Bucket Trucks / MEWPs etc - safer than climbing?

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

There’s also the case where the MEWP went over in a park. Somebody on here was involved in the investigation and I can’t recal if the outcome was ever disclosed. My suspicion was that the ‘corporate’ RAMS had said MEWP preferable to climbing so that’s what happened regardless of the actual circumstances screaming differently - blind obedience to RAMS rather than situational awareness. 

[Gray git]

I'm actually quite a fan of mewp's and think they do have a very important part to play within our industry BUT they are definitely not the only solution to the problem of working safely.
To an inexperienced climber on a difficult tree they could be better but to someone with a lot of experience with a tight drop zone they would be a hindrance.
Part of the problem and so the dislike of mewp's especially among employees is no one machine will be correct to every situation and poor or lack of choice can often lead to the machine actually making things harder and therefore sometimes more dangerous.
Not quoting any facts but in my opinion over half the incidents involving mewp's have stemmed from a poor choice in machine and mostly from having too smaller reach positioned badly.
It also takes time and practice like climbing to learn how to take a tree apart from a basket, the sequence is often different and rigging has to be set different to make sure material is taken away from both the boom and the base.
It all comes down to making the best call for each individual situation and no legislation should take away that ability to make that call as this industry is so diverse in what we are faced with on a daily basis unlike say steel frame erecting where one site will be almost the same as the next and everything is quantifiable.

[carlos]

using that mewp as an anchor is going to be way safer and more ergonimic than any dodgy anchor he,s going to find in the top of the hedge round by his ankles! 

ok its not by the book but as long as you know your machine and its limits id say thats ok, ive worked from the end of a hi-ab a good few times works really well.

carl

[MattyF]

In doing a conifer hedge like the one in the picture though .. seriously do you need an anchor ?? I have done miles of tall hedges with nothing more than a side strop and maybe a short climbing line for bridging large gaps but there is no way I’m hauling 30m of rope through a hedge, it’s not like there is nothing to grab if you fall ! Use a mewp quite a lot for other Tree work but you can move a lot faster and cover a lot of ground quicker with a topper and double sided hedge cutters and leave a nicer job easily with out one .. if you ever fall in a conifer hedge all you have to do is spread your arms and legs before you get hung up!! Obviously large single conifers or rows of untouched ones being made in to a hedge are the exception but hedges like that?

[stihlmadasever]

Id have to disagree matty,ive done plenty of conifer hedging where ive had to take alot of the top and waist anchoring in with a lanyard while standing on branches stretching over with a saw or hedgecutter is not great for balance or ergonomic for those of us with a dodgy back and shit elbows.

Given an option id always prefer a overhead anchor point,just allows me to attain better work position.

I get others have and will see this differently but i really dont see a problem in the op's pictures.

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

We're getting super focused on that single issue in the early pics (but a wheelie scaffold platform with 6' boards allows you to cover a fair area before coming down to shimmy it along) 

[AHPP]

We're getting super focused on that single issue in the early pics (but a wheelie scaffold platform with 6' boards allows you to cover a fair area before coming down to shimmy it along) 

Little use if the hedge is 20 feet wide.

[AHPP]

Apologies for thread hijack. Nearly as bad as the fat girls thread.

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

28 minutes ago, AHPP said:

Little use if the hedge is 20 feet wide.

Still HT 103 = 3.9m reach

 

That'd be 25.58' coming at it from either side.  More than adequate since the main cut is likely to be at the midway point anyway.

 

The right tool for the job!

[stihlmadasever]

1 hour ago, kevinjohnsonmbe said:

Still HT 103 = 3.9m reach

 

That'd be 25.58' coming at it from either side.  More than adequate since the main cut is likely to be at the midway point anyway.

 

The right tool for the job!

How would you collect the cuttings?

What if the pole pruner got pinched in the cut?

Have you ever used a pole pruner at full extension horizontally?

If you had you wouldnt see it as an option.

Are you aware that pole pruners are very high in hand and arm vibrations

Totally wrong tool for the job!