Used Grove RT-60S for the first time

[shipman]

Ya linseed oil is great and your crane mat isn't going to go up in flames no matter what you use. I'd use exteriour grade fur plywood epoxy them together with a layer of fiberglass mat in between and epoxy the edges and paint them.....but then I own a boat yard and buy epoxy by the gallons and could even vacuum bag the whole lay-up.

 

[Tradesman]

I like 3/4" concrete form plywood 2 layers of form ply - 1 layer of 1 3/4" LVL and another two layers of form ply all glued and screwed

 

[td25c]

Guys, what do you use for outrigger cribbing? I used what hardwood timbers I had (12x4) under the outrigger loaded the most, and softwood under the other ones. I was on concrete. I see a lot of plastic outrigger pads for sale, but wood seems to be more practical.

I like wood cribbing the best .

My mainstay cribbing that stays with the crane is hardwood 48" long x 14" wide & 4" thick . Use it most of the time .

On black top I might slip a 4' x 4' sheet under first to keep the cribbing from creasing the surface .

Then jump to 6" x 6" x 3' and 7" x 9" rail road ties when needed .

Some kind of oil will help keep wood cribbing in good condition but the best is keep it under roof when not in use .

 

[ichudov]

OK, thanks. Right now I am using 8x8's and some 4x12's.. They are old and look and feel like hardwood. I am too chicken to do anything near embankments.

 

[old-iron-habit]

OK, thanks. Right now I am using 8x8's and some 4x12's.. They are old and look and feel like hardwood. I am too chicken to do anything near embankments.

Being a bit chicken is not a bad thing until you get some more experience with it. You will get there soon enough.

 

[td25c]

I am too chicken to do anything near embankments.

I'm the same way . Only thing that gives me the confidence is the prep work before a lift and a trailer load of wood .:thumbsup

It's about like anything else , 95 % is prep work that most people are never aware of and don't see . Spend a day prepping a job so crane can set up easy . Crane works for about one hour then break everything down , pick up the wood & reclaim as needed .

 

[willie59]

It's about like anything else , 95 % is prep work that most people are never aware of and don't see . Spend a day prepping a job so crane can set up easy . Crane works for about one hour then break everything down , pick up the wood & reclaim as needed .

Oh memories of my crane days. Set up on a site like that waterfront site, cribbing out the wazoo to level the rig, got plenty of help from the job site hands lugging all that timber. Then, once the lift is done, pull in the outriggers and rack the boom, look around, nobody, they all fell off the face of the earth, and I was left to myself to load all that lumber. Oh well, I was young back then, right.

 

[ichudov]

I craned a bunch of stuff today (another 6000 gallon tank, some mezzanine/walkwway) and it was like you said, a lot more time spent climbing up and down, and setting up cribbing, than craning itself. I used a 8x8 timber for cribbing, on concrete and asphalt.

 

[ichudov]

OK. I craned the total of four tanks (sizes vary 25x8 to 12x20). Did everything such as rigging, craning, pick-and-carry, and dragging. This was a lot of experiences, except, importantly, lifting anything higher than 10 feet. This was like Crane University 101. I want to say BIG THANK YOU to you guys for your advise and support.

 

[td25c]

That's cool ichudov ! Glad it all went well .

 

[td25c]

Oh memories of my crane days. Set up on a site like that waterfront site, cribbing out the wazoo to level the rig, got plenty of help from the job site hands lugging all that timber. Then, once the lift is done, pull in the outriggers and rack the boom, look around, nobody, they all fell off the face of the earth, and I was left to myself to load all that lumber. Oh well, I was young back then, right.

Aint that the truth willie .


We use cribbing all the time on projects . It may be one of the most important tools I have . Sure comes in handy at times .

http://www.heavytruckforums.com/showthread.php?263-Some-Holmes-750-action&p=1606&viewfull=1#post1606

Also works good for shoring up pipe when welding . https://www.heavyequipmentforums.co...ler-225D-skips&p=585142&viewfull=1#post585142

Possibilities are endless with it .

