CRANE!! AM I DREAMING?

I'd be leery of buying a crane from a tree service, unless you personally knew what they are like with their operations and equipment. Almost any other past use would be better than tree work, imo.
 
Jon- I had one- kick ass machine. Call me. A friend of mine runs one everyday. It's a simple machine which is good in the crane world. You will love it!
 
cory said:
I'd be leery of buying a crane from a tree service, unless you personally knew what they are like with their operations and equipment. Almost any other past use would be better than tree work, imo.
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Except possibly truss and roofing delivery. Those are entry level jobs with a revolving door for the operators.
 
So in looking at cranes this past week I have kinda narrowed it down between two. My question is though, should I be going for capacity or live boom height? It seams like in my experience it was more important to have the height then the capacity. Now, having both would be great but I just can not afford the 300+K for the larger cranes.
So:

30 ton 105 feet live boom with 115 feet hook height( comes with jib too) OR:

40 ton 95 feet live boom, with 105 feet hook height (comes with jib as well.)

I really would like to not go through the hassle of putting the jib on for every job. Every once in a while is fine.
 
I also would vote 30. But, don't just look at max capacity and max height/reach. Lay the charts for both cranes next to each other, then compare capacities at 50' radius, 60' radius, 70' radius, etc. I rarely run into heighth problems. I usually run into radius problems. If the crane is in the driveway and you're reaching over the house (SOP around here), you're automatically at 50' radius or more. Often we're 90', 100' or so out, and the charts really start evaporating out there.

Remember, if you don't have enough heighth, you can always rig the tops conventionally and fold them over, either just choked to itself like TreeVet does, or with a regular block, line and Porty, just don't lower it any. Then once it's folded over, 25' shorter than it started out as and the shock loading is done, have the crane pick it up off the choker/rigging line. Capiche?
 
Jeff said:
I also would vote 30. But, don't just look at max capacity and max height/reach. Lay the charts for both cranes next to each other, then compare capacities at 50' radius, 60' radius, 70' radius, etc. I rarely run into heighth problems. I usually run into radius problems. If the crane is in the driveway and you're reaching over the house (SOP around here), you're automatically at 50' radius or more. Often we're 90', 100' or so out, and the charts really start evaporating out there.

Remember, if you don't have enough heighth, you can always rig the tops conventionally and fold them over, either just choked to itself like TreeVet does, or with a regular block, line and Porty, just don't lower it any. Then once it's folded over, 25' shorter than it started out as and the shock loading is done, have the crane pick it up off the choker/rigging line. Capiche?
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Capiche: Yes, I get that! I have done that in the past, kinda a pain, but it does get you by in a pinch. The 30 ton has a pretty good chart at the 50-60 and 70 food radius. Beyond that it does drop off a lot. Around here though I can get my crane to about a 50 foot radius on almost every job. Also, a large tree company around here uses 22.5 ton cranes and had used them for YEARS! and has made TONS of money with them in this market.

Just looked it up, at 50 food radius your good for about 4K. That is enough to work with in my experience.
 
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