Question for all you freelancers... rigging kits

[edwood]

I'm a subby climber with a grcs, i wouldn't say I get jobs because of it. It does make my day allot easier though and if I'm working for a company where I don't trust the lads on the ground or their unfamiliar with this kind of kit then I bring my own groundie.

My day rates gone up since I got it and it's definitely paid for itself and all the other rigging tackle I've got.

I bought it just over a year ago.

 

All the rigging kit in the world wont help you make money without the skills to go along with it mind;)

[MattyF]

That's a tough one with the GRCS you could buy 3 decent rigging kits for the price of one... But they are great bits of kit but as you said you would need one grounds man who knows what they were doing with it.

Regs new device looks good for pre tensioning... I stumbled across this for £400 second hand ,does the job for pretensioning lines very easy and will handle stupid loads and can lift stuff if needed and is brutally simple just a like a Hobbs... A GRCS I could not justify for subby work unless the company already had one or I had won the lottery!

[R Mac]

Hi Matty, on a different subject, your PM inbox is full.

[Rich Rule]

I charge an increased day rate if I take Rigging kit. 16mm Polydine, Stein fixed bollard, impact block, couple. Swing cheek pulleys and various xrings and strops.

 

The Polydine is pretty bombproof and I would like to think anything greater than that needs rigging they can fork out for crane.

[chrism3513]

here in aus its pretty standard for a contract climber to bring his own rigging kit & all saws (although i only have 201 & 460, 661 is on the cards). Contractors here charge $450 - $1000 a day though depending on skills, equipment & who the client is (charge more for a lopper with no clue as you know the day is going to be harder, less smooth running!)

[stihlmadasever]

I bought a portawrap nearly 2 years ago,and ive never used it yet for subbie work.

I learned my lesson on that one,only buy as you need it.

[Old Mill Tree Care]

Hi all,

 

I left my previous job in November, and since then have mostly been freelance climbing for various firms around me.

 

I have all the usual kit - climbing kit, 201t, 261, 461, rake and blower. I'm trying to think of ways to make myself more attractive as a subby, and considering rigging kits.

 

Cheers

Joe

 

You mention you are freelancing and subcontracting. Which is it?

They are two very different things and I suggest you and the people you are working for are aware of the level of legal exposure that this naivety can incur.

I only mention this because you said you've just started out by yourself.

 

Anyway, to answer your question about rigging kits:

I use several freelancers and find it's not necessary for them to have rigging gear because I have it all. I'm sure this is true of all firms that you work for, unless they are worryingly under equipped with gear and knowledge/skills.

However, I am aware that freelancers are sometimes used because a firm does not have the gear or skills to carry out a particular job.

 

But, if you do have your own rigging gear, who pays for your rope when a dumb groundie glazes it? Your bollard when the same groundie smashes it with a big lump??

 

I personally would not be taking my gear and life into a job where the groundies running the rigging have no clue.

It's just an accident waiting to happen and it happens often.

 

Just my opinion though (based on loads of experience:laugh1:)

[Steve Bullman]

If a company I work for damages my gear they pay for it, simple as

[Thesnarlingbadger]

If a company I work for damages my gear they pay for it, simple as

 

 

That's what I'd say but unfortunately to many people would view it as not there problem and your kit you sort it.

A company I worked for a while ago was like that, and if I damaged anything on a job, it was me who had to sort it out in my own time. So I stopped using my own kit and was told not to come in anymore.

I'm happy to use my kit or let others use it but I would like to think the company I'm working for would cough up the dough if someone else broke my chainsaws or other kit.

[Steve Bullman]

I do t generally let others share my kit so it's never a problem. I think in all my years all I've had damaged by others is 2 ropes. 1 was a climbing rope cut with a chainsaw, the other was a rigging line that I was using to clear a storm damaged tree. I needed the groundie to tie a midline knot and pull a trunk with the truck, rather than doing a bowline on a bite(which he knew how to do) he tied a stupid know which obviously become un doable right in the middle of my 60m line