Crane accident

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koz

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SYLVAN BEACH —

A Sylvan Beach home and several boats were damaged Saturday when a crane collapsed on Vienna Road, state police said.

A 130-ton crane was taking down trees behind a residence at 1116 Vienna Road at about 8:23 a.m. when the accident occurred. A large tree limb caused the crane to tip forward and the fully extended boom to crash to the ground, police said.

A rear deck on the residence and three boats docked along the Mariner’s Landing canal were damaged by the crane and debris. The state Department of Environmental Conservation later was called to assist with leaking diesel fluid and hydraulic fluid from the crane and the boats, police said.

The accident temporarily closed Vienna Road between Route 13 and Kenwood Avenue, and is still under investigation, police said.
 
got to love it big crane you think you can cut big wood not:censored: never cut Any big er then you can handle tom trees
 
The news is saying there were no injuries.
Here's another pic
 
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Wow, talk about miscalculating your load. This is a classic example of one of my biggest pet peeves. Somebody, usually completely unqualified, just looks at something and builds a picture in their head of the lift, but doesn't have a clue about factoring all of the variables that are actually in play. "It'll work" coming out of the mouth of some dumb kid, myself included when I was a young man, is a recipe for disaster.

I'm much happier when a fully qualified and highly experienced operator makes a mistake like this. At least the guy knows what he's doing.
 
Wow, talk about miscalculating your load. This is a classic example of one of my biggest pet peeves. Somebody, usually completely unqualified, just looks at something and builds a picture in their head of the lift, but doesn't have a clue about factoring all of the variables that are actually in play. "It'll work" coming out of the mouth of some dumb kid, myself included when I was a young man, is a recipe for disaster.

I'm much happier when a fully qualified and highly experienced operator makes a mistake like this. At least the guy knows what he's doing.

It has more to do with dumb arse than qualification If it were my crane I would never take enough weight to even stress it. I am not certified but would not do that.
 
Like Texas said it probably wasn't over loaded it probably had a swing and went over. I am a certified operator, and have had this happen to me. Just not that severe, When you put a heavy load on a crane thats picking fairly flat you need to hook one to two foot away from the hook. That way when the boom is loaded its vertical, newbie riggers will often hook the load vertical from the tip. When loaded the boom drops a few feet and changes the lift point and cause the load to swing away from the crane. I was running a 50 ton trex when the same thing happened to me, just picked the load of a lowboy swing out and tilted the crane over. I was in the cab pulling and pushing levers freaking out, nothing was working though. when the crane tilted all the fuel went to the front of the tank and the engine died. after getting it restarted and getting the riggers on the ground I got out and I tell yea, the seat had a mountian range down the middle of it. Needle and sledge hammer thing
 
Like Texas said it probably wasn't over loaded it probably had a swing and went over. I am a certified operator, and have had this happen to me. Just not that severe, When you put a heavy load on a crane thats picking fairly flat you need to hook one to two foot away from the hook. That way when the boom is loaded its vertical, newbie riggers will often hook the load vertical from the tip. When loaded the boom drops a few feet and changes the lift point and cause the load to swing away from the crane. I was running a 50 ton trex when the same thing happened to me, just picked the load of a lowboy swing out and tilted the crane over. I was in the cab pulling and pushing levers freaking out, nothing was working though. when the crane tilted all the fuel went to the front of the tank and the engine died. after getting it restarted and getting the riggers on the ground I got out and I tell yea, the seat had a mountian range down the middle of it. Needle and sledge hammer thing

Pruitt could you draw this for me? Nothing fancy just a side on view. I read and reread but I have a weird mental image of what you are saying so it's probably just the coffee.....
 
Pruitt could you draw this for me? Nothing fancy just a side on view. I read and reread but I have a weird mental image of what you are saying so it's probably just the coffee.....

I am not Pruitt but I am sure he is referring to boom defection.

When you tighten up on a load the boom will defect downward moving the center lift point of the load inward causing it to swing outwards.

Always keep the lift point of the boom over the load, that is why a good groundman or rigger is indispensible.
 
I am not Pruitt but I am sure he is referring to boom defection.

When you tighten up on a load the boom will defect downward moving the center lift point of the load inward causing it to swing outwards.

Always keep the lift point of the boom over the load, that is why a good groundman or rigger is indispensible.
What I am trying to say is some times you have to boom up to offset the boom defection instead of hoisting up to center your boom over the lift point.

In rigging there is a book out that would help on crane picks
 
More or less when your working with high lift angles you rarely notice this but when picking loads with boom below 60 degree when you pick up some thing the boom will sag down several feet. If you rig the load true vertical from the tip of the boom upon picking the load the boom will drop and extend causeing the lift point to be away from the load. Which in turn causes the load to swing away from the crane. a rt 555 full stick at 40deg. will hold 3k lower the boom 10ft and the crane can't even hold its self. What I am saying is the limits come quickly, If you was gonna pick something up in that set up when the boom drops if the load swings two feet you are only about 200lbs from floating riggers. Scary part is thats normal practice.
 
More or less when your working with high lift angles you rarely notice this but when picking loads with boom below 60 degree when you pick up some thing the boom will sag down several feet. If you rig the load true vertical from the tip of the boom upon picking the load the boom will drop and extend causeing the lift point to be away from the load. Which in turn causes the load to swing away from the crane. a rt 555 full stick at 40deg. will hold 3k lower the boom 10ft and the crane can't even hold its self. What I am saying is the limits come quickly, If you was gonna pick something up in that set up when the boom drops if the load swings two feet you are only about 200lbs from floating riggers. Scary part is thats normal practice.
Pruitt is right.
Here is a list of some books & there is a lot more out there.

http://www.toolsforstagecraft.com/books-riggingsafety.htm
In most unfamiliar crane lifts talk it over with your groundman before the lift & always look for the unexpected.
 
Thanks guys.

Pruitt you explained that really well. I had not encountered this as my meagre crane experience has always been rigging and cutting from a 200ft EWP. I have always planned on getting my riggers ticket so I could use a smaller crane and rig from the tree so this sort of information will come in handy one day.

:cheers:
 
SYLVAN BEACH —

A Sylvan Beach home and several boats were damaged Saturday when a crane collapsed on Vienna Road, state police said.

A 130-ton crane was taking down trees behind a residence at 1116 Vienna Road at about 8:23 a.m. when the accident occurred. A large tree limb caused the crane to tip forward and the fully extended boom to crash to the ground, police said.

A rear deck on the residence and three boats docked along the Mariner’s Landing canal were damaged by the crane and debris. The state Department of Environmental Conservation later was called to assist with leaking diesel fluid and hydraulic fluid from the crane and the boats, police said.

The accident temporarily closed Vienna Road between Route 13 and Kenwood Avenue, and is still under investigation, police said.


WOW how much stick would that crane have? And what could it lift at 45 degrees? These guys must have been pickin TREES!
Thanks for the post KOZ! That happened on a job once and the crane guy was a veteran, could not see cuz of the house. Cut the tree off the ladder and ....Well it all went good no one got hurt. I was giving signals.
 
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