Today....

[Serf Life]

That’s freaking bullshit, hope they lose sleep for weeks in remorse and become better people. Doubt it but working on the cynicism.

 

[27RMT0N]

Look into dash cams that record both front and rear of the truck, mine is on from the moment I get in the truck in the morning until I'm home at night.

 

[96coal449]

This is not where I wanted to have the crane. I had a lady come into my lane head on. I moved over about 6 to 8 inches to avoid hitting her head on and the soft shoulder pulled me into the ditch. The only thing hurt was one brake chamber. So glad I didn't end up on my side and didn't kill the lady.

View attachment 88884

We had a similar story last Friday, on a skinny little wet road. Unfortunately, the shoulder was not a field like that, it was a forest… The driver walked away, the truck had to be craned onto a trailer and is likely totaled.

I just mentioned I used to do steady crane work about 15yrs ago. Guy had a 60ton we called "Big Red."
He was on his way home one day and some lady decided to make a turn at the last minute. He steered into the ditch to avoid the collision. He got on the phone with his son to bring the smaller crane to help pull him out. While on the phone, the crane tipped. That was the end of Big Red.

 

[Reach]

Look into dash cams that record both front and rear of the truck, mine is on from the moment I get in the truck in the morning until I'm home at night.

It’s kind of annoying, because that truck had a dash cam in it. Unfortunately, the silly thing wasn’t working right. It didn’t record anything that day.

 

[27RMT0N]

Sorry to hear that, what a bummer.

 

[96coal449]

It’s kind of annoying, because that truck had a dash cam in it. Unfortunately, the silly thing wasn’t working right. It didn’t record anything that day.

That's a big bummer. Be nice for the negligent driver to be held accountable.....

 

[Fivepoints]

I just mentioned I used to do steady crane work about 15yrs ago. Guy had a 60ton we called "Big Red."
He was on his way home one day and some lady decided to make a turn at the last minute. He steered into the ditch to avoid the collision. He got on the phone with his son to bring the smaller crane to help pull him out. While on the phone, the crane tipped. That was the end of Big Red.

When I got stopped the first thing I did was push the suspension up on the downhill side and let it all the way down on the road side. It's got a bit over a foot of wheel travel so that helped. I was afraid of something like that happening.

 

[96coal449]

When I got stopped the first thing I did was push the suspension up on the downhill side and let it all the way down on the road side. It's got a bit over a foot of wheel travel so that helped. I was afraid of something like that happening.

I'm glad nothing worse became of you, or your crane.
The guy I know was past 65 yrs old and hung up his hat.

 

[27RMT0N]

So a little while ago @Alec A. posted in TreeBay ( https://www.treebuzz.com/forum/threads/2001-f450-7-3l-2wd-chipper-truck.48295/#post-739211 ) that he was looking to sell his 2001 F450 chip truck and well, I ended up buying it from him yesterday. (even though I'd originally poo-poo'd buying a 2wd)

Took the first ferry off the island to the mainland, drove about 6 hours/350 miles to meet him, took it for a spin and talked shop for a bit. Alec is a pretty rad guy who actually knew my old boss in Seattle and a few of my old coworkers from back then, almost 13 years ago! Small community I guess, tree guys. From there, turned right back around and drove north almost 300 miles and crashed at my friends place in Seattle, then drove the rest of the way and took the boat back to the islands this afternoon.

It's a neat truck, feels great on the road and will be kind of a backup to the GMC 5500 I bought from another forum user like two years ago. I don't really need it, but the price was good and I've got occasional uses for it now, and more in the future.

Honorable mention to my employee for doing the overnight trip with me to get it, and to this forum for connecting fellow tree folks.

 

[96coal449]

Congrats!!! It is a sweet truck, 1 1/4 ton to boot, 2 wheel or not. Have two 7.3s of my own. I saw it in the listing and happy to know it was bought by a buzzer.

Add on: I've always loved the the I and L pack tool boxes.

 

[Alec A.]

Great to meet ya'll! Glad you had a safe journey home.

 

[Fivepoints]

Sweat 450! We have an 01 f550 7.3 and an 01 f250 7.3. Both 6 speeds. They have been very good trucks. Hopefully that f550 serves you as well as ours have.

 

[Shadowscape]

I'm still running my 1995 7.3 with 488K miles on her as my everyday vehicle. Wouldn't hesitate to take it on a round the country tour. Last year I took it on a western trip coving 13 states. Still a rock solid engine that I suspect will give me many more years of service. Have replaced a lot of the vehicle parts, but those engines just keep on trucking.

 

[cory]

This is not where I wanted to have the crane

Was it tricky getting it free?

 

[27RMT0N]

Lots of 7.3s still kicking around, no surprise there. Now I've got two, both 2001s which is kind of funny. Maybe this summer I'll find time to paint at least the box on the 450 black and green like the service truck...

 

[Neill]

Yikes

 

[Undeciduous]

Yikes
View attachment 88908

that looks like a doozy! Wonder if they dumped chemicals around that tree at some point and resulted in this down the road

 

[southsoundtree]

First night of camping in the tree house (building-in-progress).

 

[Fivepoints]

Was it tricky getting it free?

Yes. 50 ton wrecker failed to get it out. Had to get a 60 ton rotator and it was still struggling due to the weight. The wrecker outrigger punched through the road.

 

[Reach]

Yes. 50 ton wrecker failed to get it out. Had to get a 60 ton rotator and it was still struggling due to the weight. The wrecker outrigger punched through the road.

That’s impressive! What does that crane weigh though, probably about 95,000 pounds?