How often do you use a mewp?

[Mark Bolam]

Some good posts in here.
My experience has been that sometimes they can make a job quicker, much quicker.
Sometimes they don't make much difference, they just make it easier on your body.
Some jobs they are just a bloody nuisance as you've just stuck another expensive item in the drop zone, and they slow you down.
Most of my decisions were financial on my own jobs!

[john p]

I've got my own mewp, £160 a year insurance cheaper tax and mot exempt, it s out most weeks and on the right job its great, I'm totally over chogging down big stems on spikes these days and if the mewp will fit it's there!

[Gary Prentice]

10 hours ago, Steve Bullman said:

Hardly ever use one myself, but the company I sub to owns one and its out every week on something or other.  Personally i don't like them, but they have their place like everything else

Used one a few times & not that keen. But, they're another tool in the box.

[Marula]

That's the spirit!
Unclimbable!! Tee hee!!

I did an emergency call out which was a 70ft+ on a bank, leaning with its root plate lifted. Everything had to be rigged down either on itself or hand held and taken over to the drop zone about 5 to 10 metres away from the base of the stem by the bucket on the platform. That is the definition of "unclimbable" in my book.

[Stephen Blair]

so even with the most rotten trees that have to be dismantled rather than dropped, some climbers will look at it and think ' well if it's got the strength to hold several ton of its own wood up there another 80 or 100kg aint going to crumble it''
I suppose its no more dangerous than hand to hand combat

Pretty much
This debates been going on for years in here, myself and Huck are always stubborn about Mewps! I've used 2 over the last 20 years, 1 very early on and the other about 10 years ago to see if it was any better. It's not even in my thought process to use 1, not saying I couldn't do with 1 the way I'm feeling this morning .

[Marc]

19 hours ago, richy_B said:

What's a good size MEWP for tree works? At auctions I often see 13-15m ones and for a few minutes think 'these would be great' but they decided against it. 15m is going to be a bit limiting???

For me it has to be 20m plus

 

@SWORDSTA your comments on proficiency is difficult to quantify, I've never come across anyone who is quicker in a bucket than a climber due to the ability to quickly position, where as a plateform will often need to be packed up and moved.

 

Ive worked with a 50m truck mount on 35m Beech in Germany working one side with climbers in the other side, 2 in bucket reducing, yeah it was more comfortable the climbers did a better job faster than me, although we often work with 2 or more climbers in a tree which helps with positioning and speeds things up. Also safer and less fatiguing.

 

thats just my opinion and observations doesn't mean I am right

Edited September 15, 2017 by Marc

[Marula]

Some good posts in here.
My experience has been that sometimes they can make a job quicker, much quicker.
Sometimes they don't make much difference, they just make it easier on your body.
Some jobs they are just a bloody nuisance as you've just stuck another expensive item in the drop zone, and they slow you down.
Most of my decisions were financial on my own jobs!

I agree, generally it's finical in my book too. I did work for a chap who had a towable nifty, years back, and he had this weird obsession with this thing being sent out all the time, most of the time it would have been easier just climbing and getting on with the job instead of having this thing cramping up the work area.

I've got my own mewp, £160 a year insurance cheaper tax and mot exempt, it s out most weeks and on the right job its great, I'm totally over chogging down big stems on spikes these days and if the mewp will fit it's there!

[emoji1360]agreed, definitely prolongs your life in tree work. If I have to choose a chog down from a mewp or on spikes it's the mewp without exception.

Used one a few times & not that keen. But, they're another tool in the box.

I only like the ones on the 7.5t base or above, saying that though the 100ft machines are serious bum squeakers when on extension irrelevant of base size.

[Marula]

For me it has to be 20m plus
 
[mention=35229]SWORDSTA[/mention] your comments on proficiency is difficult to quantify, I've never come across anyone who is quicker in a bucket than a climber due to the ability to quickly position, where as a plateform will often need to be packed up and moved.
 
Ive worked with a 50m truck mount on 35m Beech in Germany working one side with climbers in the other side, 2 in bucket reducing, yeah it was more comfortable the climbers did a better job faster than me, although we often work with 2 or more climbers in a tree which helps with positioning and speeds things up. Also safer and less fatiguing.
 
thats just my opinion and observations doesn't mean I am right

I suppose my question here is, how often did you use that machine? Were you proficient with it or was it hired in for a day or two?

Also, when I talk about a mewp I'm not really talking about spider platforms or towable, I agree that they take longer due to setting up and moving etc plus they're no fun on extension.
I'm specifically referring to a large machine which can reach around a whole canopy and doesn't need to be moved.

[Marula]

Just to clarify, I think that a mewp has its place and climbing equally so. I'm not advocating one over the other, however if I had the option of a spider lift or climbing I'd take climbing, I can't stand those small bases with those dodgy looking legs, but a truck mounted mewp with a crane job can make for a very comfortable day.

[benedmonds]

14 hours ago, beechwood said:

I'm now going to show my OCD side.
It's gone out as a 'billed on' item 184 times since we brought it, so roughly 8.5-9 days per month. It also gets used on other jobs just because we have it, I haven't kept a record of these.
Basically, because I think this is what you are really trying to figure out, it should repay the capital investment in 3-3.5 years. 
 

 

What is that as a percentage of your jobs.. As a one team outfit doing the sort of domestic arb in the UK we do I can't see it being viable.  A bigger outfit like beechwood has more jobs where it is going to be suitable and therefore it makes more sense. We have 2-3 teams and I don't feel the need to buy one.

 

We used them all the time in NZ, but that was mostly council work and lots of space..  Here we hire when I think it will speed a job up,  make it safer or is required.  High hedges and Ivy clad buildings mostly.. 

 

Firms doing street trees might find them usefull and it was commented when we were doing street trees that there was no good reason (financial viability not being a good reason) for not using one, so using the WAH hierarchy of risk we perhaps should have been...  

 

My view is it is safe enough climbing if not safer,  but that is not what WAH says... So if it were to go pear shaped for a climber doing a tree that could be done with a MEWP could you get it in the neck?