Is it legal to tie into a cranes loadline? Where to find the right information on it

[mattfr12]

lol.

just been letting that baby grow. free range beard, i let it do as it pleases.

true story.


i was doing a couple easy ash trees just tall and skinny with the crane near some wires. 2 pickers. these trees were absolutely smothered in vines as well. so i just set the sling and had him tighten up. as i rap'd down i was being deliberate due to the proximity and the vines. i had just gotten a foot tangled and leaned into the climb line and freed my foot then fast rap'd to get by. as soon as i got going all of a sudden i came to a screeching halt....

my beard got caught in my prussic!! i was hanging with all my weight on the beard and no where near a branch to stand on. i had to do a 1 arm pull up and try to free myself by undoing my distal knot with one hand..... try it by the way, unloading a fully loaded distal with one hand.

needless to say there were some hearty laughs from the log truck driver and crane op. good times. still a full beard so it only hurt the pride minus the good sized tuft of beard hair that was stuck in the knot....

how you been, larry? well i hope.

btw, this thing is getting pretty rugged. almost a year old now. the gf is going to bake a cake for its birthday. feb 12.

OD i got a 2 year old daughter and a 3 month old boy times are hard for this tree man had to put down the stihl's and huskys and start microwaven bottles and have the smell of wipes on my hands instead of bar oil anymore.

 

[fdoberman]

My guess is recently licensed (within the last couple of years) and hasn't seen any real work yet... And no real tree work. Believe me, after 20 years of doing crane removals, it's very easy to spot a rookie just by the way he talks. 20 Years down the line he might think back on this little exchange and realize what an ass he has been... That is if they don't pull his license for killing someone. Those who live by the book die by it.

Would you consider the first license in 1979 recent?

I've already got better than 30 years in the seat, started on a machine with 7 levers and 6 foot pedals with a lattice boom & jib. The house wasn't air conditioned either.

Like I said there are plenty of machines for sale, you brilliant moneymaking young fellows ought to go buy one. They even make machines now that don't take much force to move the little joystick that would be just perfect for tree work. Some even have computers that supposedly prevent mistakes by the operator.

 

[tree md]

Don't sound like you've learned a lot in 30 years... Sounds like you are still doing the same old, same old static loads. Glad it's working for you and your not killing tree guys. Like I said, you don't have the brains for it.

 

[mattfr12]

Would you consider the first license in 1979 recent?

I've already got better than 30 years in the seat, started on a machine with 7 levers and 6 foot pedals with a lattice boom & jib. The house wasn't air conditioned either.

Like I said there are plenty of machines for sale, you brilliant moneymaking young fellows ought to go buy one. They even make machines now that don't take much force to move the little joystick that would be just perfect for tree work. Some even have computers that supposedly prevent mistakes by the operator.

i did buy one actually bought two if you wanna be down to a science about it. oldest one is a 2011 we don't run no stuff with 6 foot petals. and 50 levers

 

[mattfr12]

and heres a picture of me riding the hook under the wires and out over the back of a house to pick a tree that fell on it? o my under the wires and on the hook two fouls happened there what to do. what to do.
see thies new fangled ones don't have 50 levers you can get a remote control kinda like what you use to turn your TV on if your still with me. And you don't even need an operator!! a one man wrecking machine.

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk

 

[Zale]

the ball of a crane is a very tough place to be a part of. i would not want to be hanging around on a piece of fabric in an area of rather extreme violence.

you just cannot go wrong with the picture i shared. its bullet proof and only makes sense. double the safety even.

I was just curious. Over the years, I've used your set up, friction saver, rescue steel carabiner and pulley all secured above the ball. They all worked for me. I think it would have to be some pretty extreme violence to cut through the fabric of a friction saver. I also would not be tied into the crane while it was under load.

 

[tree md]

Sounds like someone should take a bow and head back to the porch with the static loads. Way outclassed here... Don't go away mad, just go away.

 

[mattfr12]

Sounds like someone should take a bow and head back to the porch with the static loads. Way outclassed here... Don't go away mad, just go away.

