Popped my cherry!

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Blakesmaster

Blakesmaster

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Finally got to take a ride on the disco stick. Took down 3 Norway Spruces for my crane op at his house. 6 picks altogether. Left the butts standing about 40 ft in the air so he could finish them off with his bucket truck. He wanted me off the clock as soon as possible and we ran out of room in his driveway for debris anyway, lol. Learned a few things I hadn't thought of before and had a great time. Set up one of my own jobs with him for next Saturday. Man, those things help you move some serious wood.

crane2.jpg


crane7.jpg


crane9.jpg
 
Nice

Cool man looks like fun. Next thing you know youll be in the market for one.
 
Stihl-O-Matic said:
Cool man looks like fun. Next thing you know youll be in the market for one.
Click to expand...

Been eyein' up up since that day but in NYS, from what I understand, the initial cost of a crane is piddly #### compared to insurance costs when using one for tree work.
 
Blakesmaster said:
Been eyein' up up since that day but in NYS, from what I understand, the initial cost of a crane is piddly #### compared to insurance costs when using one for tree work.
Click to expand...

Insurance whats that?

















Lol just kidding. yeah cant imagine what that would run.
 
Glad to see you had fun! I fully support the use of a crane for every removal when possible! Same way I fully endorse an ice cold beer with a good steak...yum. Blakes, it is funny to read that he wanted you off the clock asap especially when it is usually the other way around. "Get the tree down as quick as we can so we can cut the crane loose!"

Get ya a swivel, glue some little mirrors to your safety helmet and you can be the disco ball up there! Haha! :clap:
 
Slvrmple72 said:
he wanted you off the clock asap especially when it is usually the other way around. "Get the tree down as quick as we can so we can cut the crane loose!"
Click to expand...

That's the way it will be next Saturday. lol I offered to bring my dump and chipper and the whole crew but he didn't want to pay our hourly rate for that, so he just paid mine and left himself with a HUGE mess.
 
Slvrmple72 said:
Glad to see you had fun! I fully support the use of a crane for every removal when possible! Same way I fully endorse an ice cold beer with a good steak...yum. Blakes, it is funny to read that he wanted you off the clock asap especially when it is usually the other way around. "Get the tree down as quick as we can so we can cut the crane loose!"

Get ya a swivel, glue some little mirrors to your safety helmet and you can be the disco ball up there! Haha! :clap:
Click to expand...

the biggest company around here has like 5-6 crews. each has a bucket, bobcat, loader and crane. they're relatively small cranes but they can blow through some work.
 
Stihl-O-Matic said:
Insurance whats that?

















Lol just kidding. yeah cant imagine what that would run.
Click to expand...


Put it this way, SOM, my crane guy won't even come into my state because of the laws and I very rarely get work in PA otherwise I would use him a helluva lot more.
 
treeclimber101 said:
Looks like the crane got burnt by the high wire in PIC three..
Click to expand...

I hadn't noticed that but yeah, it kinda does. I assure you the crane was quite very far away from that little wire. The crane op is actually a retired electrician ( my old man used to work for him back in the day ) and bought a crane when he hit his 60's to keep some extra cash flow. Great guy, and everybody knows him down that way. I'll be sure to pick up many more jobs because of him.
 
good stuff. too bad your first crane tree had to be spruce. no easy way to get in there without the needles doing there best to piss you off.

i recommend hanging a few further from the ball closer to the bottom of the sling. that way you"ll have better control of the it when you go to set it.

any pucker factor when he pulled that top away from you?

and if you dont want to use a rope bag go up with your rope coiled and looped to your saddle. that way its easier to find a hole to throw the line down.

good time isnt it?
 
oldirty said:
good stuff. too bad your first crane tree had to be spruce. no easy way to get in there without the needles doing there best to piss you off.

i recommend hanging a few further from the ball closer to the bottom of the sling. that way you"ll have better control of the it when you go to set it.

any pucker factor when he pulled that top away from you?

and if you dont want to use a rope bag go up with your rope coiled and looped to your saddle. that way its easier to find a hole to throw the line down.

good time isnt it?
Click to expand...

Yeah, it wasn't much fun getting into that top with the needles and all but I was actually happy my first ride was a spruce. Vertical. Not a lot to question as far as appropriate placement of sling and cut. I didn't have much pucker factor even though the first 3 picks didn't go quite as planned. The one that's suspended in the 3rd pic actually popped up off the cut about 12 inches. BAD. I knew he had too much tension and should have corrected the situation but stupidly decided not to. I focused a bit more on the last 3 picks, made sure the ball was perfectly centered, the correct amount of pressure was on the sling and then told the OP to not touch a thing. I sliced in on the compression side a bit with my newly modded 361 ( thanks Brad ) and then hit the release side till she lifted that last little millimeter; dropped down and yelled, "It's all yours." Sweet as pie, those last few picks were. I hauled my rope bag up with me on the first ride and chucked it down the first tree but like I said, my job was to get them low enough for his bucket to reach sooo... once the first tree was down to 40 feet or so I just hooked up and got lifted to the next one, which was the lift pictured. I just pulled my rope out the first tree once I was set on # 2.
 
How did we ever build anything or remove anything without hardhats , or being tyed off , all this safety :censored: is just an excuse to get us to buy something..
 

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