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Just some work pics

crane operator

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Mar 27, 2009
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sw missouri
The roadmasters are around 725 each, and the hercules are around $525. I think both are 20 or 22 ply. Both designed to be "waste hauler" / city service drives. The ironman ones I told them to keep were around 500each.

Trash trucks run a lot of 315 drives to deal with their weight issues, which is also why the crane is running 315 drives.
 

crane operator

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Joined
Mar 27, 2009
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8,321
Location
sw missouri
Been looking at tires, can get some continentals or hankooks shipped to me that are a drive style more like I prefer- a little more aggressive with open shoulders to get mud out. 550-650 each depending on which I get.

Anyone ordered tires online and know if they include FET in on the price- or do they send you a paper later and I'm supposed to pay it?

I also studied up, and if I'm willing to lose a little bit of road speed, I could go to a 12r22.5, so that's another option. I'm not sure on availability. It was a option on the crane from factory, and would go right on my 9.00 rims.
 

crane operator

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Mar 27, 2009
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8,321
Location
sw missouri
Ordered tires online today, my tire man just couldn't find any in stock with a drive type tread. I guess I'll see if they get here.

It was a Monday today. 27 people calling trying to get scheduled in the next two days. I was out in the 100 ton- full jib manbasket work. Drove the counterweight truck over a manhole lid that broke. Put a cone over it and called the maintence guys for the facility. At least the tire didn't go in far enough to break the water valve under it.

One of the other guys went to do a billboard with the Mack. I looked at it yesterday, and "you'll be fine getting in there"- we had 3" of sleet last week that isn't all gone (its like hard snowdrifts)- but it was all gone where he had to go.

He got in there all right. he just didn't get back out. Side slope and tandems slid down the hill on him. He got a ride back to the shop, and got one of the other guys, and they were going out there with the winch truck. Well the winch truck hasn't moved in 6 months- it wouldn't start and had one flat tire and two low ones.:rolleyes:

I came back after my 100 ton job, got the winch truck running and the tires up, while they went and got another job done with the Galion. They went out with the winch truck while I went and looked at another job, and just got the Mack stuck worse. Its kind of stopped walking down the hill, but that's because its up against a tree. :p

I finally got out there at 5- its going to take a wrecker. I've got one meeting them tomorrow after he does a job first in the morning- I've got three other jobs to do, the first two jobs are a hour one direction from town, the last one a hour in the opposite direction from town- windshield time.

And thank goodness tomorrow is tuesday.
 

crane operator

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Joined
Mar 27, 2009
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8,321
Location
sw missouri
They got the mack out this morning. Ended up having to jack it up with the outriggers and slide some of my mats under it, I guess it just wanted to dig in when they were pulling it uphill. I took the pictures last night.

Better than rolling it down the hill. My guy said it was starting to get a little light on the uphill side. :)

And I made my 4 hours of driving around too.

Had to get serious at the asphalt plant, they didn't break the chain on the conveyor, and trying to change top bearing. 90' of stick out with 14,000lbs on, the link belt had all it wanted. Told them it better come loose, or we were going to need more crane. They're supposed to be running on next monday, didn't have the right bearing, wanted to put in a "temporary" wrong bearing. So we put that in and it isn't going to work.

I left to go do another job, and the new bearings have shown up, so I'll have to try to get back there tomorrow afternoon.

IMG_1504.JPG IMG_1505.JPG IMG_1506.JPG IMG_1507.JPG
 

Tags

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Joined
Feb 19, 2012
Messages
1,618
Location
Connecticut
Slowing sliding on a side hill like that will certainly get the blood pumping! At least your guys knew to stop before it got real bad. Glad you got it out of there with no damage.
 

crane operator

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Mar 27, 2009
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8,321
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sw missouri
Set a few blocks and then backfilled the retaining wall with 2" clean. Haven't used my old concrete bucket in a long time, but they started talking wheelbarrows, and we would have to wait while they backfilled. I said I had the solution to that. It takes a while to do a couple loads of rock that way, but it sure beat wheelbarrow.

