I like Tiny's thread so much, thought I'd start my own. I don't think mine will be as entertaining, but, we do get into some sticky jobs occassionally. These first photos were from a one day rental job a few weeks ago. This is a survival shelter going in a guy's back yard. I didn't get a chance to look inside, but, it has a blast door, etc. It was rainy and wet the day this happened. His poor yard got ripped to pieces.
That's a bohunkin storm shelter.
Wow! They found my gun safe ! Lol. :guns. Wondered where that went
Thats pretty cool.Is it a one piece prefab ,buried or above ground? Those trees are a pain to keep out of the wires on the side of the boom. Nice pictures. Chris
What did that weigh ? Looks a little odd weighted too
It's buried in the ground. Just the acess hole door part came to ground level. Best I remember it weighed 28,000 pounds.
Haven't had to do one of those . But I believe more people may be doing this . 28,000 is pretty hefty for a storm shelter
This guy is like a survialist. House full of guns etc. Preparing for the apocolypse. Radiactive proof etc. Myself, if we get bombed with a nuke, I hope and pray I don't survive.
In a way it must be kinda sad to live in fear of doomsday. However they have their own TV show now http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doomsday_Preppers
Has the new crane helped the bottom yet ?
I'm asuming you mean the "bottom" line? Tiny, truthfully, I'm not sure. I'm going to withhold judgement on that for another year or so. I'm getting my foot in the door with more people just because I have a bigger crane, so that's a plus. The problem I see with the 100T is....It's as hard to move as a 200T. Counterweight trailer..removing stacking counterweights, reeving 8 parts of line..It's a 2 man crane, no doubt. Sometimes I think, either trade ot for a 200T or a 60T.
I'd give it some time , company did the same with a couple of machines . It worked out pretty good but it was about a year before everyone (Customers) were up to speed
Last week we set three anhydrous tanks for a local grain company. The heaviest one weighed 75,000 pounds. to date, I suppose that's the heaviest lift we've made yet. Went off like clockwork.
very nice pictures impact. just a thought, when setting up the A2B switch it is preferred to have it on the static line (dead end), or on one of the lines that is more in line with where the switch hangs to minimize strain and the sawing action that occurs when the hoist line is pulled thru the weight. nice looking rig.
You're exactly right dbl612. We caught that after we were ready to lift. On the liebherr, it doesn't come off as easy as the Grove, so we elected to leave it as is. Good eye!
i know what you are saying, we changed the weight to a split style (PAT style) to make life easy.
dbl612 is dead right and another reason is the switch works more effectively when the trip weight is more plum. In fact a trip weight chain too far at a fleet angle can cause the a2b to lock you out without being up into it. Another point to think about is that if you weren’t VERY steady and gradual on the swing motions, and that long wide load rocked a bit, it would get out of level and with the rigging in a very narrow spread basket you could loose it. Probably didn’t bring a spreader bar and extra rigging and went super slow, cuz it was a safe lift.
we move/loadout 30,000 gal propane tanks that are not quite as long as those tanks, and i usually use a 15' spreader beam w/rubber pads (1/2 inch thick conveyor belting) to keep the wire chokers from skating down the shell. once that tank gets sliding theres going to be a dent in that shiney crane at the least.! prepare for the worst, and your outcome usually is the best. the long way is the short way. not being a buster, just don't like surprises.
