Crane removal virgin

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If necessary you can help guide the piece as the crane operator lays it down, but don't try to fight the crane operator and pull it somewhere other than where he is laying it. The crane will win. He will already have a spot eyed for the piece so you have to 'see' where he wants to lay it. If the piece is turned the wrong way then spin it in the right direction so the operator can lay it down oriented in the right direction for you.
 
Talking about one tree is a completely different situation from doing a number of them at the same location, with the crane sitting in the same spot, when comparing climbing or riding the hook for efficiency. One tree is quite a bit less frequent for us, so that is a big point of delineation. If someone wants to climb and get set up before the crane is ready to work, hell the machine doesn't usually come chugging in before 7:30.
 
Crane removals are a hard thing to pull off in my area. First off, our area is so strung out in utility wires, that crane access is just so hard to gain. Second, we don't have too many large trees. Some, of course. So the price of tree work in this area, even on the higher side of the scale, makes it hard to afford a crane. So the idea of using the crane on multiple jobs comes into play. That can be done, but tricky. Gotta have the right trees, with good access, on the schedule all at once. It just doesn't often play out like that. I do bid some removals to use a crane. Often times those trees remain standing. The majority of my removals are 65 foot trees, that I'm able to pound out in a jiffy on my gaffs.

I grew up in this business working around cranes a fair amount. I see their merits and the big advantage to using them. In my region, it just isn't easy to have all the parts in place, at the right time, to come out at the end with a good net.
 
I've only been on the ground for one crane removal with a 40' Kboom with a smaller weeping willow. We were flying directly into the bed of the kboom truck over the house. It helped to have some taglines on the piece to guide it into the small landing zone. This seemed very helpful in that strange, elevated, tight landing zone situation.

Watching the guys from the tree made me think that a tagline might has helped them land pieces without being right in the LZ, with the piece shifting as it makes contact with the street.
 
Good point about tying off. There was some discussion here quite awhile ago about securing a crane pick with a rope when cutting at the base, given some potential damage to something in close proximity. Some folks didn't think it ever necessary. We certainly will tie off if there is any concern, and usually it isn't necessary, even when done...playing it safe if there is any swing. The boom placement has a lot of influence on it, if someone is helping the operator out with that. That is a ground worker's job, looking ahead to tying off the tree so there is no delay, and dialing in the boom position as well. It can be hard for the operator to get fine with that from the cab.
 
Well on the subject ofriding the hook. I do it all the time on pines. Ill just be called lazy,I guess. I climb and ground on crane days(sometimes 2 or 3 days a week)

It might be needed to cut afew odd ball limbs to get the pics to lay down right. If it's not cooperating relax step back and look at the big picture. Move slow and keep an eye on everyone as thepics are coming down, they like to shift funny sometimes.

It is not necessary to get in a hurry, smooth is fast on crane removals!!
 
I've done six conifer crane removals...three were on one day.
Ditto the pre work 'conference', who will do what, where and how, confusion and miscommunication nipped before it can start!. If that is sorted from the start then things go nice and smooth. Being able to relay signals from the climber to the oprator if line of sight is blocked is very useful.
I guess the climber is good with his crane operator, that relationship is a crucial one!

IMO there is nothing more satisfying as the climber, than a smooth and efficient ground crew, one able to anticipate situations, and having everything squared away and handled as the work progresses, then of course, all done but the cleanup once you're down!

And yes, being able to twirl my finger in the air and magically ascend with no effort is a dream come true...
 
For my next crane removal, I'll definitely have walkie talkies, as well as a laser pointer for a pre-work conference. Last crane removal was a root rotted doug-fir which fell into a good sized declining bigleaf maple. I tried communicating with the CO before starting about a work plan, but he and I had a hard time understanding the exact specifics without the pointer. At $200/ hour, the time savings would pay for a $60 laser, as well as cut the frustration.

Generally speaking, I'd like to be able to more easily communicate with the ground crew to indicate to them what I'll be needing coming up next. If there were a foreman on the ground, it would be different, but as the owner/foreman and climber, the increased communication would be great. Would be good for them to know that I'll be ready for a fuel-up or saw swap more easily. They were so busy keeping up, that they were not able/ didn't keep in touch as well as I would have liked. The LZ was 100' from the tree, so shouting was very difficult over the crane and chipper noise.
 
Done a fare amount of crane work ranging from ten ton to 110 ton. I always use rigging slings unless the wood is just to big or the operator wants cable.But 90 percent of the time, slings. Much easier to handle and for balancing.

