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Finally learned how to post pics.
- Thread starter Knepptune
- Start date
crane operator
Senior Member
Love the parking garage job. There's always a way.
Rt740 we used to own. This was 2-3 yrs back. This leg was hands down the scariest job I've ever been on. 140' tall. 4' off center at the top. The pipe pushed the distributor back into to the leg and buckled the leg. The distributor was held on by 1 quick clamp. I don't have to many pictures of the pipes. The worst pipe was 148' long and had a 12' sag in the middle. The bins closest to the leg had the roofs caved in from the weight of holding the whole thing up. Brand new set up. We held the distributor up with the 740 and went around and took all the pipes down with the 200. No one got hurt on this job. Me and the foreman in charge of taking it all didn't get much sleep for a couple days. Ended up with a bunch of shiny scrap metal. Dont know how the lawsuit ended up.
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Sometimes when your small cranes are busy you bring out the big guns. We normally don't send the 110 to set trusses but This job was close to shop and a good customer so we had to take care of them. This barn was 80'x180'. It sure was nice to do it all from 1 setup.
Sometimes when your small cranes are busy you bring out the big guns. We normally don't send the 110 to set trusses but This job was close to shop and a good customer so we had to take care of them. This barn was 80'x180'. It sure was nice to do it all from 1 setup.
GrainBinMan
Well-Known Member
Ok, so what was going on here? The elevator buckled at the top and had to be taken down? Was wind damage? Installation error?
If we have a long pipe that is even flat, I don't like it. We try to put a good arch in them, so when the grain weighs it down it is flat.
If we have a long pipe that is even flat, I don't like it. We try to put a good arch in them, so when the grain weighs it down it is flat.
crane operator
Senior Member
You at least could have taken out block and put in ball to set trusses!
You're like me though- whatever it takes. When I send a bigger crane to a jobsite, because I have the smaller crane busy, I will send the larger one at the smaller rate. I used to work for a guy, if the 120 ton was busy, he would send the 175, but only at the 175 rate. I would see us lose work because of it, and I always thought "why not send the 175 with one load of counterweight at the 120 rate?". He always tracked the crane per hour cost/ cost of ownership , much closer than I do, and for him that worked. He was a great guy, and a good businessman- I just always thought that part was kind of strange.
I tend to think I would rather keep the customer, and eat a little extra fuel cost. Really, once the crane is on site, it doesn't cost me a lot more to run my 70 ton, than my 25 ton. Yes, over the long haul it costs more, but for a one day thing- its not the end of the world.
You're like me though- whatever it takes. When I send a bigger crane to a jobsite, because I have the smaller crane busy, I will send the larger one at the smaller rate. I used to work for a guy, if the 120 ton was busy, he would send the 175, but only at the 175 rate. I would see us lose work because of it, and I always thought "why not send the 175 with one load of counterweight at the 120 rate?". He always tracked the crane per hour cost/ cost of ownership , much closer than I do, and for him that worked. He was a great guy, and a good businessman- I just always thought that part was kind of strange.
I tend to think I would rather keep the customer, and eat a little extra fuel cost. Really, once the crane is on site, it doesn't cost me a lot more to run my 70 ton, than my 25 ton. Yes, over the long haul it costs more, but for a one day thing- its not the end of the world.
Lol it's a single sheave block. I just had 2 part line on it.
We don't send a bigger crane a whole lot. It depends on the who the customer is. If we do a lot of work for someone we'll do our best to take care of them. This barn would have really been all the the 30t would have wanted. We would have had to set up at least 5-6 times. They swing all their metal with a metal cradle. The trusses aren't bad. It's swinging the metal cradle over the back with a full load of metal that the 30-40t cranes struggle with.
Really once that crane is on site it runs really cheap. The little six cylinder in the upper is a fuel sipper. It burns a fraction of the fuel that the 300 does. The big Cummins is nice on the road but golly she's a thirsty girl.
Cost of ownership is really something I've been trying to buckle down on tracking. It's always better to make decisions based on facts and hard numbers then gut feelings. It's kinda surprising once you track everything. May change your opinion on which cranes are pulling their weight and which ones aren't.
We don't send a bigger crane a whole lot. It depends on the who the customer is. If we do a lot of work for someone we'll do our best to take care of them. This barn would have really been all the the 30t would have wanted. We would have had to set up at least 5-6 times. They swing all their metal with a metal cradle. The trusses aren't bad. It's swinging the metal cradle over the back with a full load of metal that the 30-40t cranes struggle with.
Really once that crane is on site it runs really cheap. The little six cylinder in the upper is a fuel sipper. It burns a fraction of the fuel that the 300 does. The big Cummins is nice on the road but golly she's a thirsty girl.
Cost of ownership is really something I've been trying to buckle down on tracking. It's always better to make decisions based on facts and hard numbers then gut feelings. It's kinda surprising once you track everything. May change your opinion on which cranes are pulling their weight and which ones aren't.
crane operator
Senior Member
Ouch on the damaged stinger. Was that one of the pools that come in upside down on the trailer, then you get to flip it? I hate those, I'm rarely running two lines, so I usually just rig one side and flop them over, they always break over fast.
The pool set was my brother. I just stole the picture.
On that stinger I've told the owner a hundred times that a stinger is only for roof trusses. Not bunks of prefabbed walls. I don't know if you've been around apartment framers much but those boys could break an anvil with a rubber hammer.
On that stinger I've told the owner a hundred times that a stinger is only for roof trusses. Not bunks of prefabbed walls. I don't know if you've been around apartment framers much but those boys could break an anvil with a rubber hammer.
kshansen
Senior Member
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2012
- Messages
- 11,179
- Location
- Central New York, USA
- Occupation
- Retired Mechanic in Stone Quarry
Sometimes people think just because a crane is rated for say 35 tons it will pick that much with all the stick out and at a low angle! Some do not understand the effect of a long lever with a small weight. You not only have to take into account the length of the lever but also the weight of that lever!
crane operator
Senior Member
Nice tank farm job. I hate really old tanks, around here they've usually got a sketchy looking little tab/angle iron welded on the top/ or a trailer tie down ring, welded on who knows how long ago. If they're a old gas tank, no one's volunteering to weld on new tabs, just to scrap it. I've never had one break, but I've worried before.
Using the national to tip them, or for manbasket to rig you up? Maybe both?
Using the national to tip them, or for manbasket to rig you up? Maybe both?
crane operator
Senior Member
I just read my last two posts here. I evidently hate old tanks, hate flipping pools, don't really like tree jobs. Must be I only like picking up steel skids with a stamped weight, 4 designated pick points, welded on and marked, and having a 50% excess of chart, at 30' radius, in a empty, flat, paved parking lot.
I guess if it was easy, old women and little children would be doing it.
I guess if it was easy, old women and little children would be doing it.
Oh!! A perfect world wouldn't that be dreamy, only thing would make it better is if only government workers could it, then it wouldn't get all dirtied up by horrible people like us trying to make money.
Nothing prompted that ugly outburst it just popped into my head. I spent 11 years as a municipal councillor and constantly heard from staff how we couldn't possibly trust profit driven people to do anything when you could spend twice as much an let a civil servant do it.