Tips on getting started with crane work

L

Lupin_IV

Participating member
Location
St Paul
I’ve looked a bit but have yet to do a deep dive in the Buzz archives so sorry if this has been gone over.

EAB is hitting pretty hard this year. We had a big set of Ash removals
to be major differences in the strength of different trees right next to each other. Enough to give me a little bit of pause while rigging and wonder if I may be getting carried away.
 
My first suggestion is to find either a local company who does a lot of craning to work with a while, or hire a contract climber to work off the crane to train you in how to rig and cut. Craning trees is different, and basically backwards from everything you do when rigging, so it takes a lot to learn to do it right.

Also, find a local crane service that knows what they are doing. Many do not, even if they are willing to pick trees, and many other crane services will not lift a tree.
 
Even watching crane work 1 or 2 days will really open your eyes as to what you can do with a crane. Invest in communication headsets, and work with good weight margins. The most challenging part of cane work is estimating weights. The second most challenging is the reverse rigging, and making your cuts to work with the rigging. A good crane operator that knows trees can significantly reduce time on site. Also, we have found that crane work paired with a lift can be done in about half the time of crane work with a climber.
 
When I first got a crane-op headset the CO was open to the idea.
The $150 that I spend for him to have the headset was saved on the first job.

I had to run past his shop at the end of the day.

I walked in to give him his forgotten chain binder. He pulled out his wallet and handed me his credit card and pointed me to his computer, asking me to order him three headsets for his crew.


Consider building a little model crane out of basic parts (2x2", a pulley at the end, some cord for crane cable and start to dismantle a tiny, tiny tree (or a limb jammed into the ground) with it.
 
Reach said:
My first suggestion is to find either a local company who does a lot of craning to work with a while, or hire a contract climber to work off the crane to train you in how to rig and cut. Craning trees is different, and basically backwards from everything you do when rigging, so it takes a lot to learn to do it right.

Also, find a local crane service that knows what they are doing. Many do not, even if they are willing to pick trees, and many other crane services will not lift a tree.
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Even if you have to travel outside your area, seeing it in person will teach you so much.

I wouldn’t trust what you see on Youtube. Lots of bad choices represented.

Stick cranes work a lot differently than knucklebooms. Cuts and techniques differ. If you know what you’ll be using, that can narrow down your initial training.

And once you know what you’re doing… you’ll be so glad you learned. It’s a phenomenal tool for lots of situations. Like- will we be walking all this material from this maple up these steep narrow stone steps behind the house? Or craning it all to the front yard?
 
This is one of those things you really need a mentor for. Youtube and other internet sources, while somewhat helpful, really dont do it here.

Using practices to keep a climber safe and properly rig pieces takes time and experience to learn. You dont want to get hurt or killed during that learning process.
 
Fivepoints said:
This is one of those things you really need a mentor for. Youtube and other internet sources, while somewhat helpful, really dont do it here.

Using practices to keep a climber safe and properly rig pieces takes time and experience to learn. You dont want to get hurt or killed during that learning process.
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I just picked two easy trees for my first time. One was an oak growing 6 feet sideways across a single story roof. The other was a three leader oak a couple inches from a roof line. Both would have been awkward to rig, but they were not large (~24" diameters). Worked for me. I read Treebuzz posts of course.
 
I don’t have a ton of crane experience but 30 ton is the smallest I would go. Comm units are KEY. Better to go on the lighter side at first so you can get a better idea of what things weigh.
Cranes are an amazing tool to use but things can go sideways real quick. When in doubt go small, it will still be faster and easier than climbing and rigging.
 
Operator experience is a must. I first got into crane work with a guy who owns a treemek (I believe he'd owned it about a year at that point) and hadn't done any treework before buying that crane. Brushing the tree out was super efficient, however at times picking wood was quite scary lol.

Some of the blame on the trunk wood was definitely our fault as the climbers as we were inexperienced, but we didn't quite trust the setup and logs would come off pretty rough.



