150% Heavier: Spring Growth Flush?

Jamin_Mayer

Jamin_Mayer

Location
Longmont, CO
Is this possible? I was doing a tree removal at 100' out with a 40tonner. We were confused by the loads reading 150% heavier than the current Green Log Chart.

In the past, when referring to the GLC we can dial in our weight guesstimates really well. But, we were finding the GLC to be off.

I was puzzled to say the least. Not only did these picks contradict the research, the logic (math), but it crushed my intuition. I've never been so surprised with such gross miscalculations before.

Obviously we were taking concervative picks and all went well (other than being nearly twice as long and me paying the crane more).
bangtard.gif
 
sounds like his computer was acting up or he programed it wrong accidentally hitting two or three parts instead of a single whip.
and/or
he might have been hustling you.

i worked in the crane rental business and both the above have been correct several times over my career.
 
did you visually check his weight computer? cause i would have hit the ground and checked his machine with him and then had him pick something i knew the weight of and had him tell me what it weighed. had some local union ops give me the same trouble in pueblo when i was hanging steel on Choctaw three or four(can't remember the number) over there when i worked for S&A. the above technique sure busted the hustlers.
 
Setting the parts of line would not effect the actual weight readout. That is measured by hydraulic pressure sensors on the boom and/or lift cylinder. 2cents fwiw
 
depends on the crane and the load computer i would say. if he was using a load cell then it would read line pull and programming the load cell wrong with to many parts it would read all kinds of crazy weights.
 
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did you visually check his weight computer?

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I wanted to badly. Tensions were building, so I didn't push it... But, I've been working with this guy for many years now. So, I'm taking him for his word. If it happens again though, I'll have to really wonder and ask if I can see for myself.

You'd think that after all these years of working with him, and suddenly challenge him; he'd challenge me and offer me to see the weights on his computer. Because it is in our human nature to proove ourselves if/when challenged.
 
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... That is measured by hydraulic pressure sensors on the boom and/or lift cylinder. 2cents fwiw

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Yep. He said the scale is certified as well. He said, if there were a hydraulic failure of some sort, the computer wouldn't allow him to move. Therefore, the scale must be correct.
 
And this is my point of the thread... As an arborist I'm bothered by the idea that the tree can take on 150% more weight in spring growth flush (or at any time).

I e-mailed Dr. John Ball about this. I hope I don't get lost in his busy e-mail. I'd like to see how he responds to this. He'd know.
 
Jamin, I had a 70 ton set my stump grinder in a backyard, my owners manual said the grinder weighed 3,000, crane scale showed 4,000. My thought was that the crane scales were recalibrated to keep them out over trouble.
 
Bacterial wet wood can damage or destroy the cells' ability to regulate osmosis, leaving the wood 'saturated' and heavier than normal. Was the tree a gusher?

Also, what species? Some conifers can have wildly varying wood densities depending on their rate of growth.
 
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Bacterial wet wood can damage or destroy the cells' ability to regulate osmosis, leaving the wood 'saturated' and heavier than normal. Was the tree a gusher?

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It was a populus deltoides (Hybrid Cottonwood). I've seen Plains & Hybrid truely "gush" water before. This one wasn't even dripping when flying the limbs to the street. Nor, did it drip when set on the ground.
 
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