I think he did. i hate when people think there the next best thing since sliced bread. i don't care how many levers your crane had odds are I'm not the best tree climber in the world. and odds are he's not the best or knows everything about cranes.

once you think you know it all you might as well quite because the rest that are still learning will make you look stone age and blow by you like a nascar at talladega.

 

[tree md]

If you're not keeping up with changes in the industry and new standards then you are being left behind... And losing money. I mean, if we didn't follow changes in the industry and industry standards we would still be topping trees and filling cavities with cement...

 

[ForTheArborist]

What?

I thought that was industry standard. Why just the other day........topped it and filled it with cement. Quikrete to be exact. Times er changin'.

 

[stihlboy]

HAD you done YOUR job correctly YOU wouldn't have been injured.
Don't even claim the crane operator was any part of YOUR screwup.

You're right, I am ignorant of many things. I wouldn't even attempt to operate a tower crane because I don't know the machine. I damn well wouldn't attempt to take a load that was under tension either because I'm ignorant of how it is going to bounce when it is cut free.

Calling 911 to pick a dead climber up, no problem. He will get dead from his screwup, NOT MINE. If he's nice enough to leave the number for his next of kin I'll call them too. I have a lot of minutes available.

I don't tell climbers how to cut trees and I will NOT accept any climber telling me how to run my machine. I do not make the rules, the insurance carrier does. My LICENSE = MY RULES. I know why the rules exist.

fdoberman, with posts like this don't expect to be treated nicely.

Its LEGAL get over it!

if you dont feel comfortable doing it fine, nobody is forcing you.

I'm sure there are more capable operators that would love the extra $$$

 

[2treeornot2tree]

I was just curious. Over the years, I've used your set up, friction saver, rescue steel carabiner and pulley all secured above the ball. They all worked for me. I think it would have to be some pretty extreme violence to cut through the fabric of a friction saver. I also would not be tied into the crane while it was under load.

One problem with hooking in to the ball is having to have the rope and the strap in the same space, you could get the strap ontop of your rope and when tighened up, and you would be stuck. The other problem is that if there is a bur or a sharp edge on the hook, that could cut your rope like a hot butter knife.

 

[Zale]

One problem with hooking in to the ball is having to have the rope and the strap in the same space, you could get the strap ontop of your rope and when tighened up, and you would be stuck. The other problem is that if there is a bur or a sharp edge on the hook, that could cut your rope like a hot butter knife.

The set ups that I have used all involve being secured above the hook. This question of wether or not its "legal" to tie into the crane never seems to get resolved. This question has been around for decades. We can follow the current standards put forth by our industry and thats about it. It seems people think the OSHA Police are out there just waiting for you to hoist a climber on a crane. In reality, you will never see OSHA unless you have a fatality on the job site. Find a good crane operator who you trust, follow industry guidelines and be safe.

 

[2treeornot2tree]

In reality, you will never see OSHA unless you have a fatality on the job site.

Thats not true. I was talking to a tree company down in west chester that got shut down and fined by osha last summer. Osha was out investigating a roofing company down the street, and they seen the tree company working. They stood across the road and video tape them working, then went to there car and got there clip board and hard hat and shut the tree company down. The bucket man was wearing a bucket waist belt instead of a 3pt harness and fall arrest lanyard. They couldnt go back to work until they got a 3pt harness. I know i like my waist belt better then wearing a 3pt harness in the bucket, but i now carry a 3pt harness with me.

 

[Zale]

Thats not true. I was talking to a tree company down in west chester that got shut down and fined by osha last summer. Osha was out investigating a roofing company down the street, and they seen the tree company working. They stood across the road and video tape them working, then went to there car and got there clip board and hard hat and shut the tree company down. The bucket man was wearing a bucket waist belt instead of a 3pt harness and fall arrest lanyard. They couldnt go back to work until they got a 3pt harness. I know i like my waist belt better then wearing a 3pt harness in the bucket, but i now carry a 3pt harness with me.

