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Just some work pics

BobCatBob

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 4, 2010
Messages
296
Location
Chicago
Very smart Crane Op....the tricks you guys use for safety, ways out if things go kiddywampgus....

I rebuilt my crane for fun, but the inspiration was my grandfather (owner/operator of a Grove 18 ton, local 150). He always used safety 1st, paycheck 2nd while working. I give you guts a ton of credit.....every time I see your picks, I think "what if something goes wrong?". Having an out is what keeps you safe.

My grandfather used to say "common sense isn't learned.....and those who don't have it, you need to identify in this line of work....so they don't kill you".
 

95zIV

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2006
Messages
795
Location
Cincinnati, OH
Occupation
RR Contractor Super.
View attachment 166418 Crane op. You live in a busy area, lots going on "good on ya!" Looks like you've built a good and diverse client base and I know that doesn't happen by accident. Things pretty well dry up here in February, March and part of April. Here is a picture that my son sent me of one of his jobs, he said the crane operator looked real hard at the slings just held on by tension before he lifted over the house.

They'll slip, I was setting a tank behind a brand new house, didn't even have the siding on yet, got stretched out directly off the back of my truck with the knuckle boom about 30' and the tank hit the ground, the beam and boom jumped up(same style beam that's in your picture Tradesman, the back to back "C" channel with the cables pinned in the center) and the beam went right through the sheathing on the back of the house. All I could think was "there goes my job", the builder was also the owner, said "don't worry about it, i've got extra plywood, I'll just change it out", thank god!
 

crane operator

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 27, 2009
Messages
8,275
Location
sw missouri
Had to unload the rest of a new amusement ride yesterday- I know, I don't like sunday work either, but the truckers wanted to get rolling, so I went along with the flow...

Tower sections were under 12,000, the motor section had all the weight out beyond the beams, it had a really goofy center of gravity- and why would they bother to put pick points or eyes on it? We still had a chain comealong in the truck from the amusement ride we tore down, so I added a extra leg to level it out.

Tower ends up being 200' tall. A 210 ton is scheduled for next monday to stand it up.

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hosspuller

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Joined
Aug 27, 2014
Messages
1,869
Location
North Carolina
Crane Op... If you're speaking about the eyes & lift points on the BLUE part... I fear you give the engineers too much credit for thinking of you. Looks to me they're just extra mounting spots. Mount the gear box input shaft horizontal or vertical. The arm seems to be a reaction arm to counter the torque of the gearcase.
What kind of ride is it ?
 

crane operator

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 27, 2009
Messages
8,275
Location
sw missouri
I was hoping for welded on pick points on the whole assembly so it would be balanced for installation- it's going 200' up and the guys mounting it will be hanging on the poles up there. It wouldn't have been hard while they are making it. I have guys all the time want to pick by the eye bolts in the motor- those are just for lifting the motor, not the whole assembly, and I'd hate to damage the gearcase- I think it came from germany (with a +/- 6 week lead time). We simply rigged all the iron and adjusted until we had it close. :D. I give engineers very little credit- only when somethings really neat.

It's some kind of tower/ drop/ air shoot them up and down thing. Something I feel no need to ride anymore.
 

crane operator

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 27, 2009
Messages
8,275
Location
sw missouri
Should I be worried if I show up on a jobsite, and one of the workers points at me, looks at the new guy and says "he's crazy". I've done a lot of oddball stuff for them, but I never really thought crazy was involved:rolleyes:.

This job went good, its a good quarry outfit, I offloaded the jaw a while back. they got the frame in.
Tandem picking a crusher frame with a end loader, they had dropped it a little far from where I needed to set to put the jaw in. Rather than set the crane up twice and skip it along, I decided it would be easier to just let him take 1/2 with the loader. Then we put in the jaw.
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crane operator

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 27, 2009
Messages
8,275
Location
sw missouri
Little bit up in the air with a 25- and then later through a tree. The tree location is very concerned that they have no tree damage, but they are constantly changing stuff and we have to go through the trees to get there.

Also a neat old trailer- no other options with it but to side load? and a truss job for later next week.


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crane operator

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 27, 2009
Messages
8,275
Location
sw missouri
From today with my 35 ton. The steel beams go on the backside of the house making the deck. They tried to set them with a telehandler from the back side, but it was too steep to work. I set up on the front side and set them in the blind. I brought along one of my guys to run the radio, we were probably 10' at the most and some places 4' off the house- that had the windows already installed. I was around 90' from the far one. Had 45' post and the house was probably 35' tall on the ridge on the top side.

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kshansen

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2012
Messages
11,129
Location
Central New York, USA
Occupation
Retired Mechanic in Stone Quarry
Should I be worried if I show up on a jobsite, and one of the workers points at me, looks at the new guy and says "he's crazy". I've done a lot of oddball stuff for them, but I never really thought crazy was involved:rolleyes:.