The wall was built before the house, then they decided they wanted the wall 1 block taller. They set most of it with the excavator, but no room for that on the backside of the house. The first of the wall was in the blind, further towards me I could see. The upper deck was in the way also.

IMG_1524.JPG IMG_1527.JPG IMG_1533.JPG IMG_1536.JPG
 

hosspuller

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Aug 27, 2014
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North Carolina
I think it the right call for one more block on the retaining wall. That's a steep hillside so close to the foundation ! ! Reminds me of the California houses sliding into the sea.
 

crane operator

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Mar 27, 2009
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sw missouri
Minus the front truck weight. What's the chart over the end of the carrier? radius to the engine's coupler ?

I don't know if you can read the computer, but I was good for around 100,000lbs , and the most I saw was just under 80,000. Chart drops off pretty fast in every foot that close. It loses 17,000lbs of chart between 17' and 20' radius.

I always ask if they left it towards empty of fuel, and they never do. One time we had fuel running out of the neck, because it was so full. But I'd hate to think of priming that beast if you ran it out. So I can see why they keep it full.

IMG_1509.JPG
 

hosspuller

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Aug 27, 2014
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North Carolina
Crane op .. That's a neat display. 17 feet radius,35 feet of stick out with 32 feet of overhead ?
Does the chart change as the load is rotated on the carrier ?

With that info, I wonder why cranes collapse unless one has rigging or footing failure.
 

skyking1

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Nov 3, 2020
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7,657
Location
washington
Everything on there implies smooth operations. It doesn't take very much ham handing to get things out of chart. That's one of many ways the wheels come off on crane picks.
I basically get by. The one time I can point to where I was really really smooth, I was setting this transformer that was 16,000 even and my boss was calling me in to the pedestal and I kept booming down and swinging slowly slowly and the little lights are on and flashy, and I was able to get the actual load of 16,000 to match up with what I could pick at 16,000. The honky thing never went off! I've never seen that before or since. Usually a tiny gust of wind or a mouse fart or somebody pulls a tagline and the thing starts honking.
 
Last edited:

crane operator

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Joined
Mar 27, 2009
Messages
8,321
Location
sw missouri
With that info, I wonder why cranes collapse unless one has rigging or footing failure.

Chart will change as you boom up and down, and will also change with boom configurations.

Simple rotation- chart will stay the same, as the radius doesn't change, so the chart is the same. The liebherr is a 360 degree chart, so chart doesn't change with swing.

Typical collapse is gross overloading, and like you state, rigging or poor ground conditions. Most I see - involve a sudden change in weight- demolition- tear down of industrial equipment, and tree work.

Tilt up walls get a few cranes a year- the panels are heavy and gain weight as you stand them, and its always newly disturbed ground (soft).

The wind farms usually claim a few 500+ ton crawlers a year, bad ground between sites usually results in them going over.

Its possible also to get in trouble with telling the computer you have more counterweight hanging, when the weights are still on the trailer.

The weight shown as lifted, will change a little even with a unchanging weight. It will read a little more when you start booming up, and will get a slight decrease when booming down. You can also see a little change by simply lining up or down, but it will usually settle out when you stop moving.

It takes quite a bit of boom up, to lift the engine off the tracks, it deflects the boom and flexes the carrier enough that it would easily get a foot or two of radius if you just winched up on the load. With a lot of boom out at big radius, its not unusual to get 4-6' of radius change in simple boom deflection.
 

Spud_Monkey

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Sep 15, 2018
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Your six
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Decommissioned
Set a few blocks and then backfilled the retaining wall with 2" clean. Haven't used my old concrete bucket in a long time, but they started talking wheelbarrows, and we would have to wait while they backfilled. I said I had the solution to that. It takes a while to do a couple loads of rock that way, but it sure beat wheelbarrow.

The wall was built before the house, then they decided they wanted the wall 1 block taller. They set most of it with the excavator, but no room for that on the backside of the house. The first of the wall was in the blind, further towards me I could see. The upper deck was in the way also.

View attachment 255139 View attachment 255140 View attachment 255141 View attachment 255142
What are those blocks called besides retaining wall blocks, look like something I would want to use and maybe make my own.
 
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