Why I hate boom trucks

[Welder Dave]

Florida's finest says it all! LoL

 

[CraneMechanic73]

some companies need to update their fleet and put the old abused worn out neglected boom truck in the scrap yard or Ritchie the thing to some unsuspecting person getting ready to make a million setting air conditioners.

 

[Oxbow]

That "boat boom" sure does not look very useful. What would they use something like that for?

Fishing? Lol

 

[skyking1]

Fishing? Lol

We would go get something off the dock or one of our barges, deck load it, and bring it within range of the real crane that Tugger2 is talking about. You can also grab an anchor and take it out if you lash it to the push bars up front.
Think of it as a floating carry deck crane, that also is a twin 250 horse Cummins tugboat.

 

[Manistar]

Wouldn't you know it that right where I found this one. Ritchie brothers special and probably on its way to scrap yard after some one steals a few parts off it. It doesn't look worthy of a revival.

 

[skyking1]

Wouldn't you know it that right where I found this one. Ritchie brothers special and probably on its way to scrap yard after some one steals a few parts off it. It doesn't look worthy of a revival.

It looks a darn sight better than this Oceanview special. I can't believe somebody took the time to de-mount this thing.

Another angle on the rust.

 

[Keith Merrell]

Another victim of operator error.

 

[crane operator]

Looks like they had a big stack of cribbing in the ditch, and shockloaded it off the stack.

 

[crane operator]

 

[CraneMechanic73]

Looks like maybe tree work with a boom truck…….not an operator, but sketchy to me.

 

[Oxbow]

Looks like they had a big stack of cribbing in the ditch, and shockloaded it off the stack.

View attachment 306199View attachment 306200View attachment 306201View attachment 306202

Ouch.

 

[Manistar]

I am an operator and when I think of tree work I think sketchy haha. I think any operator would rather take a load from the ground to the air as opposed to from the air to the ground. When you pick something off the ground if you don't like it you set it back down and re-adjust. When you pick from the air once it's cut loose its yours whether it's too heavy or not rigged right for balance. I'm sure if you do tree work all the time you have a pretty good idea of what trees weigh and how to rig them but it's not for me.

 

[skyking1]

I am an operator and when I think of tree work I think sketchy haha. I think any operator would rather take a load from the ground to the air as opposed to from the air to the ground. When you pick something off the ground if you don't like it you set it back down and re-adjust. When you pick from the air once it's cut loose its yours whether it's too heavy or not rigged right for balance. I'm sure if you do tree work all the time you have a pretty good idea of what trees weigh and how to rig them but it's not for me.

One of the members here, @John Griffin has a great business doing trees.
Check out his thread.
https://www.heavyequipmentforums.com/threads/trees-trees-and-more-trees.85938/

 

[Manistar]

I know there are people that do it all the time and for John it probably helps that its his own crew cutting the trees. As a construction guy with cranes I've had some tree guys ask if I would do tree work but I ve always turned it down. I just don't trust them even though I probably could I just don't like the idea of it.

I just remember watching a YouTube video a few years ago, I think it was "guilty of treeson". They had a brand new national 55L out on its first job. It was a tall pine/cedar looking tree. The first thing they did was the boom truck was about 20' too short for the tree they were cutting, mind you they have 151' of boom but they just hooked a strap to the bottom of the top 30' and cut it off and give it a big old swing. It was light and probably didn't really hurt anything but that wouldn't fly with me. Then as they're cutting they get down to the big trunk pieces which is probably still 40'+ some feet in the air. I can't remember the exact numbers but it was like 75'-80' radius and they had a capacity of like 5000lbs. But the pieces they were cutting were like 4500lbs. That to me would be way to close to the limit with a guy strapped to the tree cutting. Maybe they're that experienced and knew exactly where to cut but that close to the limit how easy would it be to be off 500lbs. I'm sure not every crew is like that but to me there's just too many unknowns and not worth the risk.

 

[DMiller]

Been exactly as that man cutting the mast off, as scary as dumping the crane as can roll Back onto wheels dragging that partial cut away with it.

 

[CM1995]

Wonder if there was a void or storm drain under the outrigger?

 

[cfherrman]

Asking those we run cranes wouldn't it better to run that thing in the center of the ditch on flat ground?

 

[skyking1]

If it is driveable yes. They are heavy pigs and get stuck on an idea.

 

[Natman]

I was teamed up with this other rig the other day at a fertilizer plant, both of us way out of our usual work areas. Thinking at first we'd be working up high, I asked him how much stick he had, 127' was his answer. Getting bored a couple hours later, I googled his rig and it's 103', seems a funny thing to not know or to fib about. The op was just a hired hand, I'd guess he just didn't know or confused it with another rig, would have been a pisser though to find out if he came up short, turns out we were working low anyway. Then I noticed the sheave wheel at the top of the boom was missing, the one that keeps the winch line off the boom. plus the guides and plastic wear points mid way, all gone. I thought about bringing it to his attention, but never did, he probably knew and didn't care was my best guess.

 

[Welder Dave]

If it's a safety concern better to tell him. You don't want something going wrong that you're involved in.