Communication between you and the operator is key before the climber even enters the tree. 2 ways are great for this. Hand sigs, don't always work unless you have a spotter to relay or a clear view of the operator. All those hand sigs. your suppose to use, never come into play if it's just you and the operator.It becomes one handed signals because your usually hanging on with the other.

Where you place the slings,cable on the branch or trunk and where you make the cut or how, can make a huge difference in how it lifts and reacts when coming off. Some operators like to lift the branches and some will pre tention and let you ease the weight into the boom. I don't care for that style , but at times it's necessary. Once you get approximate weights and radius down, the rest becomes a piece of cake. For the most part anyway.

I very seldom use a spotter to set the boom over the load unless I can't see. I will generally do it my self as long as I'm in visual or voice communication with the operator. Reason, I like to set the cable angle to my liking per load. One of the last crane jobs I did on a big black walnut, the operator was good enough to place the cable almost exactly where I wanted it and set the angle if need be... Saved a lot of time.

Even though cranes save huge amounts of time and delete hazards, there are still many things that can go wrong to which I probably don't have to mention all of them. i.e.... The last job I did were 11 cotton woods some fairly large some tall and skinny. 25 ton crane and he likes to use chokers. I was addimit about using slings instead. He asked why. I said because Cotton wood is brittle soft and when taking the tops cable may pinch enough to sheer the tops off and there goes the load. He had know problem with slings....:D

Have fun ! it's a great experience...
i.e
 
Slippage on bark when making the lift can be a potentially very hazardous occurrence when there are no limbs to bind around. Since we only use wire rope chokers, and limited experience with slings, which would have the better anti-slip tendency? With wire rope, slipping is not all that common, but it does happen. Once is more than enough when you grasp the potential first hand, and a good reason to have the pick leave opposite the climber, whenever possible. I have ducked more than a few too.
 
ClimbingFool said:
Even though cranes save huge amounts of time and delete hazards, there are still many things that can go wrong to which I probably don't have to mention all of them. i.e.... The last job I did were 11 cotton woods some fairly large some tall and skinny. 25 ton crane and he likes to use chokers. I was addimit about using slings instead. He asked why. I said because Cotton wood is brittle soft and when taking the tops cable may pinch enough to sheer the tops off and there goes the load. He had know problem with slings....:D
Click to expand...

I use chokers with a clevis most of the time though slings are fine too. Re pinching, only had a problem 1x when using a choker with no clevis (new op, new crane, no clevises on board) thus creating a pinching effect (in hindsight). Choked a good sized Norway Maple top (brittle wood they are), choking a leader the size of which I'd choked many times before, picked it smoothly but on it's way to LZ, the leader snapped/sheared at the choking point...no damage or injuries but anyone underneath woulda died. It shocked the heck out of me. I couldn't understand why it happened but eventually concluded it was the pinching/garrotting effect Gregg refers to above. A clevis reduces that effect. And these days I'm much better at using spider legs when needed to spread the load.
 
On lighter picks we normally use two same length cables with locking snaps. They both get wrapped around, normally twice at the same point, unless needing to balance the load. With the two cables there is some divergence of bite into the wood .
 
My uncle had a big tulip poplar log slide right out of its own bark last summer, as the piece moved past his back. Inches from death up in the tree. A trees bark slips off of it very easily during a certain part of tye summer each year. Loggers know it as slip bark. Steel chokers are a wise idea on logs during that period.

I had no knowledge of that occurrence until I took up logging for a period. That portion of the summer was no time to screw around. Logs would come out of their bark and slide like greased pigs on the landing.
 
It's amazing that you mention that. The reason I use chokers 98% of the time is because the crane guy I use 99% of the time prefers them, EXACTLY for the slipping tulip bark reason. He likes the way steel chokers will bite into the bark.

The collective knowledge at da House is impressive.
 
So, slippage would normally be more prevalent during the drier season? That would be our winter.

I watched a couple older guys doing crane removals near my shop. I know the resident, and i kind of ran by him why he didn't at least ask me for an estimate? "These guys are cheap", was his immediate reply. On one hook was their basket they worked from, and the other hook took the pick. After the cut was completed, they would have the pick moved off to wherever they lowered to, and the whole time in transit, the basket with the two guys was directly under the pick. They were swinging and so was the tree. They were taking some pretty large tops. If the pick slipped or anything else, the portion they cut off would come down directly on top of them, very likely two dead guys. One of the more crazy approaches that I have ever seen. it snuffed my idea of asking them if they might ever need help.
 
Crazy.

Slippage happens in the Spring when the sap is running heavily.

Edit: mainly in the spring, afaik. Summer could be carryover from spring.

I know when logging in the Spring, bark comes off rub trees much more readily than any other time of year.
 
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