 

[old-iron-habit]

Oh memories of my crane days. Set up on a site like that waterfront site, cribbing out the wazoo to level the rig, got plenty of help from the job site hands lugging all that timber. Then, once the lift is done, pull in the outriggers and rack the boom, look around, nobody, they all fell off the face of the earth, and I was left to myself to load all that lumber. Oh well, I was young back then, right.

I hear you on that one Willie. We rented a lot of cranes for day work. When I had trucks waiting to get unloaded, with a crew standing around waiting, we always helped set up. If my crane quote was by the hour port to port then we helped tear down to get it out of there. If the quote was a hard money quote, we abondoned the crane and were on to work being productive to the job once the crane work was done. The poor operator was on his own to fold up, pick up, and get home. Just business I guess. It's all in how it was quoted.

 

[willie59]

I hear you on that one Willie. We rented a lot of cranes for day work. When I had trucks waiting to get unloaded, with a crew standing around waiting, we always helped set up. If my crane quote was by the hour port to port then we helped tear down to get it out of there. If the quote was a hard money quote, we abondoned the crane and were on to work being productive to the job once the crane work was done. The poor operator was on his own to fold up, pick up, and get home. Just business I guess. It's all in how it was quoted.

Yeah, I get that, every job has its wrinkle, and it's just another wrinkle on the incorrect impression that many hands on a job have of a crane operator, which is, they think you got it made just sitting in that comfy seat pulling levers while they do the labor. Yes, the seat time is the easy part for the most part, but there are lifts that draw your arse cheeks up so tight you couldn't drive a nail between them with a sledge hammer. And they also don't consider you have to determine where to place the rig for the lift, set it up, level it, all manner of mathematics, geometry, and physics. There's actually a helluva lot of head smarts to set up a crane and make a lift that doesn't end in damage to persons or property.

 

[old-iron-habit]

Yeah, I get that, every job has its wrinkle, and it's just another wrinkle on the incorrect impression that many hands on a job have of a crane operator, which is, they think you got it made just sitting in that comfy seat pulling levers while they do the labor. Yes, the seat time is the easy part for the most part, but there are lifts that draw your arse cheeks up so tight you couldn't drive a nail between them with a sledge hammer. And they also don't consider you have to determine where to place the rig for the lift, set it up, level it, all manner of mathematics, geometry, and physics. There's actually a helluva lot of head smarts to set up a crane and make a lift that doesn't end in damage to persons or property.

Well said Willie. Many the time we spent days figuring out how to do a major lift, at what point in the project, with what crane, long before we ever got the crane to the site. More recently I had three 96,000 to 104,000 lbs truss beams 157 ft long for a basement auditorium roof that had another 5 storys of hospital going up over them. Building columns sat on these trusses. They wanted no columns in the seating area. Ended up needing a 750 ton Grove at 95% capacity for the worst case. Pads were 2 layers of 16 ft 8 x8 s with the 8 ft sq. aluminum pads on top of that all setting on a compacted and tested prepared pad. We were required to have our corporate structural engineer review any critical lift procedure before we could do it. Never had one of mine turned down but always good to have his expertise double check our plan. I have always admired a good crane operator. They can make your day, and they can save your a** if you just listen. The last few years we started drawing all our critical lifts on 3D auto-cad. It sure made Life easier when the numbers were so acurate compared to the old measuring up and over.

 

[ichudov]

old-iron-habit, this is incredible, and amazing, what model crane did you use for that monster?

 

[old-iron-habit]

old-iron-habit, this is incredible, and amazing, what model crane did you use for that monster?

Its been a few years but I believe it was a Model 7750. We had to use the superlift attachment. The lifts were at the new Mayo Hospital we were building in Eau Claire, WI. Dawes was suppling the crane, but that was when they tipped there crane over ina parking lot as I mentioned earlier so they had to hire another crane company to come in to serve us. A month delay would have been quite costly on a $100 million dollar project waiting for repairs to the Dawes crane.