Section dismantle by crane

[Treegeek]

Found out the evening that tomorow i will be doing a crane job first one.

Boss has asked me to start a 5;30 so hope its a good size, any way please could i have some pointers and advice should have posted this earlier but the tips will be greatly recieved and Im sure this wont be the last one.

[MattyF]

tip roping is far better and easyer i wouldnt try balancing any thing unless your confident you have got it right.....on large timber i like to step cut and move down a bit before the crane cracks it off the step as any sort of pendulem motion with a few tons of timber is going to crush you! check out petes pics for insperation and ideas! if the crane driver lets you ride the ball get him to put the jib right up and take you as high as possible before you do any thing,did that on my first job and it scared the crap out of me but put me at ease and gave me good confidence for the rest of the day....good luck tommorrow!

[MattyF]

just looking at petes pics and forgot to mention how handy a tag line is especially if the drop off zone is tight........

[Mesterh]

Step cuts all the way, dont even think about using gob cuts.

 

And hope you have a decent operator

ohmy:

 

Oh and using a 50 tonner is allways nice

[Andy R]

Have a quick chat with the crane driver first, use a second climber to go up on the hook and strop lateral branches if easier...and get a groundie to take lots of pics to show us tomorrow night:001_cool:

[Mike Hill]

Take it slowly mate! Also introduce yourself to the driver,help him set up the pads and fill him in on your general plan.If you have radio contact with the driver agree on the terns you'll use,"boom up","cable down" etc.If you don't have radio's agree on hand signals for the above movements.

 

Have him keep you up to date on how much the crane can lift at each point,especially if the boom has been lowered or your thinking of a big Pick.The cranes lift capacity can be reduced by fairly small adjustments (from your end of things anyway).

 

I hope this hasn't sounded too "Sergent Majorish",been safe,have fun and take loads of Piccies!

[Will Hinchliffe]

When you put the chain/ sling on vertical sections put the hook (facing to the ground) or choker of the sling on the side that you are going to do the first cut of your step cut so the driver can raise the piece to break the step cut. Dont do the step cut so he has to slew to break it. Get your step cuts really close to make it easy for the crane to break.

 

I have only climbed on two crane jobs but they went smooth as clock work thanks to having excellent crane drivers and advise from my boss.

 

Have fun and go large.

 

If the drivers happy with it attach your climbing system to the crane and get him to lift you above the tree then you can lower yourself onto the tree. Its great.

 

Wedges are good as well if you want to make the step cuts really close to the edge.

 

Take loads of photos:001_cool:

[munkymadman]

a colleague of mine who had alot more crane removal experience than me, insisted that snap cuts were unsafe, due to too many forces on the crane. because the crane pulls up to break off the piece it uses more power than necessary causing the piece to spring up, shock loading the crane.

he reckoned you were better off doing a horizontal cut towards you 2/3-5/6 of the diameter in(tweaking the crane as you make the cut), then meet this cut with a diagonal downward cut(also tweaking the crane as you cut). so that once both cuts meet the piece just rests there, and is lifted in a gentle effortless manner.

i don't fully trust it personally, but it does seem to work and seems so much more forgiving to the crane

[Dean Lofthouse]

I would also imagine that if you do do a step cut that the second cut is always done below the first cut and not above. If it's done above it can leave a lip which will pull the saw up with the piece being lifted

[Pete Mctree]

How did your day go?