White oak (embedded pics)

L

Lumberjack

Branched out member
Some pics from yesterday:

FrankIMeslookinEast.jpg


FrankIMeslookinSouth.jpg


Lightning struck the top, killing it, although the rest of the tree is doing fairly well. I havent counted the rings yet, but they say its 300 years old.

110tonandmeinthemanbasket.jpg


Firstpickviewfromtheback.jpg


Pictureofthecrane.jpg



Getting the rigging set for taking the top out in pieces.

Settingslingindeadtop.jpg



40k lbs of wood left standing

StandingTrunk.jpg


The lower cut of the the snap cut is about 12' from the stump cut.
088aloft.jpg


Me and the 2 groundies, Bruce and Chris, along with the 22k lb piece of wood.
Nexttolastpick.jpg


Fixing the chain, ordered a 72" bar for an 088 for this tree. The customer wants a slab of the trunk, he bought me the bar.

Fixingchainon088.jpg



This was the last 18k lbs of the tree, cut around 845 last night. We lost a good bit of time due to weather and a faulty sensor in the crane. Given better working conditions it should have taken about 8 hours to do the tree and 2 additional hours to break down and setup the crane.
Lastpick.jpg
 
Again I gotta ask "Why such a huge crane?" From your first pic I can see that a 22, even a 17 ton coulda handled it.

And I won't even ask about that long bar.

Other than that, RAWK ON!
 
The crane got me rescheduled 3 times, the weather was foul and the cranes computer pooped out.... The job was bid to spend 32% on the crane, hopefully will find out tomorrow what the bill is, the crane manager for the company owes me a favor, I am sure he will take care of me. A storm blown oak cleanup Saturday using the company's 28 ton rear mount. Last week I was going to use the 28 ton to get a tree off a building, got upgraded to the 50 ton for free. For the last pick the operator picked up all the counterweights and made it a 70 ton.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Again I gotta ask "Why such a huge crane?" From your first pic I can see that a 22, even a 17 ton coulda handled it.

And I won't even ask about that long bar.

Other than that, RAWK ON!

[/ QUOTE ]

MB, not to start another debate, but a 22 ton would lack the boom and strength to get lift the tree. For starters the lightest limb was 8k lbs, secondly the closest the crane could get to the center of the tree was 55', third, there was another 40-45' of limbs on the other side of the tree.

The bar? The bar was to provide a slab or cookie for the homeowner, he paid for it, whats the problem?
 
A 22ton would have been way underpowered! The 22t that I use has 75ft plus 30 for jib. A 22K lift would not have happened with a small crane. For wood that big I like a 70ton as well, safer and worth the extra cost. I use a 70ton TidanoAT, 130 of power boom. Did you have to double block to lift the heavy wood? Did the LMI wire get tweaked on the boom and make the computer futz up? I hear they have wireless ones these days.
Were you using the man basket because the wood was sketchy?I usually ride the ball, hook the load, rap to the cut point and re-tie. Then I get repositioned with the crane for next lift. I used a basket once for a "fall apart dead" poplar, it sucked. Hard to keep it from moving all around while working. Nice work, that memorial slab will be a 500lb coffee table.
 
It seems like a difference of opinions. Big oaks with long horizintal limbs are better down in long sections. Easier to balance. If the customer will pay for a larger crane to make job safer and faster then why not. We all know it's possible to spend days roping firewood out to say you did it, but my preference is to be safe and effiecent. Ego will get you killed in this game. Honestly homeowners have no idea in the differences in cranes. Big cranes save a lot of time(and money)and energy. Spend the other days doing someting else. The distance from the turn table on the crane is usually our limiting factor. I bet most crane tip overs in tree work are small "boom truck" like cranes. What was the bottom line cost for this removal?
 
A touch under $8k. That crane is a 110 ton, btw, I was referring to a job last week using a 70 ton. When I first looked at this job i thought 70 ton as well, but that 110 ton has 171' of main boom, which saved having to swing a jib, allowed bigger pieces, and came with the operator I have spent 60-70 hours doing tree work with. The 70 ton operators first tree job was with me the week before. Around here riding the ball isnt permitted, so I had to use the death cage. I would perfer the ball, but the basket will suffice. The only place that i required the basket was for the dead top, the rest could be climbed, but hey, the crane is payed for.

MB, for the sake of conversation, for the last 12'of the tree you have to take pieces 1.5' long, I have better things to do in life, and getting a sling on pieces that small.... Using one of these pesky load charts I see that a 22 ton crane would be able to pick between 6-700 lbs taking out the farthest limb, at its base (roughly 16") the 22 ton could pick around 1300 lbs. Also, most crane operators wont regularly push the crane to its max, with treework especially, as there isnt an option for the crane not to take the pick once its cut.

Yes, the tree could be cut with a 22 ton, but who would want to? Me, 2 guys, chipper, and manlift charge more than the 110 ton crane.
 
I only say it because all I ever see you use are HUGE cranes. That seems like a waste of money to me. I guarantee I could have that tree safely stripped to a snag in two hours or less using a substantially more economical, smaller crane. I did it today, and I'll do it again tomorrow.

I've never even seen an 8 grand tree before. The trees must be a lot different in Mississippi.
 
Nice job Carl. I like how precise you think the job through before you get there.

I can't even imagine how frustrating it would be to use on line for the basket and the other for the loading. Unless you are only cutting vertical sections, positioning for one or the other is a compromise. And forget efficiency, right? Safety is the name of the game though, so do whatever you need to do.

Were they your slings or the company's? You seem to like the shackle method huh?


Carl, that wood looked smaller than the #'s you quote. Then I rememebered how big a guy you are. /forum/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
 
MB, trees are no different where you live but you like to brag about how ballzee you can be, who cares. whats wrong with overkill? Cranes are there to get the job done, not to prove something to yourself. If you save money at your own risk then so be it.
8k, is a big bottom line but so is dead, or funked up. 100ton = 275 per hour? 70ton in our neck of the woods is 225perhour plus support truck 4 hour minimum. Do the crane operators know you can ride the ball if you are in direct communication with them?(ie:radios).
 
Bragging about being ballsy?

Sorry you took it thataway. I'll try to get over it. ;^)

And the tree was overbid to begin with. That price for that tree wouldn't fly around here.

No brag, just fact.
 
Thanks Mark. I didn't cut from the basket, I cut from my lift for all the cuts. The only time the basket was a big hindrance was on the dead vertical top, dropping down between the 2 slings. The main thing I did in the basket was set the slings, then had the operator drop me down and I went up to make the cut in the man lift. Efficient enough for this job.

Those slings are the companies, Tufflex rated to 17.5k lbs in a choker. The shackle method? Heck yeah, 20' slings, shackle on the end... what method do you prefer? I mainly use 20' slings (used a 12' on the farthest pick so the crane wouldnt 2 block trying to stand the limb up. I will be buying some tufflex soon enough, although the company doesn't mind me using theirs.

Big? Psh, I am tiny compared to your expansive frame! On the last picture I am strattling a buttress root, loosing around a foot in height. When I first looked at that picture I compared my height to the spars height and thought "It wasnt that tall!"
 
I find it arm chair bidding to be quite funny. Judging from the circumstances I know, based on what yall know, I find it even more funny.

For the record MB, I offered you quite a sum of money for one day of climbing back in March....
 
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