When can you NOT use a crane?

[treeman82]

Hey fellas. With all this talk of crane jobs, I wonder if there are any situations you cannnot use them in? I have been thinking about jobs that I have looked at in the past and passed on for different reasons. I know that a good chunk of them were crane jobs (behind houses down steps / MASSIVE trees, small lawn / etc) Those jobs would have been perfect for a crane as far as moving wood / brush goes. However most of them were on small side roads, and all of them had power lines RIGHT there. Can a crane park out on the road, get up over the power lines and get out past them a good 60 feet?

 

[treeclimber165]

All the crane companies have a standard rule prohibiting getting within 10' of power lines. I've had some guys 'push' that for me, but we were comfortable with each other's skill level and safety. Many times you have to get creative in where you can set up the crane. A few sheets of plywood for dispersing tire tracks and extra cribbing for the outriggers will go a long way towards saving the customer's lawn/driveway and get the crane in a good position. I always try to envision the crane setup routine, boom swing and landing areas when considering a crane for a job. They will usually want you (or the homeowner) to sign a waiver if they pull in the driveway or yard.

 

[Kevin]

What happens if the boom fails and comes down?
The power company or Government regs (I don`t think) would allow it unless the power to the lines was disconnected, even in the case of an emergency situation.

 

[treeclimber165]

Originally posted by Kevin
What happens if the boom fails and comes down?

Then it is called a tragic crane accident. Crane booms don't just "fall and come down". Just as tree limbs over a house don't just "fall and come down". Cranes are inspected regularly and tested at least annually for structural integrity. This is NOT a legitimate question in my eyes.

 

[kf_tree]

you also need to know the distance he needs for the out riggers. the guy i use needs 22 feet. in new york city a 5th front out rigger is required by law. we end up taking down alot of fence's trying to get the rig in brooklyn drive ways. the guys i know were doing a rental with a climber they never worked with before. they had sling on a big piece of the stick. the climber said the cut was through( but it wasn't) when he went to boom it up, the piece tore off and caused the rig to bounce. the operator try to dump the cable but he could not dump it quick enough. the cab got smashed on lower limbs from the oak it was parked under. and the boom got ripped right off the truck. the wood and boom landed right between 2 house's. no one was injured except for the crane. when crane accidents happen it's usually big. another company had a small crane.(way to light for tree work.) they picked too big a piece of wood and collapsed the boom right across the customers roof. then they had to get a bigger crane to pick the boom off the house. i once had a small job where i needed to pick a decent size piece of wood off a garage and phone lines. i went to hertz equip rental and was amazed they rented me a 65ft crane. i do not have a cdl and never ran a crane before but they rented it to me. i figured out the controls and the job went smooth. i just can't believe they could rent a crane to some one off the street with no exp as an operater.

 

[Toddppm]

I wish I had more experience in crane jobs so I knew exactly how far they could reach and how big a piece they could pick up, I've only worked on maybe 4 or 5 jobs but not as the climber. I'm sure I've overbid some jobs and lost them because I wasn't sure about their capablilities.

A crane I wouln't think you could rent,hhhhhmmmm...
Just learned how to run a backhoe that we rented at the track I belong to, I can't wait to get a job where I need to rent a big ole track loader for some reason I've played with a huge one at an auction a couple times!!!!

 

[treeman82]

Brian, what happens if you can't back into the driveway or lawn? I looked at a job down county this spring and you could barely even get the crane into the road, let alone the driveway. Heck, my car was just barely able to back out of the drive. Another one down county that I looked at a while ago was the same way. Road was not a dead end, however it was 1 way and skinny as heck. No way to back a crane into that one either. Another one I chickened out on over a year ago was probably accessable to a crane, however set up would have been a ?????.

 

[mikey]

Can you rent the large cranes or do you have to contract with the crane service?I would guess they get a healthy hourly rate with a guaranteed minimum.