Crane fail

A friend spoke to the operator. He was kind enough to give permission for the story to be told here.

it was a 23 ton crane at 60', good for 2,800 lbs, he told the bucket op he was good for 2,000. Tree had been brushed out already so this was the second pick, at about 11 AM. Outriggers were fully extended...

Crane op with 30 years experience says he had worked with this crew before and he would tell them what he was good for and rely on their expertise to judge the weight. He knows oak is 65 lbs/sq.ft., but does not have a log chart. He says they would always come in just below the number he gave so he trusted them.

Piece ended up weighing 4,000, so it was a significant miscalculation of the weight by the bucket op. Tree company may have been hurrying.

Boom grazed the bucket and flung the bucket operator out. Crane op was going over so he didn't see exactly what had happened to the bucket op. Groundie brought bucket over to try to get bucket op off the roof, but b. op claimed to have broken his ankle and crawled his way up to the peak of the roof to wait for rescue.

Seems to me that the crane could have been set up a little closer, but there were probably wires in the way... And certainly a bigger crane would have been the way to go... 2,000 lbs isn't much to work with on a stick that size.
 
I always try to set up the crane so that we're working straight off the back as much as possible, not off the sides. A crane op with 30 years experience should be able to guesstimate the weight of a log by sight, especially if its twice as heavy as expected. And why didn't the bucket op have a safety belt and lanyard attached?
 
it always makes me giggle a little when you hear about climbers/bucket babies bringing crane picks to the max. YOU HAVE A FREAKING CRANE, IT IS NOT GOING TO TAKE FOREVER TO TAKE IT DOWN!!! For God's sake, some people should not be let near a crane for work.
 
The outrigger pads fell off as the crane tipped over. Note their position.

I don't see why they didn't put the crane in the driveway. Why not get as close as possible? As it was, the radius looks to be 60 feet, and the crane was maybe a 17-30 ton unit.

The tree appears to be an oak, and quite wolfy. Heavy!

The roof edges appear to have taken a glancing blow.
 
That's a National 1295. They are a 23 ton crane with 95 feet of boom. I ran one for years. They are a good crane, like many cranes they have an over the side and an over the rear load chart. It looks like he is in his over the side chart. Which is significantly less than over the rear. Every crane has it's limits. Obviously this one went beyond. As far as the pad being pinned, they were not design to be on the 1295. My biggest question is why did the bucket truck have to be in the driveway, the crane could have gained a lot by being that close. The outriggers are fully extended, I can see the gussets on the beams. On that model they only come out about 6 feet. I feel bad for the man who got hurt, everyone is very lucky, it could have been worse. I always like to see the crane as close to the tree as possible, even if it means a climber doesn't get to use his bucket truck.
 
I thought the same after I heard the tree had already been brushed out.. could have put the bucket further back down the drive or used a climber instead.

Sometimes the ground in NJ is too soft to put a crane on a drive. That's what they were trying to avoid.. Hear Cameron has a dedicated trailer for mats, needed in part to protect the drive.. AN accident like that is a stiff price to pay for lack of a dozen mats... get the right tools the first time and you're good to go!
 
Question to crane op's .. Is there a benefit to have the boom fully extended compared to having it shortened up?


That tree was a climber. Crane should be in driveway with steel pads. my 2 cents
 
I was amazed that they were away to retract the boom because you could see a pretty bad crinkle on the lower extension as it folded around the tree and house. He simple drove it home when they were finished. I'm assuming the crane will now be retired. I certainly would never trust it.

Here is the scoop on the job. I done work for the homeowners several times. I gave them a price of $4200. I was surprised to find out they were shopping. The other tree company told them $2900. You guys should have seen the size of the tree. I will give the climber credit for manualy rigging out the entire canopy without incident.

I talked to the sales rep, he thought they could do the tree without a crane. Not sure what they were thinking there. Come to find out there was several other bids around mine all including a crane. As a homeowner, that would have made me question them.

On the day of the accident, the homeowner comes up to talk to me. Said he would have loved to use me but I was too expensive. I said my price was fair and they were simply too cheap. He said quess I will be calling you to finish the job and walked off. Who knows what will happen in the end. I would think the other company is responsible for finishing the work. Or as a homeowner, is one accident enough with this tree company and time to cancel the contract.
351752-HaddonfieldCraneAccident4rs.jpg
 

Attachments

  • 351752-HaddonfieldCraneAccident4rs.webp
    351752-HaddonfieldCraneAccident4rs.webp
    98.7 KB · Views: 34
I hear ya. Only reason I would because I've worked on just about every house up and down that street. I'm not one to brag, but we are really strong on that street and town even. Can't tell you how many people came up to me telling me they asked the homeowner why they didn't use lyon's, lol.

On another note, I did a job where a homeowner cut down a tree onto his home on a busy road. We came to the rescue, used the crane to get it off the house. Only to hear days later people thought we dropped the tree on the house.
shocked.gif
 
While the company is still on the hook for the work the homeowner may be mitigating his damages and establishing a clear expense for a law suit.

Completing the job wouldn't detract from your reputation.
 
so there you have it...
UNDERBIDDING was the initial mistake... it creates so much pressure, trying to make up for a bad bid by cutting corners...

Crane op stated that it seemed like the tree co was in a big hurry..
now we know why...
That's the lesson we can all take from this.. underbidding starts a series of consequences, not pretty..

Thank God everyone is alive...

I can see how this ties back into Jesse's backleaning cottonwood thread.... when your #s are good you can afford to buy the kind of equipment that makes this business easier. And easier is SAFER!
 
What company was that again? I'm guessing they are looking for a climber and I need some work until April. Haven't worked a day since December 4.
 
You guys should have seen how the homeowners treated Cameron when he walked up to the job site. I thought they were going to ask him for an autograph.

I'd say that stick is well worth 4,200$ Cameron. Get your money. They already know what happens when they go with the lowest bidder (I'm only partially kidding here)

Cam took a tree down 3 times the size of that tree only a few weeks ago. I'm sure everyone on the block would see him set up and take a big breath of relief.

Okay. I've been riding cams wiener long enough.
 
At least the home owner took a hit for hiring the cheapest. He'll think twice before doing that again.

On another note maybe I should open a sattelite office in NJ if your getting $4200 for a single tree. At least you guys are getting paid what your worth. people would look at me sideways if I quoted that up here.
 
[ QUOTE ]
On another note maybe I should open a sattelite office in NJ if your getting $4200 for a single tree. At least you guys are getting paid what your worth. people would look at me sideways if I quoted that up here.

[/ QUOTE ]

Boy, ain't that the truth Dan!
 
Just an update: We finished the tree today as a sub for the tree company. 3 picks totaling a little over 17,000 lbs in all.
353312-HaddonfieldWoodlandavers.jpg
 

Attachments

  • 353312-HaddonfieldWoodlandavers.webp
    353312-HaddonfieldWoodlandavers.webp
    133.4 KB · Views: 33
You must log in or register to reply here.

New threads New posts

Back
Top Bottom