If the company had a 3pt harness and the operator was wearing it would they have been shut down? They were not following industry standards.

 

[2treeornot2tree]

I was pointing out that they do come out other then for a fatality. That's all, never said they weren't doing anything wrong. I know, I like a belt much better then a 3pt. Why do I want a lanyard that is long enough to let me fall out of the basket, then drop 6 feet as the fall arrester opens up. No thanks, I will keep wearing my belt, its my butt. Techically if you wear your climbing saddle up in the bucket to climb out onto the tree you would be in violation.

Sent from my droid

 

[beastmaster]

guess I still don't get why riding the ball would be any more dangerous then going up in a bucket. not trying to be argumentative, just trying to understand the reasoning

One thing that is always on my mind when I am raised by a crane over rising my self in a bucket, is if I should get under something like a big branch,and the crane is still lifting me, That crane can't feel that, and you could get crushed as your lifted.
I know, I know, not much chance of that if the op has his eyes on, but thats just my pet fear.
That being said I always get a lift into the tree, I have never yet rode down with the pick, but if I didn't feel conferrable with the integrity of the tree I was in, I wouldn't do it any other way, no matter what any Gov. or state agency said. their at a desk not on some tree with their back pockets touching.

 

[beastmaster]

I was just curious. Over the years, I've used your set up, friction saver, rescue steel carabiner and pulley all secured above the ball. They all worked for me. I think it would have to be some pretty extreme violence to cut through the fabric of a friction saver. I also would not be tied into the crane while it was under load.

I am still a novice working with cranes, but Iv'e been getting a crash course the last few years. I've done a few jobs I probably wasn't qualified for at the time and made some dumb mistakes.
I once hook my line to the hook. The ball was flat on top and the big steel carribiner I was using was side loaded if I attached it above the ball. Any way I had both my lanyard and climbing line throu the hook, I attached the steel choker to a branch and the crane tightened it. My climbing line got under the choker and was mangle bad enough I had to cut that piece off and retie before I could safely descend on it. I caught it right away too, before it was really cinched down. 11mm blaze. It would of sliced it in a heart beat.
PS: I was well a weir of the potential dangers before hand. Still happened.

 

[mattfr12]

Thats not true. I was talking to a tree company down in west chester that got shut down and fined by osha last summer. Osha was out investigating a roofing company down the street, and they seen the tree company working. They stood across the road and video tape them working, then went to there car and got there clip board and hard hat and shut the tree company down. The bucket man was wearing a bucket waist belt instead of a 3pt harness and fall arrest lanyard. They couldnt go back to work until they got a 3pt harness. I know i like my waist belt better then wearing a 3pt harness in the bucket, but i now carry a 3pt harness with me.

O ya they definitely will show up especially once they know your legal. Guys flying under the radar without workers comp they don't even know their in business. because half the time they don't have anything registered because they don't wanna go to jail. those are the guys they are really looking for. If you have employees and no comp wait till they show up the fees for comp will start looking cheap. seen a guy say he had them registered as sub contractors doesn't work like that. one of those guys break their leg your gonna pay for it and might wind up in prison.

Hard hats and safety glasses are provided by me i have no problem with them their cheap to provide. and they are mandatory. and at this state its me and 1 other guy that do the cutting so i don't have to try and watch 10 people to see if their doing stupid stuff when I'm not around.

 

[Iustinian]

The set ups that I have used all involve being secured above the hook. This question of wether or not its "legal" to tie into the crane never seems to get resolved. This question has been around for decades. We can follow the current standards put forth by our industry and thats about it. It seems people think the OSHA Police are out there just waiting for you to hoist a climber on a crane. In reality, you will never see OSHA unless you have a fatality on the job site. Find a good crane operator who you trust, follow industry guidelines and be safe.

I disagree. OSHA will also show up if you have someone making a complaint, anonymous or otherwise. In most cases it will be an employee or ex-employee that you recently pissed off lol.

Work comp auditors have shown up to my site before but thats always gone well.