Crane Tips Over

Boomslang said:
I get it. Cranes are useful tools and have their place. So call me old fashion, but based on that footage there looks to be a ton of drop zone and maybe a 40-50 foot flat drag to the driveway if you take down the fence that's there. To me that's a climber and bomb some big leads out. I don't imagine the time difference would be that significant given the low weights they should have been limited to and the setup time between picks.
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Looking at the overheads of that property, the only reason we would have craned that tree out would have been if the homeowner was so lawn conscious they didn’t want anything hitting the grass. Google Maps makes it pretty clear how much open space there is, and that would have been a very easy tree.

A crane would probably have sped the job up a little, but not enough to justify the added expense of running the crane on that little tree with such easy access.

The address of the property, if you care to look at it, is 3212 Laclede Avenue, New Albany, Indiana.
 
Tom Dunlap said:
Are you building your CV as an expert witness?

If not, you should consider it. Nice report.
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I am not, but I enjoy figuring out puzzles like that one. I like piecing together car accidents too, from the pictures and skid marks on the road.

Never really thought about trying to become an expert witness, but it would be a challenge I would probably enjoy. I wonder if my background (past experiences on the wrong side of the law) would disqualify me? I may have to look into that some time.
 
Might be an interesting root cause analysis case. Proximate cause appears to be exceeding the crane's capacity. Tracing back all the actions, conditions and decisions to what actually set this event in motion could lead down some unexpected paths.

The old school mentality was often to just blame the worker(s) for the screw up; problem solved. However, if you keeping asking "Why?" enough times to get to the root cause(s), you may be surprised. Most workers are trying to do a good job. Sometimes the root cause is far removed from the actual accident.

Crane capacity was exceeded. Why? Some possibilities: (a) Operator didn't understand load chart. Why? (b) Operator chose to ignore load chart. Why? (c) Operator believed he was operating within load chart. Why? And so on and so forth.
 
Reach said:
Looking at the overheads of that property, the only reason we would have craned that tree out would have been if the homeowner was so lawn conscious they didn’t want anything hitting the grass. Google Maps makes it pretty clear how much open space there is, and that would have been a very easy tree.

A crane would probably have sped the job up a little, but not enough to justify the added expense of running the crane on that little tree with such easy access.

The address of the property, if you care to look at it, is 3212 Laclede Avenue, New Albany, Indiana.
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I agree even with being careful about not putting holes in the lawn as a pickup and chipper operation if the wood was staying there I'm pretty sure we could've done it in a day with 3 guys.
 
Reach said:
A crane would probably have sped the job up a little, but not enough to justify the added expense of running the crane on that little tree with such easy access.
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Seeing as how it was 3:30, I’m guessing they had the crane for a job previous and figured they would bring it to the second job even though it wasn’t a good fit for the project. Everything looking like a nail when you have a hammer in your hand. And starting a second job (not a small one) that late in the day is a huge red flag. Business is struggling, trying to squeeze in a little more? First job took a lot longer than expected? Maybe their main climber recently quit? Actions precipitated by the wrong motivations.
 
southsoundtree said:
The house is blurred out on Google Maps Street View.
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I did see that, makes me wonder if Google does that because of all the media attention, or if there’s another reason. The house two doors down is also blurred.

The overheads are still plenty clear though, which is all one needs to get an idea of the distances and layout.
 
Reach said:
I did see that, makes me wonder if Google does that because of all the media attention, or if there’s another reason. The house two doors down is also blurred.

The overheads are still plenty clear though, which is all one needs to get an idea of the distances and layout.
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You can request Google to blur your house. It's in their privacy policy.
 
I think Reach nailed it. Boom trucks just dont have much capacity at longer distances. The lack of counterweights factors into that vs a regular truck crane. My 35 ton grove is good for 6100 lbs at 65 ft after deductions. I still wouldnt have attempted what they did. I have taken lots of trees whole with it but at closer radius. Mostly 60 ft pine trees.
 
Finally watched the drone footage. This kind of thing really makes me upset. If you don’t know what you’re doing, don’t make the cut!

Get there at 8am, spend a half hour in the tree bombing tops, fell the dang thing pretty much anywhere in its radius at that point. Bring a mini skid steer and process on the driveway, use Jedi mind tricks to convince the homeowner to leave the firewood (not worth making a dump run), get paid, get back to the shop at 2.
 
Stumpsprouts said:
Finally watched the drone footage. This kind of thing really makes me upset. If you don’t know what you’re doing, don’t make the cut!

Get there at 8am, spend a half hour in the tree bombing tops, fell the dang thing pretty much anywhere in its radius at that point. Bring a mini skid steer and process on the driveway, use Jedi mind tricks to convince the homeowner to leave the firewood (not worth making a dump run), get paid, get back to the shop at 2.
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I like that plan. You must teach me those Jedi mind tricks though, we haul far too much wood around. Problem is, the wood we are hauling most people couldn’t dream of handling on their own. Three logs 10 feet long yesterday hit the weight limit of the 14k dump trailer we were hauling them in, and that’s not unusual.
 
Reach said:
I like that plan. You must teach me those Jedi mind tricks though, we haul far too much wood around. Problem is, the wood we are hauling most people couldn’t dream of handling on their own. Three logs 10 feet long yesterday hit the weight limit of the 14k dump trailer we were hauling them in, and that’s not unusual.
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It’s one of the critical components of Arborist the video game (still under development) and has a lot of place in the real world. Above all else maintain an unconcerned, somewhat indifferent air about whether or not they choose one way or the other, inserting subtle inflections, raise your tone ever so slightly when you mention the option you actually desire. Throw in some ‘that’s some good lookin wood there’ to another crew member while in earshot of the customer. When none of that works you can lower the price by just enough that you still make a good profit but they feel like they’re getting a good deal.

Some other strategies, call the material ‘food for the forest’ which is a little hilarious considering a suburban setting like this, always call wood chips ‘mulch’, have a number for a chainsaw miller on hand, mention the cost of lumber, know a couple things about hugleculture, mushroom logs, oh my goodness it’s really easy once you get in their head.
 
my pops ( nearly 50 years in big construction, yes cranes ) has some figure that over 90% (forget exact) of workplace accidents happen in the final hour of the workday.

he lately told me a fatal story of a fall from height that was literally one of the last 3 or 4 motions (like placing a rivet or something) that guy intended to do that day. guy was tied off too, all correct, but somehow the hard edge the line went over severed the attachment.

I think about that a lot. My own figure of work injury stuff may not be that high, but it is definitely that high ( > 90% ) if I consider times I tried to "pick up the pace" because I got a sense the day was getting away from me.

I make a habit of reminding any workmates of that when we get into that zone. Tired muscles, thoughts leading beyond the work, often some sort of "final push", all can be elements of a bad time.

I think that's only one factor of what went on here, but I agree, when I read they started the job at 3:30.. I bet their odds of blowing it went through the roof, "sending it."

I guess they really did go through the roof...
 
I've sold a job for a fixed price, not a fixed time.

I try not to set any goals around time.

When the customer or whoever wants to know how much time I expect a tree/ job to take, I just say that I don't know, and move forward to do safe, efficient, "boring" tree-work.
I tell them I can let them know when I'm done. No point in spending mental energy on crystal ball reading about the time for the conditions of the day.



I tell my Crane Op that I don't care how long a job will take. I want it to be smooth and easy. We can cut it in as small of pieces as he wants. He likes to push. I like low-stress.
 
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