe come on.
Has a bubble level off the armrest, I'd guess for crane work??
Has a built in hook off the H link.

The info I can find is there's working mode and crane mode, but nothing on what each do.

It has pilot valves on all the cylinders, I'd guess for lifting? Has a bunch of lift cert stickers in Japanese but most came off when I washed it. (Stickers an owner put on, not OEM)

Also has a 2nd key that goes in a switch that seems to do nothing. Not sure if related.

 

[Bullitt]

I hope someone that really knows answers I curious as well. As far as I can tell it uses boom cylinder pressure to set and alarm before the machine potentially becomes unbalanced. The lack of its purpose in the manual is kind of baffling.

 

[JaredV]

On Cat machines it slows things down to make movements smoother and more precise.

 

[skyking1]

I ran a cat that turned off the swing brake so you could smotthly move and counterswing to a stop. that was pretty sweet with a heavy load. None of that notchy bump.

 

[IceHole]

On Cat machines it slows things down to make movements smoother and more precise.

Like less flow?

I can't tell any difference, though could be it's not working right.

 

[JaredV]

I think so. It's been a couple years since I last used it but I know it is nice to have for setting precast bridge deck panels. I don't remember if it turned the swing brake off, too, but it probably did. I do know it made the job easier for the operator.