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Just some work pics

crane operator

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Mar 27, 2009
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8,275
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sw missouri
Set some steel in a house basement. Of course the carpenters left their job trailer in the flat level spot in the driveway. Next one is a vacation rental by the lake. Three big stories tall. Set in one spot to do the house trusses. Moved around to the cul de sac to set the deck beam truss.

I'm not working this weekend either. I've been out working 3 of the last four weekends, and the days were kind of starting to run together. We've had a lot of rain here also. So the dry days on the weekends get used up.

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crane operator

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Mar 27, 2009
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sw missouri
Deck post beam truss. They didn't have any of the right beams, and were a month out to get the right ones. Temporary braces and joints on every vertical post. They will have to do the rest in the air.

Also made it back to the hospital roofing job. Our insurance companies weren't playing nice with each other, so I missed out on two trips. We finally got the right paperwork sorted out so our insurance company and theirs are happy, so we made the last trip over there.

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crane operator

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sw missouri
I'm not a architect, but I'm telling you, this is the ugliest new house I've seen in a while. Dormers with no windows and no overhang on the roof. Shake type siding and then a spanish trellis on the garage? No need to stick with a theme. Must have looked nice in the drawings.

The huge electrical meter box in the middle of the stone front of the lower level is a nice touch also.

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DMiller

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Feb 21, 2010
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Hermann, Missouri
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Cheap "old" Geezer
Some people have NO CLUE!! This is evidence!

Had a similar home near us when lived Warren County, guy and gal had really No Clue as to what they wanted so added as they built and made a royal mess of the place, arguing led to a divorce and eventually the whole exterior was ripped off/replaced to sell it. Near to here a Chiro and his wife built new, had to have special brick bought, did NOT buy the extra 10% the contractor asked for so have a mix match of upper layer brick that does not match when get close in. Also she wanted Copper roof over bay windows, has a Grey Shingle roof and red brick exterior. Featureless front with the same carpenter we had as a sub contractor noted the Kitchen and two of three baths were ripped out four times to revert BACK to first pattern and he is not sure the walls will ever hold still due to repeat set/remove damage.
 

DMiller

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Cheap "old" Geezer
Our exterior is Plain, was preferred when we built as to two aspects, Costs for added 'Show' features did not need and no time for myself to do them personally, spent extra to get Garage upscaled and the siding upgraded. I only see our house as drive up, or walk across from the shop, it is and forever will be a 'Farm House' except for the back and that is my off weather Relaxation escape point.

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Natman

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ID
The shortest roof overhang on my house, is 4'. Look at the 60-100 year old homes in your area, I bet they have large overhangs. Protects the structure, plus the foundation, done right, you can still get solar gain in the winter.
 

DMiller

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Hermann, Missouri
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Cheap "old" Geezer
Wife really wanted a Full Wrap around porch then add a Breezeway to a disconnected garage. Could not find a floor plan that worked for out here so went with this. I too would like the full wrapped porch designs if could get one laid out to what we like just do not want to build again nor invest into Architect time.
 

Flat Thunder Channel

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Apr 24, 2020
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Ohio
Deck post beam truss. They didn't have any of the right beams, and were a month out to get the right ones. Temporary braces and joints on every vertical post. They will have to do the rest in the air.

Also made it back to the hospital roofing job. Our insurance companies weren't playing nice with each other, so I missed out on two trips. We finally got the right paperwork sorted out so our insurance company and theirs are happy, so we made the last trip over there.

View attachment 217779 View attachment 217780 View attachment 217781

I see you have a profiled boom crane in this photo! I am not well versed enough in different crane options to tell the manufacturer, but I recommend checking out Palfinger USA for your next crane truck. We pack a lot of features and customization into our crane builds. They pack a lot of punch in a small package!

------
Testing one of our newest and most popular crane packages; PK65 equipped with a rear facing telescopic outrigger. This truck is extremely compact. The chassis handles similarly to that of a large pickup due to its short wheelbase. The new design maintains full crane capacity throughout it's entire range of motion. Need to pick 1800#'s @ a straight horizontal distance of 96 feet? No problem!

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crane operator

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sw missouri
The big knucklebooms have their place. They are nice to deliver something on the flatbed(drywall/ sewer boxes etc.) and then you can unload the truck. They don't work as well as a actual crane, in repetitive cycles. They are horribly slow.


We set a lot of trusses and steel. If you have a good crew and they're moving you can set a truss every 3-5 minutes, and most of that time is them nailing it, and hooking up the next truss. With the crane, you can pick a truss at 20', and set it at 80', and cycle back and forth. You can't do that efficiently, fast and smooth, with a knuckleboom.

Also, their outrigger spans are a pain, the one you have pictured is too wide to set in a standard driveway. Some of the new boom trucks are that way too, its a cheap way to engineer it to gain radius, it just doesn't work in the real world.

