Working with cranes

[Louie_Hampton]

We have been working more with cranes lately, and will probably continue to do so since it has helped considerably in some tight situations.

We need to know more to get the most from these jobs. Communication is difficult, often no line of sight so directions have to be relayed to the operator. When we initially look at a job to give an estimate we have to call the crane company to find out what the capacity and charges are for the distance, weights involved.

I need to find info. on the hand signals crane operators look for so we can train our people. Does anyone use the peltor two-way radios for this kind of work? Is there a generic load chart available for the various size cranes which we could keep on hand to use to evaluate a job for crane work? We try to work the numbers with crane and without to see if the added expense is justified. May not have to pester the folks at the crane company as often if we can answer some of these questions for ourselves.

Finally, I hear that some guy named Chisolm

has a crane video out. Is it worth the bucks?

Louie Hampton

 

[Todd_K.]

All of the hand signals are posted right on the crane, take a picture. The load charts are also on most of the smaller cranes 14-20 tons.You might just ask the company for copies of the load charts. They will also give you the dimentions of the truck and its' set up.Some form of verbal communication speed up the job dramaticlly and makes it much safer. We use Nextels.

 

[Louie_Hampton]

We have been in the 60-70 ton range. The last one was 90 ton.

I just found out that we have a new production manager in the garden development end of the building, who has a bit of crane experience. I'll see what he knows.

If anyone has viewed the crane removal video, I would like to hear a review.

Louie Hampton

 

[ropegod]

in my experience with signaling cranes,in both tree and construction work, hand signs are the best. radios and cell phones cut in and out and sometimes that could be very dangerous. only 1 person should be giving the singals. crane work can be very dangerous and should not be taken lightly. the video is a good safety guide.

 

[treeclimber165]

I've done over 100 crane removals and had the pleasure of doing over half of them with one operator. I learned from my foreman when I first started doing crane jobs what the hand signals were, and I always reviewed them with the operator BEFORE going up the tree. You should both agree on signals for STOP, cable up, cable down, boom up, boom down, etc.

 

[Treepreacher51]

Nice to hear from you 165. Welcome aboard!

Tied in, Jesse

 

[klimbinfool]

Jesse , Todd K is right . All the cranes that Ive rented, have all the weight loads and signals on them.The peltor helmets Ive used before and was dissapointed in them. They worked well for traffic controll while on the ground, but once we got in the air above fifty feet, they would start to cut out and pick up cross traffic.Not good when your making critical moves in the tree.

Greg

 

[klimbinfool]

OOps , sorry Jesse , I thought you posted this subject. I guess it should be directed to Louie.

Greg

 

[Gerald_Beranek]

Greg, Speaking of cranes, what's happening with the Sugar Pine? Is it still on? I do want to make it; to video and help with the work if it's possible. With the size of the tree it would make for a terrific mini movie of a crane removal.

I'll be leaving this Saturday to head up to Seattle for the Spruce climb. I'll send you a number I can be reached at when you arrive. Catch up to you on the email.

Later, Jerry