Fast forward to working with an operator with 20 years experience craning trees and has had climbing experience and everything is going much smoother. Our current operator runs a 50T stick crane, however I'm confident that he'd be just as smooth on a knuckle crane after a short learning curve. Now he's looking into a Merlo, I'm expecting a learning curve if he buys it, but I suspect it will be smooth sailing in no time.



As mentioned, helmet comms are a must. Both for climber and operator communication but also for ground guys to call out hazards that the climber doesn't see.
 
flushcut said:
Cranes are an amazing tool to use but things can go sideways real quick.
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:LOL: I don't know what to say here. Intentional, unintentional, based on experience, not based on experience... Regardless, this is probably the most distilled statement about cranes that any of us will ever see.
 
I never meant it to be highly accurate precise info. Just my observations. You cut it you own it regardless of what it weighs, good or bad, you own it.
I personally have seen some stupidly shady incompetent crane use. The climbers rational was “it’s a 60ton it can handle some butt hitching” as in negative rigging with a crane, shock load for dayz! He owned it, crane didn’t go over but he owned it.
 
Lupin_IV said:
I’ve looked a bit but have yet to do a deep dive in the Buzz archives so sorry if this has been gone over.

EAB is hitting pretty hard this year. We had a big set of Ash removals
to be major differences in the strength of different trees right next to each other. Enough to give me a little bit of pause while rigging and wonder if I may be getting carried away.
Click to expand...
EAB is going to turn some trees real weak, real quickly. Using a minimim of 3 slings for any brushy pick would be my advice, along with each sling being long enough to tie a few marls along the stem before terminating. Is something breaks, the marls can help keep things together. Avoid wide interior angles of your slings, as this puts undue stress on the pick.

Another strategy is what i call a tell-tail. This is essentially a long sling hanging down through the COM. If you tie things off wrong, the tell-tail will be out of line. You can refer to it while setting the initial slings, and then, if desired, it can actually be terminated down low to help share the lift.

You’ll want to ensure the hook is centered with, but above the center of mass of the pick. If you’re climbing on the crane, ensure you haven’t influenced the hook away from the COM when tying off the first and second sling. If all is tied off and pretensioned properly, you should be able to cut straight through. If unsure, the most practical cut is a shelf cut (make a level cut beginning from the underside of the lean, and stop 3/4 to 7/8 through…finish with a vertical “chair back” that meets or crosses the apex of the first cut.

Take a smaller pick first. If the crane has an LMI, take note of the weight and use it as a guide for estimating the rest of the tree. When picking near capacity of the crane chart, you lose for estimating under the actual weight.

Think safety and don't take any shortcuts. If you have to adjust or make changes, do it!
 
oceans said:
Another strategy is what i call a tell-tail. This is essentially a long sling hanging down through the COM. If you tie things off wrong, the tell-tail will be out of line. You can refer to it while setting the initial slings, and then, if desired, it can actually be terminated down low to help share the lift.
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Wicked smaht, thanks for sharing that!
 
Also depends on your skill level and experience with dead trees/different species. Ash sucks unfortunately because it is so brittle even when it is alive.... Craning out dead/brittle trees via climbing is a bit risky as all of the picks will be suspended just above you after you cut them. If you botch the slinging, shit is going to break off and fall on you and you will not be able to move. If you're an experienced climber the rigging concepts shouldn't be difficult to sort out. Start small and try to do live trees for the first few times to experiment with the slinging. Don't try to single sling a broad dead ash tree or you're going to get smacked. Get the Mark Chisolm tuffleburger rope slings or some equivalent. Three slings for the dead broad stuff....

The time you'll save on the cleanup alone is unbelievable and will make it worth it. Cranes make you more efficient and saves you time and money... call a few companies and try it out. I misunderstood it until I tried it. Would have gotten into it sooner had I known.
 
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