This job went good, its a good quarry outfit, I offloaded the jaw a while back. they got the frame in.
Tandem picking a crusher frame with a end loader, they had dropped it a little far from where I needed to set to put the jaw in. Rather than set the crane up twice and skip it along, I decided it would be easier to just let him take 1/2 with the loader. Then we put in the jaw.

Those jaw crusher pictures made me feel like I was back at work, spent 45 years playing around in the quarry up the road form me! First job was actually helping to assemble parts of the plant. And more than once helped move crushers with two front end loaders, one going forwards and the other one driving backwards. One of those jobs you sometimes don't want the wrong boss to be trying to "help" direct. We often said that with all the dangerous things there are in a stone quarry the most dangerous was a boss "helping"! I think if you do some research on accidents in quarries there is a high percentage that are either management or supervisors as a contributing factor.

As for the "crazy" comment. Sometimes people who don't really understand things think anything that they don't know about is crazy. Unless you are doing things like having a front end loader putting down pressure on the counter weight of your crane while making the lift to keep from flipping over! Yea seen things like that back in the day!
 

crane operator

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Joined
Mar 27, 2009
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8,275
Location
sw missouri
What the house looks like- with all the iron for the decks in place. Three of them are actually under the overhang of the house 2'. They just put some 2x6's between them all, to hold them in place- its supposed to be pretty windy here today.



Glad to bring up the memories of the quarry kshansen- I like working with those guys, they've usually got their stuff together, and are willing to do whatever I need to get the job done.

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crane operator

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Mar 27, 2009
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8,275
Location
sw missouri
Put the rest of the new ride up yesterday and today. Working with a 5210 grove, he's got 197' main and 46' or so of jib out when he set the top piece. There's a bunch more light bars and a motor section to go up yet, but I'm done there for now, I just had to tail the tower sections, and move them from where we stored them on site.

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crane operator

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Mar 27, 2009
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8,275
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sw missouri
Couple more- were were close to having enough boom and jib on setting the top piece. We had to use a spreader bar on the last one, it had handrail on the top and that's the only way I could see to clear it as we were standing it up.

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crane operator

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Mar 27, 2009
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8,275
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sw missouri
Also got to set the second little treehouse while we were there. It was just under 10,000 lbs. And set a goofy looking ridge beam/sign. If you thought the last one was crooked tradesman, it's got nothing on this one.

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crane operator

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Mar 27, 2009
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8,275
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sw missouri
So my 70 ton crane has absolutely no storage on it. Not a rigging box, tool box, place for the hammer,crescent wrench, extra becket and wire's for the A2B, nothing. No place for water jug, lunch box or tag line. I stash the stuff in the upper and lower, and we haul the rigging with our extra wood and spreader bar on a gooseneck trailer that the rigger drives.

We made some spots on the deck to tie down our minimum wood and mats, and now I'd like to add a box. I found a tunnel style box, built really heavy, from a straight truck. I had done some measuring, and decided to install it on the tag axle, and mount my oversize load sign to the back of the box, side doors, plenty of room for our misc. items and some rigging and shackles.

Well- we built some risers for it, and because of how the tag axle raises up, it's way too high. It looks wrong, its too high and mounted too far back and sticks out like a sore thumb. Monday morning the welds are getting cut, and I'm figuring out something else.

I think I'm going to move some air tanks around and cut the box in 1/2. Then I can mount that 1/2 in front of the fender, and have the top lid even with the deck, and a side door.20170401_122716.jpg 20170331_164738.jpg 20170331_164747.jpg
 

davo727

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Mar 7, 2013
Messages
165
Location
N of Houston Texas
Occupation
Aircraft mechanic
Looks fine to me right there, I would extend it out so it goes full width both sides to give you even more room for stuff.
 

crane operator

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Joined
Mar 27, 2009
Messages
8,275
Location
sw missouri
Feeder at the quarry (one of my other operators sent me the picture- I was doing the unit), and a big makeup air unit for a 4 story motel. Feeder was around 10k, the air unit was just over 4k. 25 ton to set the feeder, I used the 70 ton at the unit (it was quite a ways away).

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crane operator

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Mar 27, 2009
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8,275
Location
sw missouri
Setting some steel truss beams. 8,900lbs. each. 13' tall, 50' long. Had to unload them together off the semi (picked up , drove truck out from underneath)- he had fun getting in there also. That's a big powerline above the fence on the other side of the alley, and I had to stay as far as I could from them (I'm probably 20-25' from them in the first picture, but I couldn't lay the trusses down individually side by side). Wanted to lay the trusses down separate, but I had no where else to go with them. Really limited room to work on this jobsite.



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crane operator

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Mar 27, 2009
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8,275
Location
sw missouri
Finished up the last of the beams (I think) with the 25 yesterday afternoon. We've been in and out of this house job 4 times, its a real steep hill out of there in the housing development- 1st gear the whole way.

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