New guy crane questions

[colb]

I'm jumping into crane work and have questions, so I thought I would just start a thread.

What are the top 5-10 questions I should ask my crane guy, who comes with a great referral? I've asked or am going to ask:

1. Whose slings get used?
2. Do you have a SENA headset?
3. Can you kindly send over your insurance policy certificate?
4. Boom length, load, and chart.
5. Price/hr.
6. Can you monitor loads in real time?

With the Chisholm Teufelberger/Wesspur Quantum slings, how are people terminating the cow hitch? Got a picture below of my practice hitch. I cannot find anything visual on the internets regarding this.

I have a traffic issue, with the client's very standard 3/2 house on the corner of a high traffic street and a low traffic street, with driveway on the low traffic street. People turning in from the high traffic street may not notice things so well.

Workflow issue: the crane can either be on the driveway reaching over the roof, or on the curb. I'd like to have it on the driveway to pick bigger pieces, but on the curb would also be good because the driveway is the best spot to put wood debris. Does anyone have a legal clause for driveway damage? What's my best position for the crane, or does the crane guy know all this? I think the crane is a 140' unit.

I also have a machine issue - my mini skid cannot lift a large oak log to take off a sling if the sling is under the log. Is that something that the crane can address or something I should prevent from happening?

Thanks ahead of time for whatever you care to comment on.

 

[southsoundtree]

Set logs on a small spacer log, rather than the ground. Same as with rope rigging.




An important question, can you and your crew, and the worksite, efficiently handle less numerous, larger pieces, or vice versa?

 

[colb]

Here is a picture of the tree - ~70ft. laurel oak, ~26" trunk. Intersection, with residence off to right. Opposite of driveway, a quiet dead end road.

 

[colb]

Set logs on a small spacer log, rather than the ground. Same as with rope rigging.

Does this question make me wonder?

Lol, it may. I've got gaps bro. Year 3.5, mostly on my own you know...

 

[SomethingWitty]

I'm getting to work with a fairly large crane this week on a compromised lion-tailed post oak in a tight spot. I have never done it before.
I think I am using his slings, and I assume they are cable (I'm just the climber. I'll meet my operator on job.) With some sort of hook and set attachment on the end. My question is how do I adjust the length of cable slings? Or are they fixed? Because there are 4 large (18") leads that should be one pick each and two for the log, but the leads are shooting out at about 45 degrees and from what I understand, I need them to basically stay there when I cut them. That sounds like balance it with a shorter sling towards the brush end and a longer one towards the butt, right?

 

[colb]

Set logs on a small spacer log, rather than the ground. Same as with rope rigging.



An important question, can you and your crew, and the worksite, efficiently handle less numerous, larger pieces, or vice versa?

My crew would disassemble a large pick into 3-5 pieces for the mini in about 3-5 minutes, and the mini would take another 3-15 minutes (depending on travel distance) to manage all the pieces to pile for wood hauling. I feel like I should take big picks because that's where the crane gains in efficiency.

 

[SJ_Treeguy]

Who has the tie in for the climber that goes on the load line?

If you prefer one side of your body to be close to the piece .

Does the operator prefer one style of cut over another?

Don't pick up a piece that is so big you can't land it ! Set up will dictate that.

 

[tc262]

@colb
The Chisholm slings are great and justifiable if you own a crane but in my opinion there are much more cost effective solutions if you are only doing occasional crane jobs. 25 and 20 ft 3/4 and 5/8 stable braid dead eyes work great. I also have a couple 7/8 tennex eye to eyes that I use on trunk wood. I picked up using a bag on the crane hook from @Tyler Durden when he came out and did a job with me. Keep extra slings with you but out of the way. It's nice for switching between one, two, or three sling picks and also to throw a drink in the bag too. A standard back pack works great.

 

[tc262]

I'm getting to work with a fairly large crane this week on a compromised lion-tailed post oak in a tight spot. I have never done it before.
I think I am using his slings, and I assume they are cable (I'm just the climber. I'll meet my operator on job.) With some sort of hook and set attachment on the end. My question is how do I adjust the length of cable slings? Or are they fixed? Because there are 4 large (18") leads that should be one pick each and two for the log, but the leads are shooting out at about 45 degrees and from what I understand, I need them to basically stay there when I cut them. That sounds like balance it with a shorter sling towards the brush end and a longer one towards the butt, right?

