Boring jobs

What do you guys do on those jobs where your sitting with the crane idling/shut off for 3-4 hrs a day. So far I've greased the whole crane, washed wheels and Windows and done a few little things. I've brought books/magazines before on some.

So what do guys do on those jobs where they need a lift every few hours or so.

I don't run a crane but I imagine they're paying for it to be there so I'd be counting the money I'm making twiddling my thumbs.

Seen a few guys with ipads and hotspot it from the phone..

Hop out of the cab & go find out what the delay is .

Also helps to yell at carpenters , " Is this your first job ? " .

I guess maybe I should figure out how to post pictures on here. Had plenty of time the first of the week. 3 10 hr days making maybe 10-15 lifts per day. Sometimes 1.5 hrs between lifts. Generally if someone is paying us hourly we try not to rush them much.

It's part of it I quess. A few years ago I was at a quarry with a crane. Supposed to be a quick job. This is a huge company with all kinds of safety bs. Take me down into the pit. Wrong part we'll be back they said. This is at around ten. Mind you I'm in a hundred foot deep hole a 1/2 mile from the office. Absolutely no cell service. You are absolutely not to be on foot walking through the quarry. Long story short the guy supposed to come tell me to leave didn't. At 4 o'clock the plant manager sees that I haven't signed out and comes driving down there. I did get a good nap in that day. Talk about a boring day.

td25c said:

Hop out of the cab & go find out what the delay is .

Also helps to yell at carpenters , " Is this your first job ? " .

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Ya, Yell at the workmen. But make sure you got your Lexon windows in first, and your hardhat on. Always a good thing to do if you broke your hammer and need another.

I don't run a crane either, but I work industrial mostly, usually next to a crane. Sometimes using my hoe as a crane.

First step is cleaning my cab to a ridiculous level.

Then I get myself into a good book series. I think I read over 1k pages last July/August, just during the work day.

If you're lucky and you time it right, you can sleep through your lunch breaks, then snack throughout the day.

Edit to add: I use to be a go-getter. I'd hop out and help out, even if I couldn't help I'd at least be there with them, suffering the heat or the rain. Took me a while but I learned. Stay in the cab, keep the radio (two-way) turned up, and be ready to swing.

The crane operators in my company always use earphones and listen to music when they are working. That's how they chill in their job.

I am not a crane operator, but my job also has long periods of inactivity followed by extreme activity. After cleaning and lubing the machine I would be reading. Probably for an upgrade in rating.

Rick

td25c said:

Hop out of the cab & go find out what the delay is .

Also helps to yell at carpenters , " Is this your first job ? " .

Click to expand...

:iagree:iagree

Not a crane operator as well. My favorite thing my boss would say was "stand by". I'd call back at 15 minutes. No answer. Then Id call back at an hour. Nice when you are relaxing in the ac. Then he'd call"are you still sitting in the same place?!". He did say stand by!

I ran a crane for a few years and found that to keep my brain up to speed doing crosswords (or any other type of puzzle you fancy) kept my mind working. When the time did come to actually do a lift my brain was already in gear instead of being half asleep.

May Scotty rest in peace somewhere amongst the stars, here's a great quote when the captain confined him to his quarters:

Scott: "Yes, sir. Thank you, sir! That'll give me a chance to catch up on my technical journals!"

old-iron-habit said:

Ya, Yell at the workmen. But make sure you got your Lexon windows in first, and your hardhat on. Always a good thing to do if you broke your hammer and need another.

Click to expand...

Life is to short to be waiting on others that aint got it together .

Some jobs you just know your only gonna make a lift every hour or so. I really don't mind having the crane turned off still on the clock. We try to do most of the small maintenance stuff, i.e. Grease, tire pressures, wash Windows, that kinda stuff out on jobs.

The only thing that irks me is having the crane for 10 hrs on a job that should have only taken 2 and then griping about the bill. that really grinds my gears. Especially if it's 9 o'clock on a Saturday night when I roll out.

Old boss used to say "if it all went right for the customers, we wouldn't make any money."

I get customers ask me how long it will take to set trusses on a house. I ask them how hard they're going to work, because they won't be waiting on me. I've had similar size houses take 3 hours with one crew, take 8-10 with a different crew. I usually won't schedule something else for a operator, on a day he goes to set trusses with a new crew.

I also kind of gave up on trying to book more than two jobs for one crane in a day. Every time I try for three jobs in a day, I'm on the phone with two customers, explaining why I'm late. Usually its because some truck driver is lost, or thinks he can cover the 350 miles he has yet to travel, in 3 hours.

But none of this is about how I kill time on a job when there's nothing to do. Usually I'm getting on the phone, bugging my wife/secretary, planning the next couple days of work. Sometimes I'll check in with the other operators, but I try to leave them alone, they'll call me if they need me. Then I try to make it a habit to just look the crane over for leaks, maintaince items. I never grease on a job site, unless its there for a really long time.

Judging from the time your posts were made, I'd say your spending extra time reading and posting on Heavy Equipment forums, not a bad use of time at all.