I could start a new thread "Dumb things Impact did at work", but, I'll place this post here. Read this, and bash me, tell me how stupid I am, or whatever. I take full blame for it, and I'll agree with you. On the 100T we run two winch lines. Winch 1 is a single part. Winch 2 we typically keep rigged with a 3 part line. It gives us about 41,000# of winch pull, which is enough to load counterweights etc. We have a larger block that has five pulleys on it. There's five pulleys on the boom nose. Had a lift a boiler the other day off a truck and fish it inside a building using skates etc. As normal, I was getting conflicting answers on the weight. I really though an 8 part cable would suffice, but, why stop there? If 8 is good, 10 should be better. We made the lift and it was uneventful. Before we left they wanted us to life some screw conveyors on top of some storage tanks. Weight was only a few hundred pounds, but, the radius was 100-115'. I decided I needed the full 157' of live boom. Instinct was to unreeeve the 10 part cable and re-install the 3 part. I knew there was no way the block would make it to the gound. Everyone was ready to make the lift NOW, so, I ignored my instinct and left the 10 part cable on winch 1. I simply just kept it up near the boom tip. We lifted a couple of screw conveyors w/o any problems when all of a sudden, I got a two block alarm. You old crane operators probably already know what happened. I couldn't believe I had two blocked. I was 100% confidant I hadn't accidentally lifted winch 1. So, I let winch 1 down a bit. About that time, my guy hollered..WAIT..I looked over my shoulder and there was about 50-75' of cable laying on the ground. Wow and Yikes. The five part block was wedged up into the boom nose. I was totally lost for a bit there. I had NO idea what had happened. Finally it dawned on me. The line on the boom side of the 10 part block was heavy enough to raise the block. It was like not having a heavy enough headache ball. It took us an hour to slowly wind the winch cable up, while drawing the main boom in inch by inch. Whenever we got about 2/3 of the boom in, we were able to lay the boom down and check everything out. Of course the winch cable looked like a bird's nest, but, we managed to NOT kink the line. That happened to me once, it will NOT happen again. Ok, tell me how stupid I am. I suppose the moral of the story could be "Trust your Instincts"
you know what and why it happened. was basically caused because you were being a good guy, trying to move things along, and dealing with some impatient aholes. no good deed goes unpunished. luckily it was just an inconvience, and your helpers should of let you do what you wanted to do, because it took longer to straighten it all out anyway. don't waste any time condeming your actions, everyone will be glad to do it for you. after all you are the crane op and they blame you for all their shortcomings anyway. keep it up we need the input you offer to this forum.
I won't attempt to tell you anything but your honest . You could have kept it to yourself . Who would ever know ? Instead you posted it . Hopefully some will see this and learn something . Something to be said about the "Voices in your head "
we all learn from each others mistakes. it takes a big man to admit that he made a mistake.
Not exactly "things done at work" but, posting it here anyhow. I'm not really a mechanic, but, I've got a little mechanical knowledge. We have a Grove TMS760E. 2001 Model. Nice unit. Couple of years ago, we kept having electrically problems when rotating the upper. At some locations, it would run fine, other locations it would go nuts. We found the electrical swivel snd pulled the can off the top. Full of water. Dried it out, cleaned all the contacts, and it run right again...for a few days when the same symptons occured again. Again, remove the can, and same moisture problems. Thing is, it hadn't rained. So, after checking and watchng closer, we found out the water swivel was seping and blowing steam into the electrical swivel. To remove the water swivel, everything has to be removed..the hydraulic swivel, the electrical swivel, and the water swivel. We didn't have time to get into that, so, we disconnected the hoses, bypassing the water swivel. Just didn't have any heat in the upper. Since I don't run it much...who cares? Right? LOL Well, a few weeks ago, the hydraulic swivel starts puking oil. At first just a drip, then kept getting worse. So, we decided to break it all dwn to fix it. The Grove manual says to raise the boom to an elevation you can get into the unit, and strap some 4x4's onto the ram, in case the check valves don't hold. (A man has to get up between the boom and cylinder.) I understand the check valves are SUPPOSED to hold it, but...No way would I allow my men to get themselves in that position. We do a lot of structural steel but couldn't find the right size beams to prop the boom up. So, I ordered two W8 x 35# beams and made a cradle on the end to support the pin where the cylinder attaches to the boom. The beams had to be like 19' long. Slide the beams under the pins and welded them to the deck. Maybe overkill, but, It just feels and looks safer than two 12' 4'x4's. Anyhow, got evrything tore apart. The water swivel was wore out. Grove has changed the design, so we just ordered a new one...$400 or so I think. I had NO idea how a hydraulic swivel would work, but, I do now. Wow, what a design. There's some smart people around. The guts looks similar to a piston with rings. Instead of the piston working like in an engine, it simply rotates. (cont)
The cylinder walls were scored so we were trying to decide how to best fix it. I could take it to a machine shop, have the cylinder welded up, and machined back down. The cyulinder is about 8-9" I.D and about 2' or 2-1/2 long. Never did get an estimate to haver that done, but, I can see $2,000-$3,000 worth of work. So, we decided to see what the cost of a new one is. We all guessed. I guessed $15,000. Others guessed $10,000 or $20,000. I can buy it new for $6,500. Amazing. If they gave me $200,000 and told me I had to build ONE, I don't think I ever could. At the same time, the safety latch on our 100T Liebherr had gotten damaged and the spring was shot. The metal part was warped, but still usable. We decided to order just the spring. $20 or so would be high..right? