crane newbie

[superjunior]

Just picked up a crane last week. Got it from a friend of mine who got himself a bigger one. I use him on jobs when a crane is needed and the little experience I have using one is from him telling me where to place the straps, make the cuts, ect.. I gotta admit it makes me very nervous and making big cuts over my head is very unnerving. We used it on a few jobs last week and oh boy is it a time saver. don't have much experience with one though and either does one of my ground guys who is now the crane operator. we're both kind of learning together. The basics seem to be about the same but this is a whole new ball game really. The few jobs we did last week seem to go real smooth with us just taking our time and good communication. A good rule of thumb I've always kinda went by is smaller is usually safer, not about to try testing limits here.

So any advise for this crane newbie? Any do's and don'ts you want to throw out there, I'm all ears.We'll be using it on a job at a church tommorro. nasty maple take down - tops are all rotted with one broken out and sitting on the roof, cabled...will be able to use the bucket truck on this one though. thanks ahead
Dan

 

[treeclimber101]

Ask OD and Marquis , they know every ####ing thing there is to know about a crane that you will need know , they are the KNOW ALL BE ALL OF the BALLS IN HAND.. Crane BALL that is

 

[pdqdl]

Just keep in mind that it is a lot safer to cut closer to the crane than it is far away. When that log starts swinging out from the crane, you'd better have some reserve capacity.

I did two crane jobs last month; I have only rarely used them before this. It was nice. On the first job, we polished off a behemoth silver maple in a tiny back yard in only 5 1/2 hours for $4100.00! We would have been two days shagging those useless logs out without the crane. 2nd job wasn't quite so fat, but $1700 in 2 1/2 hours isn't bad. I am only out of pocket $840 for crane rental, so I am convinced that it pays nicely if you have enough trucks to haul the wood away quick enough.

You never told us how big or what kind of crane you got. So 'fess up! Pics would be nice, too.

 

[superjunior]

Just keep in mind that it is a lot safer to cut closer to the crane than it is far away. When that log starts swinging out from the crane, you'd better have some reserve capacity.

I did two crane jobs last month; I have only rarely used them before this. It was nice. On the first job, we polished off a behemoth silver maple in a tiny back yard in only 5 1/2 hours for $4100.00! We would have been two days shagging those useless logs out without the crane. 2nd job wasn't quite so fat, but $1700 in 2 1/2 hours isn't bad. I am only out of pocket $840 for crane rental, so I am convinced that it pays nicely if you have enough trucks to haul the wood away quick enough.

You never told us how big or what kind of crane you got. So 'fess up! Pics would be nice, too.

thanks man. its a 14 ton manitex 1461 mounted on an international 4700 with 18 ft bed. had the crane and bed painted over the weekend.will take some better pics tomorro and maybe a little vid. its a smaller crane but it fits into some tighter areas which is nice. don't know why my pics are coming out so damn big, tried resizing in photobucket but they're still huge

 

[CNBTreeTrimming]

Those lines look extremely close. Is it just the angle of the pic or did you really set up that close to the lines?

 

[kdslocum]

Just picked up a crane last week. Got it from a friend of mine who got himself a bigger one. I use him on jobs when a crane is needed and the little experience I have using one is from him telling me where to place the straps, make the cuts, ect.. I gotta admit it makes me very nervous and making big cuts over my head is very unnerving. We used it on a few jobs last week and oh boy is it a time saver. don't have much experience with one though and either does one of my ground guys who is now the crane operator. we're both kind of learning together. The basics seem to be about the same but this is a whole new ball game really. The few jobs we did last week seem to go real smooth with us just taking our time and good communication. A good rule of thumb I've always kinda went by is smaller is usually safer, not about to try testing limits here.

So any advise for this crane newbie? Any do's and don'ts you want to throw out there, I'm all ears.We'll be using it on a job at a church tommorro. nasty maple take down - tops are all rotted with one broken out and sitting on the roof, cabled...will be able to use the bucket truck on this one though. thanks ahead
Dan

Been doing crane work for about 6 years now all situations all trees and heck yeah it makes the job so much easier! Yeah communication is key constantly making sure your safe as well as your ground guys because those on the ground can often see thing you cant see if climbing or using a bucket. Go slow and yes dont be reckless at all! If your not sure about something go with your gut which is prolly a smaller piece. Ive seen some crazy stuff happen like cables snapping and cranes tipping because of either taking too big a piece or limb pressure etc. P.S. make sure to keep an eye out for high strength steel cables in the tree! they can ruin your day or worse! I was taking down a tall tall hickoy with 4 cables in it. new they were there and everything the tree was so tall i was having to climb out of the bucket to set the chokers and that always rattles my cage a bit. I got back in the bucket and started cutting the piece not realizing i was cutting below one cable and above another. My ground guys saw me doing it and tried to get my attention but it was too late. the hickory split down the middle and 2 huge limbs landed on a fence between som residential houses as well ans doing some damage to the crane cuz of the stress of tipping it a bit. i def learned my lesson always inspect constantly. BE SAFE!

 

[superjunior]

Those lines look extremely close. Is it just the angle of the pic or did you really set up that close to the lines?

the pic is really deceiving. the crane is about 25 yards from the wires

 

[superjunior]

Been doing crane work for about 6 years now all situations all trees and heck yeah it makes the job so much easier! Yeah communication is key constantly making sure your safe as well as your ground guys because those on the ground can often see thing you cant see if climbing or using a bucket. Go slow and yes dont be reckless at all! If your not sure about something go with your gut which is prolly a smaller piece. Ive seen some crazy stuff happen like cables snapping and cranes tipping because of either taking too big a piece or limb pressure etc. P.S. make sure to keep an eye out for high strength steel cables in the tree! they can ruin your day or worse! I was taking down a tall tall hickoy with 4 cables in it. new they were there and everything the tree was so tall i was having to climb out of the bucket to set the chokers and that always rattles my cage a bit. I got back in the bucket and started cutting the piece not realizing i was cutting below one cable and above another. My ground guys saw me doing it and tried to get my attention but it was too late. the hickory split down the middle and 2 huge limbs landed on a fence between som residential houses as well ans doing some damage to the crane cuz of the stress of tipping it a bit. i def learned my lesson always inspect constantly. BE SAFE!

thanks for the heads up. funny you mention it, second job we used it on was a multi stem birch, not a huge tree only about 35 ft with 3 main trunks. easy (so I thought). just hook em up at the top and cut em at the base. made the first cut and the crane wouldn't lift it. we couldn't figure out why till we noticed it was cabled. lucky the cables weren't that high so we cut em with bolt cutters off a ladder. got a nasty take down tomorro thats cabled also

 

[no tree to big]

thats almost identical to the crane we run most of the time, you would be suprised how big of pieces you can pick with that guy, with some creativeness. you will find that you cant do nice level smooth pics on alot of stuff do to lack of boom length( at least on big removals) we do alot of stuff where you tip tie so to speak and cut say 90% through and stand the piece up or swing it around or what ever to get the load balanced under the boom tip. once the piece is balanced/stood up then finish the cut and take er away, what ever you do dont tip tie something and let the butt swing free can be a scary moment

and a tip for your maple removal when the rotted tips start breaking off if a pick catches the boom dont be afraid to bail and run like a little girl!!!

wish we wernt so busy cause I'd come out for a week and show ya how its done with a midget crane

 

[flushcut]

Congrats on the new toy, just make sure of your pick weight when you are at full stick.

 

[MarquisTree]

Does it have an LIM?

 

[kdslocum]

thanks for the heads up. funny you mention it, second job we used it on was a multi stem birch, not a huge tree only about 35 ft with 3 main trunks. easy (so I thought). just hook em up at the top and cut em at the base. made the first cut and the crane wouldn't lift it. we couldn't figure out why till we noticed it was cabled. lucky the cables weren't that high so we cut em with bolt cutters off a ladder. got a nasty take down tomorro thats cabled also

haha got lucky! make sure you have nice sharp bolt cutters for the cables tomorrow. :msp_wink: and a concience chipper operator so the bolts dont end up beatin the knives.

