Background

[westerveld]

What kind of background did you crane guys have before getting into cranes? I'm just a few years into excavating myself, cranes have really interest me, just wondering how you vets went about pursuing it?

 

[blitz138]

I was working at a Rio Tinto property and the super asked who wants to go to crane training, I raised my hand.....

 

[Dualie]

Worked under the hook pretty much since i was 15 then bought one to make my job easier.

 

[gostr8r]

Worked one month as a carpenter, but then went right into cranes as an oiler by mid summer after graduating high school.

 

[Impact]

I went to work at 16 y/o as a laborer. Used to use a home made boom truck. I think it was a 2 ton '49 International single axle truck. My uncle fabricated the boom from angle iron etc. First you had to decide whether you were going to lift a heavy load (5,000 pounds) or a lighter load higher in the air. There was a 20' section of boom that had to be removed for the heavy loads. LOL. Shift the PTO into neutral, shift the tranny into reverse, and back the boom tip over the load. Set the parking brake, if it worked, or have someone scotch the wheels. Engage the PTO into reverse, and let off the cluth, the headache ball lowered. When it was in the proper position, simply push in the clutch. Switch the pto into forward to raise the load. Drive VERY carefully, watching for potholes. It even had an LMI system. Whenever the front wheels left the ground, you were overloaded. It was also hard to steer in that condition. It had 240 air conditioning. There were two big gaping holes in the floorboard. About 40 MPH cool air eblew in, along with other road debris, or water during the rains. We were unloading small grain bin packages and metal buildings. I don't think they'd ever heard of a forklift. Before the boom truck, they unloaded everything by hand. That was in 1973. Today we have a forklift, five telehandlers, a 25 ton boom truck, a 35 Grove, a 60 Ton Grove, and a 100 ton Liebherr. They all stay busy for the most part.

 

[td25c]

Impact's '49 IH boom truck has the same controlls as my oil field / winch truck In my area most crane companys started out as fabricator/repair/erector type shops and some even done concrete work .Owner of the business decides he needs an atvantage in the trade to make things easier so they buy a boom truck or crane.Long story short ,The owner....I mean the man that started the business can run a wrench,welding rod ,drill,concrete trowel ,ect just as good as the crane controlls.

 

[OLDBEAR]

Went to work right out of high school for a company that moved oilfield equipment, mainly drilling rigs. You can get into the crane industry really quick by going to work for a crane rental company. You will need a CDL and truck driving experience to get hired on. You will be on call 24-7.

 

[Vicen]

I was working as a plumber, so it's not to coresponding with cranes. But You know - Today u need to be flexible

 

[NCT]

Most operators were thrown in the seat...no experience. A lot of operators got in as an oiler, or rigger for the crane company. I personally was thrown in and learned...but never got any formal training; just learned as I went. And now as an instructor I've really refined my skills.

Nationwide Crane Training

 

[Knepptune]

Grew up around construction. Decided I didn't want to swing a hammer the rest of my life. Decided to go to tech school and work on equipment. I work on telehandlers and cranes and fill in as an operator when needed.

 

[Tiny]

1st Let me say right off , I am not an operator ( LOL some guys love to remind me of that ). Just a lowly truck driver . I work for a crane rental company . Been with these guy since May of 1980 . Most of my work is tearing cranes down , Transporting them and putting them back together . Biggest thing I run is a 27 ton boom truck .

Started as mechanic for them .

 

[Shenandoah]

Don't mean to h/j thid thread, but this seems like a good place to ask this question (hello NCT)...I'm looking into buying a knucklebboom/flatbed truck to allow me to pick up and transport heavy pieces (3,000#+/-) at auctions and private sales to refurbish and sell to make a little spare change. My question is will I need the crane certifications in order to do this in Virginia. I don't plan on working on construction sites w/o a cert, btw. Just curious if I'd need a cert to hire out the rig to others with me being the operator.

I'm 60 years old and have been around heavy stuff most of my life and done a lot of machinery rigging, et al, so this is just an extention of stuff I'm capable of doing. I've also studied as much 'crane stuff' as I can get my hands on so I won't be walking into this blind.

Thanks if you can answer the question about the need for certification, and any good advice is always appreciated.

 

[Blmreject]

Worked as a roofing laborer out of hi school. That sucked, so i got a maintenance job in a plant where i learned to weld, run a mill and lathe, and fabricate. Spent some time building hot rods but there's no money in it. One day i just went to a heavy equipment school to learn how to run crane. Eight years later It's still kinda working out.

 

[Revxracer]

Built grain bins through high school.....graduated, had a bigger project putting up grain legs, we bare rented a link belt 75t RT....got the opportunity to run it when a guy left for a couple hours....when he got back they told me to stay in it...took a liking for it...4 months later found/started at a small crane and rigging company.....learned all on the job, ran cranes from 36ton national to 165t grove since i was 18......(im 23 now)