Most cable slings that I've seen crane guys run are eye to eyes. Some opps want their slings used and aren't length adjustable. If they won't let you run your own rigging ask if you can use his sling for the "main" pic and then use a 20ft dead eye as just a balancer.

 

[colb]

Who has the tie in for the climber that goes on the load line?

If you prefer one side of your body to be close to the piece .

Does the operator prefer one style of cut over another?

Don't pick up a piece that is so big you can't land it ! Set up will dictate that.

Thanks for stopping in, Rick. Can you comment a bit more on "If you prefer one side of your body to be close to the piece ."? Is this to get the wood drifting away fr9m that side, initially?

 

[colb]

Most cable slings that I've seen crane guys run are eye to eyes. Some opps want their slings used and aren't length adjustable. If they won't let you run your own rigging ask if you can use his sling for the "main" pic and then use a 20ft dead eye as just a balancer.

All noted, and appreciated @tc262. I'm in Florida, where tree work standards are often a little iffy. Even though this crane operator comes with a great reference, I'm still wondering how much swinging he's accustomed to and how many slings he uses to pick. Using his main line and having some extra lines seems like a great idea to run by him.

 

[tc262]

From what I hear is most crane guys are use to stuff swinging everywhere. I have my crane guy on video saying he cringed every time dispatch tells him he'll be working with a tree company but really enjoys working with us. He also said we are the only one they work with that hoists the climbers in with the crane.

 

[colb]

From what I hear is most crane guys are use to stuff swinging everywhere. I have my crane guy on video saying he cringed every time dispatch tells him he'll be working with a tree company but really enjoys working with us. He also said we are the only one they work with that hoists the climbers in with the crane.

Well, I'll be following the crane guy's lead, but I'll be trying for static picks with 2+ legs if I have that opportunity.

I still need to figure out how everyone is locking off their cow hitch... one of the threads alluded to locking it off, but I have yet to see a picture or video of someone rigging with a dead eye crane sling. Perhaps it is a liability concern?

 

[tc262]

 

[climbhightree]

When we first started using the teulfenberger crane slings with the crane we sub, this is what we did...his sling with ours as a balancer. Now that he trust/likes the teulfenberger slings we just use them for all of the brush picks. Spar wood we just use his slings, if the spar is pretty straight up.

Cow hitches are locked off by half hitches...like how one does on the clothe hitch. There is also a wrong way to tie a cow hitch, it has to be tied according to the direction of the load.

In my picture we used a clothe hitch, but have since started using the cow (which is the better hitch).

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

 

[colb]

When we first started using the teulfenberger crane slings with the crane we sub, this is what we did...his sling with ours as a balancer. Now that he trust/likes the teulfenberger slings we just use them for all of the brush picks. Spar wood we just use his slings, if the light is straight up.

Cow hitches are locked off by half hitches...like how one does on the clothe hitch. There is also a wrong way to tie a cow hitch, it has to be tied according to the direction of the load.

In my picture we used a clothe hitch, but have since started using the cow (which is the better hitch).

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

Just stumbled into this thread, which is a little intense... It's hard to tell which variants hold, and release best.

http://igkt.net/sm/index.php?topic=5250.0

I understand what you are saying about the direction in which to tie the cow hitch with respect to the load. Thanks for pointing that out.

I'll search for pics on the half hitch locks on the cow hitch. It seems like you may have me close enough to take it from here, whether by trying it out or finding a knot animation. Thanks much.

 

[tc262]

I'll search for pics on the half hitch locks on the cow hitch. It seems like you may have me close enough to take it from here, whether by trying it out or finding a knot animation. Thanks much.

I linked a video, let me know if you can't see it.

 

[Gorman]

I just use a clove hitch with two half hitches. But much like the cow hitch, it has to be tied according to the direction of loading.

 

[SpaceGhost]

My .02 is to have an operator that has picked trees before and hire someone for the day that has picked trees before. The f-up factor goes way up and over the house are critical picks.

If you do choose to go for it, use common sense, stay well within the chart (use wet wood weight chart), and be careful with the crane weight driving onto the property and setting up the outrigger foundations. It's better to not crack the driveway, but it's good that you know you need a waiver.

I don't think your term knot or having sena is what's going to f you on this. Cow hitch should be backed with a half hitch on the standing portion and tail should be tucked under where it enters the bight. Learn some crane signals.

Keep it simple.

 

[Steve Connally]

A cow hitch isn't a cow hitch without a safety. It would then be a variation of a girth hitch. Tree climbers companion, TCIA best practices for crane use and someone who's done it before.