monkeybusiness

It’s all about the geometry - I’ll bet it’s fine once it gets started? Not really much you can do in terms of raising pump pressure on those 12v power packs AFAIK - all you can really do is move the base or top of the ram’s position to give it better leverage to get things moving (but you will subsequently lose tip angle).

What year/engines/gearboxes? When/have the clutches been replaced? Which spec?

Intentionally or recklessly - let's not forget those words too. I'm sure the best paid lawyer on either side would win if it came to court - (not that the law in this country can be bought off of course).....

I'll give you a goldfish and 4 cans of beer Pete!

Doesn’t look too bad - my lads have brought them back from jobs looking like that apparently without having a crash!...

How long had it been a killer tree, and how many people did it kill?

I did ask but the owner wasn’t keen!!

This was yesterday’s job - 3 trees (including a mature oak) to be removed and one reduced in an immaculate garden with relatively tricky access into the property from the road. Obviously no mess to be left anywhere in the garden/on the drive. There is a stack yard at the property that is rough and ready and is where the logs were to be stacked As ever, first thoughts turn to a crane (this is our second crane job since I was called out as a fibber on this thread, but hey ho!). Where can we safely position a crane? Where are we landing the material? How big a crane can we actually get to the job? All of these questions need answering to be able to understand if a crane can be deployed safely, and a lift plan subsequently drawn up. The only suitable crane pad was the gravel drive - the Indian stone driveway behind the crane wouldn’t have taken the weight (well, it might have but I certainly wasn’t willing to find out definitively one way or the other...). It was possible to position the crane’s slew ring 40m from the centre of the furthest tree (we would need more than that for the far side of the crown) providing the crane was backed in to position and also right over to one of the lawn edges. No problem - bogmats and crane pads on the lawn to allow outrigger deployment on that side. (This crane wouldn’t have reached if centralised on the gravel, but we knew that before the booking was made as the crane specs were referenced during planning). We were limited to this particular 100 tonne Tadano due to its size (it’s only 4 axle and is basically an 80 tonner on steroids) - nothing bigger would have got in the drive. So - we got our site measured up, our lift plan drawn up, the site prepared, the crane positioned and rigged, the trees removed to the stack yard and processed (70m from the furthest tree to the stack yard incidentally - a pretty decent lift) and everything packed down and away, with only minimal sawdust to tidy up from around the trees. Zero mess, zero fuss. And the whole purpose of me telling you this is because we had a decent sized crane working on its absolute limit and not once did the alarm go off (which I put solely down to correct planning and execution). Oh yeah, and there was a helicopter too (which is the real reason I wanted to put this pic up!).

Sorbus are there - I find their prices are as good as anyone’s (and they are a great firm to deal with IME!)

Seriously consider the Takeuchi TB225 if you are purchasing new and want to stay legal weight wise - it isn’t zero but these little diggers don’t have much overhang anyway.

Sunday roasts are very good too (and good value imo).

Try flicking the switch a couple of times. Mine does that sometimes but the second press sees it dropping quicker.

Proper lasers are hard to beat to be honest. I've got a Trupulse from Sorbus - dear but accurate (enough for trees anyway!).

Is it your picus Steve? Aren’t the hammers about a million pounds?!... Sounds like a bad day.

To be fair, I did used to shout about it so I suppose I was fibbing earlier. If you watch that video and listen really really carefully you still won’t hear any alarms going off, even though that 60 tonne Tadano crane was working right on the limit of its straight-rigged radius. The crane was ‘good’ for 2 tonnes at that reach so we halved it in the lift plan and still had 4 trees out for dinner time (2 forwarding trailers of timber plus all the woodchip, so whilst not the biggest they weren’t tiny trees either). On any large dismantle the first thing I look at is getting a crane to it nowadays - they earn me far more money than they cost. Crane jobs have become pretty normal to us here as we use them whenever the job will allow.

Lol!

I would say what you’ve posted here proves why you should go for a contract lift tbh. When you do crane dismantles commercially the client usually insists on a lift plan (ours do anyway). We had done plenty of domestic crane work in the past (and continue to do so now) with a similar old boy who knows his onions and would tell us what we could and couldn’t do. No crabes fell over, everything went smoothly from where I was sat, happy days! However, we had a pretty tricky job for a big commercial customer so I put myself through the crane supervisor qualification and it was a real eye opener! You should never get anywhere near the crane’s rated capacity when applying a suspended load of unknown weight - it’s all well and good having a driver telling you he’s good for 2 tonnes so take a big piece (as in reality he probably wants to get home for tea - it’s basic human nature) but it’s a very different story when a 60 tonne crane working at 35m starts lifting its rear outleggers off the ground with the boom directly over your climber, and nowhere to drop the load... Measure the job out, specify what size crane you need, write a lift plan and stick to it - you shouldn’t here any alarms as long as you don’t play Bertie Big-Bollocks.

That’s all well and good when the load is on the floor - things are a lot different when the load is up in the air already!

I’ve done plenty pal, just don’t tend to shout about it as they are a pretty normal part of our operation.

It'd be the hirer's (ie the tree firm's) fault/responsibility if the crane tipped over if it wasn't a contract lift, whether the driver said it was fine or not. The crane driver has no say so as to how big/heavy a piece of timber is - once the climber has fixed the chains, wherever he decides to make the cut determines if the crane falls over or not. The driver can't necessarily control what the climber attaches to the crane, and as it isn't being picked up off the floor (whereby the lift can simply be abandoned if found to be too heavy) once it is cut it is instantly a suspended load, hopefully within the crane's capacity! Likewise if you go for crane hire and the ground gives way, it will fall to your insurance (who may subsequently pursue you for damages if you aren't qualified to draw up lift plans). You are correct in that it is unlikely a driver will purposely make an unsafe lift. Tree dismantles are too much of an unknown quantity to save a couple of hundred quid on the cheapest hire possible though IMO. If you've ever heard the crane alarm going off (even just a little bit) then you are sailing very close to the wind - you should never hear that noise if the lift is planned and undertaken correctly.

I think it largely comes down to LOLER tbh. A crane isn't necessarily designed for lifting people (although some are equipped for that specific work, but with dedicated man baskets) so for a start don't need to be subjected to 6 monthly inspections. Crane hire and contract lifts are two very different ways of booking/paying to have a crane on a job. If you go for basic crane hire, you are essentially responsible for the entire job (draw up the lift plan, specify the crane, blah blah blah) - if the crane tips over/the load falls etc then you should have the insurance in place to cover the issue (the crane company will seek damages from you for a start, before the householder who has a crane through their roof wants their house rebuilding at your expense etc). If you have basic crane hire then you may be able to ride the hook, as it is on your head (providing the driver is willing). If you go for a contract lift (which you really should, unless you know (and can defensibly prove you know) what you are on about) then all of the risk/insurance falls to the crane company. For the simple reason that the crane/lifting chains etc aren't designed and tested to lift people they are likely to refuse to lift you unfortunately.

It’s a joke with the police - as soon as you cross an imaginary county line the issue drops off the radar as it is into another force’s patch. It’s amazing any thieves ever get caught (I think it is only luck when they do tbh)!

I don’t know anything about L200s I’m afraid. If they are manual hubs (ie you have to physically get out and turn something on the hub itself by hand) then I doubt you’d get any sort of indication on the dash though.

Check your free wheel hubs are locking. Lock them whilst in 2wd and get underneath - you shouldn’t be able to turn the front prop shaft by hand if they are both locking correctly.

Yeah, my rotate is left thumb. Left trigger switches between tilt and extra service (ie grab) operated by right thumb. You’ll want rotate more than tilt when using the grab IME.