 

[superjunior]

haha got lucky! make sure you have nice sharp bolt cutters for the cables tomorrow. :msp_wink: and a concience chipper operator so the bolts dont end up beatin the knives.

yeah that would suck, put brand new knives on today. thanks for all the advice fellas. how do you guys guestimate the weight of your pics?

 

[oldirty]

yeah that would suck, put brand new knives on today. thanks for all the advice fellas. how do you guys guestimate the weight of your pics?

....... really?

this thing isn't a log truck or bobcat with all kinds of room for error to learn to use/operate. there is going to be another life in the tree while you are smashing around up there with no idea of what your pick'n.

i am officially nervous for you.


so far i am hearing a bit of hackery on this thread...

oh and dave, its LMI not LIM. tv loves his lmi. lol

 

[superjunior]

....... really?

this thing isn't a log truck or bobcat with all kinds of room for error to learn to use/operate. there is going to be another life in the tree while you are smashing around up there with no idea of what your pick'n.

i am officially nervous for you.


so far i am hearing a bit of hackery on this thread...

oh and dave, its LMI not LIM. tv loves his lmi. lol

thanks for the vote of confidence. I do have a basic understanding of trees. been in one or two. I do have some experience with crane removals, done several with the guy I bought the truck from. just never done it with out him there guiding me. And yes I am nervous and thats a good thing - it keeps me on my toes.

 

[kdslocum]

thanks for the vote of confidence. I do have a basic understanding of trees. been in one or two. I do have some experience with crane removals, done several with the guy I bought the truck from. just never done it with out him there guiding me. And yes I am nervous and thats a good thing - it keeps me on my toes.

ps:


like i said before use your gut. Smaller is better dont go picking up who trees.

 

[superjunior]

ps:


like i said before use your gut. Smaller is better dont go picking up who trees.

I hear ya. taking things slow and small

 

[epicklein22]

Does it have an LIM?

I doubt it, looks like an older model. Probably has a line that measures the load though, so that will help him figure out weights. Staying small with his picks and trying to do a bunch of small "one" pick trees would be good practice.

 

[epicklein22]

I hear ya. taking things slow and small

Hey SuperJunior, congrats on the crane. Most people seem to discredit smaller cranes on here, but they can do so much work and are definitely a smart investment. I'd rather have a small, cheap starter crane than a similar priced bucket.

I work with a guy that is silky smooth with cranes. I bet he could show you a lot if you want to line up some weekend work for him (if that is something he wants to do). You just can't steal him from Yarnell. LOL

As for getting used to the crane, take it slow. You have to respect the machine, as it will kill you or the climber if you are pushing the limits or don't understand the situation. Try to do as many "one" picks (small trees) as possible. Loading and unloading wood is also another good practice opportunity. Don't be afraid to put the stick out some too. Short sticking is not a good thing and be careful with your preloads. It would be bad news for your climber if you ripped the pick off from having too much preload or not enough stick out.

 

[kdslocum]

Hey SuperJunior, congrats on the crane. Most people seem to discredit smaller cranes on here, but they can do so much work and are definitely a smart investment. I'd rather have a small, cheap starter crane than a similar priced bucket.

I work with a guy that is silky smooth with cranes. I bet he could show you a lot if you want to line up some weekend work for him (if that is something he wants to do). You just can't steal him from Yarnell. LOL

As for getting used to the crane, take it slow. You have to respect the machine, as it will kill you or the climber if you are pushing the limits or don't understand the situation. Try to do as many one picks as possible. Loading and unloading wood is also another good practice opportunity. Don't be afraid to put the stick out some too. Short sticking is not a good thing and be careful with your preloads. It would be bad news for your climber if you ripped the pick off.

:agree2: