why spider legs?

No matter what kind of crane you have; You have to calculate the weight on the light side & know your chart...exactly! If the weight is grossly under estimated there isn't any crane overload protection system that will save you & it's going to tip or something is going to break. (It all goes back to the shelf theory) even if you know how much tension you have, you don't know exactly how much weight you have until the piece is cut. This is why weight calculation is crucial as well as knowing the load chart
 
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even if you know how much tension you have, you don't know exactly how much weight you have until the piece is cut. This is why weight calculation is crucial as well as knowing the load chart

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That is very true. I guess I just need some to see some real work and try it myself for a while before I am convinced.

Its too bad I live all the way up here.
 
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I make snap cuts all the time and there is no Yanking needed. there is no shock loading. The piece just sits on the trunk with the snap cut broken and then I pick the piece up.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTgYLTyO46I

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those snap cuts were pretty darn smooth allmark.

thanks for posting the link.

i don't have my vids finished yet, couldn't keep my eyes open
 
Mark , nice video . Good music too . I think that it is pretty cool that you guys remote the crane . Probally the coolest thing since self feeding chippers . My only question is ...Why? is it money , trust , seems like there is enough to get done in a tree with out all the extra work . This thread went from why spider legs ( come on , you know why or you'll learn) to why do the job of two men . Don't get me wrong , I am impressed but I have never been that shorthanded or untrustworthy. Maybe you said it best " allmark " money is all Marks and Mikes just poor . Kidding Mike? just wondering why you feel the need to climb , cut and remote the piece . My best guess is money .Power , beautiful ladies ...now, were back to money .
 
A combination of not being able to find qualified help and efficiency. I had guys climb and leave while I operated the crane and had guys on the crane leave. I know I can do both and I show up every day(sometimes more).
 
Problem solved.
smirk.gif
 
besides all that , help is like the wind , it blows . I worked the past two weeks with a 80 ton , couple 35 's and a 17 , a 23 too . A few of those crane cuts were with a Stihl 088 ,fat Oak logs , sometimes you have to hit and pick( don't lie ...) , and when that situation happens , than what? Keep playing with fire and you will be burned. Team work , it;s a beautiful thing . I still want to try it , at least once. maybe
 
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A combination of not being able to find qualified help and efficiency. I had guys climb and leave while I operated the crane and had guys on the crane leave. I know I can do both and I show up every day(sometimes more).

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Nutt'n wrong with that.
 
that remote knuckle boom thing with a crows nest view thing you guys do sweet Jesus and baby Jesus

y'all are living a dream!

id show up every day for that

seriously though, safety is our own responsibility and we weigh the risks and then make our decisions, we are grown men (and some women )so if a man can operate a crane while sitting in a tree that's great. further more if he chooses to run the crane one handed and the saw in the other with no hard hat why not if he can physically perform the stunt he knows the risk and he chooses whether or not to take the risk. IMHO.

seriously though, y'all are living a dream, keep up the good work.
 
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No matter what kind of crane you have; You have to calculate the weight on the light side & know your chart...exactly! If the weight is grossly under estimated there isn't any crane overload protection system that will save you & it's going to tip or something is going to break. (It all goes back to the shelf theory) even if you know how much tension you have, you don't know exactly how much weight you have until the piece is cut. This is why weight calculation is crucial as well as knowing the load chart

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I think the reason I would want the capacity displayed on the remote is because I am used to a stick boom where boom angle changes your capacity dramatically, that is one big advantage to a K-boom, to figure out the capacity you just have to count the booms extended.
 
Here is vid from a job a month ago. Sorry it took so long the customer gave me a vcr tape so I had to convert it. All cuts are snap cuts and the last piece is multiple legs. You can see me climb up after I make the last cut then lift the piece off. The only jeky ness is me at the controls.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7pEb8yjf5I
 
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A crane operator and a climber with good communication have two perspectives on the tree so the crane operator can see things climber the can't and the climber can see things the operator can't.

Also on the money making aspect your climber can go to jobs not requiring a crane while the crane operator can go out on rentals.