A knuckleboom is handy to reach under a overhang or in a door. They are kind of nice in a mechanics truck. But for real world lifting, and placement, knucklebooms aren't a ideal choice.

One of the real pushes behind some of the large knucklebooms, is the certifications required for crane operation. They aren't usually required for knucklebooms, so its a way to place items, but not need to have the operators certified.
 

crane operator

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Mar 27, 2009
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sw missouri
I've actually looked at some smaller knucklebooms that I may mount on one of my straight trucks. It would be nice for putting offset in the larger cranes, and once in a while on a goofy job (under a overhang- through a door etc.) where only a knuckleboom will work.

I'm not in the market for a new one. It wouldn't do what we normally do with our cranes.

The knuckleboom packages that I am really drawn to, are the ones with a grapple and saw for the tree trimming guys. THOSE make sense, and I think if I was in the tree business, I would be all over one. No climbing and no handling the logs, one or two guys and on to the next job.
 

Flat Thunder Channel

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Apr 24, 2020
Messages
378
Location
Ohio
The small crane shown above is actually a tree care package. It is equipped with a grapple saw and is regularly used in residential applications. The tree care businesses really put these trucks to work. A skilled operator can shave a full day's job down into mere hours. We sell crane packages regularly for: drywall contractors, poured concrete wall forms, tree care, pre-cast concrete and general construction applications. I can't comment on the speed of them versus a stick boom, but several customers have sold their old stick boom cranes for a knuckle boom truck.

A really cool application is a bull dozer with a palfinger knuckle boom mounted on the back. It looks awesome! It used to be called Line-Cat because it was used for line work, but they got into copyright issues with CAT. We can't build them because the idea is patented, but it sure would be fun to build one. :)
 

Kiwi-truckwit

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Nov 20, 2016
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315
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New Zealand
The big knucklebooms have their place. They are nice to deliver something on the flatbed(drywall/ sewer boxes etc.) and then you can unload the truck. They don't work as well as a actual crane, in repetitive cycles. They are horribly slow.


We set a lot of trusses and steel. If you have a good crew and they're moving you can set a truss every 3-5 minutes, and most of that time is them nailing it, and hooking up the next truss. With the crane, you can pick a truss at 20', and set it at 80', and cycle back and forth. You can't do that efficiently, fast and smooth, with a knuckleboom.

Also, their outrigger spans are a pain, the one you have pictured is too wide to set in a standard driveway. Some of the new boom trucks are that way too, its a cheap way to engineer it to gain radius, it just doesn't work in the real world.

A knuckleboom is handy to reach under a overhang or in a door. They are kind of nice in a mechanics truck. But for real world lifting, and placement, knucklebooms aren't a ideal choice.

One of the real pushes behind some of the large knucklebooms, is the certifications required for crane operation. They aren't usually required for knucklebooms, so its a way to place items, but not need to have the operators certified.
I spent years operating truck loader cranes before moving into mobile cranes, and can't disagree with any of this. They have their place for sure, but they're not really interchangable with cranes. Each can do tasks that the other can't, with a bit of crossover in the middle.
If I were to start my own business though, it would probably be with a truck loader over a mobile. For the simple reason that if there's no lifting to be done, there's always general transport, and it's more work around for a one man band with a loader crane than there is for one man with a 25 or 50 ton crane. (Not that I'm planning on doing that)
 

DMiller

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Local building materials yard has mid mount truck boom equipment on flatbeds, they use them to deliver where can offload into a pile or as with sheetrock slip the load to/thru a opening to contractors to offload but admits are not cranes. They use same equipment to deliver to sites where cranes take the loads off and swing to where needed as with truss or roofing or bunks of materials to a more difficult access site.
 

hvy 1ton

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Jul 24, 2006
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Lawrence, KS
A really cool application is a bull dozer with a palfinger knuckle boom mounted on the back. It looks awesome! It used to be called Line-Cat because it was used for line work, but they got into copyright issues with CAT. We can't build them because the idea is patented, but it sure would be fun to build one.
I know they had a name change, but I thought they were still building them. The Linecats were based off the 527, but Cat quit building those awhile ago.
http://linetracinc.com/
I had some pics of a Volvo dump truck with a giant knuckleboom setup for powerline work. Had a detachable manbasket, auger, and some other stuff stored away. Can't seem to find them right now. It's not unusual to see a palfinger hung off the front of a Huddig in scandinavia.
 

Flat Thunder Channel

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Apr 24, 2020
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Ohio
I didn't catch that part....Those Scandinavians have some cool pieces of machinery! When I was in Helsingborg, I noticed the backhoes had rotatory units on the end to manipulate the buckets. It makes the end rather large, but it was cool to seem them in action.
 

John C.

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I've seen something similar to that line machine built on a FMC skidder. It used a long boom that was carried over the top of the roll over structure.
 
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