And the last reason is because I hate snap cuts when working with the crane, I would rather a single cut straight through, it puts much less stress on everything.

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I also have communication with the personell on the ground so there are eyes there too. They just dont have to operate a crane and are free to move around to look from different angles. Ansi requires the operator to stay at the controls with personell attatched.

I have seen crane jobs with single straight thru cuts that had a lot of shock loading. The operator and cutter both need to know what they are doing no matter what technique you use.
 
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It's pretty simple really, bucket trucks are not meant to lift any loads other than a man and his tools, but cranes are an entirely different situation. They are designed to lift thousands of pounds, and being on that crane physically to determine when something like say an outrigger sinking into the ground under a heavy load is more readily apparent to an operator actually on the crane than to an operator far away in the tree.

jomoco

[/ QUOTE ]I wasnt referring to the bucket lifting a load. My point was the bucket operator/cutter need to be in a position not to be hit with a piece being picked by the crane. In my opinion it is safest to have minimal movement.
 
If you were able to make a cut and rig a piece so there was 0 movement until the saw was shut off and have 0 shock load would you still not do it?
 
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If you were able to make a cut and rig a piece so there was 0 movement until the saw was shut off and have 0 shock load would you still not do it?

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I agree with this statement, but whether or not you use spider legs and/or snap cuts it takes good judgement of weight, Center of Gravity, and good operating procedures to know where to place the slings and how to cut.
 
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No matter what kind of crane you have; You have to calculate the weight on the light side & know your chart...exactly! If the weight is grossly under estimated there isn't any crane overload protection system that will save you & it's going to tip or something is going to break. (It all goes back to the shelf theory) even if you know how much tension you have, you don't know exactly how much weight you have until the piece is cut. This is why weight calculation is crucial as well as knowing the load chart

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I think the reason I would want the capacity displayed on the remote is because I am used to a stick boom where boom angle changes your capacity dramatically, that is one big advantage to a K-boom, to figure out the capacity you just have to count the booms extended.

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the other reason I would like to have capacity and weight displayed on the remote is because weight of the trees varies alot depending on soil conditions, time of year and of course species.

Last week I took a lift of Populus Canadensis and it weighed 4200lbs the very next day I took a lift the same size of the same species growing in sandy soil and it weighed 1850lbs.

How without a scale would you know how close your estimates of your weights are?
 
OH COME ON!!!!!!

You must push your picks close to the limits I guess.

I'm guessing your guess was off and it wasn't much related to the soil type. Unless the tree was dying or something.

I say different soils don't matter much, but the time of the year definitely does (around here anyway), March, April and May= heavy trees.


There's not much differece from seeing the actual weight vs. the capacity the crane can handle, actually I would think the capacity would be more useful.


peace out...
 
I can extend to a further position where it would be at 90% and the chart would give the weight. Although this isnt as easy it works. I have also used a dyno to get this same info. I know in my area what wood weighs in different conditions(with in reasonable amounts.)
 
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OH COME ON!!!!!!

You must push your picks close to the limits I guess.

I'm guessing your guess was off and it wasn't much related to the soil type. Unless the tree was dying or something.



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It had nothing to do with my guess that was the actual weight, but yes the lighter one had some dieback, but what really affected the weight difference was one was grown in a very very wet soil so the water was shooting out of every cut and the other was grown on a beach and it was very dry wood.

This is something that I havent seen before but I thought it was a very good example of how test picks and a scale on the crane can help prevent accidents and if I had been talking to my crane operator more in that first tree like I'm supposed to I would have known to take less.


And yes that first one was getting closer to the limits than usual because I guessed it at 3200lbs, had 4900lbs.
 
When we make a pick we move the boom into position then check capacity if it says 5000lbs I'll try to take 2500lbs, pretension the line to the estimated weight(another reason to have a scale) this ensures that what I've attached to can stand the weight of the pick and also makes the pick stay still after I cut it(it doesn't fall or jump up any).

Then after the cut I talk to the operator about what it weighed. If it weighed less than what I estimated then I'll take more on the next one.
If it weighed more then I'll take less.
 
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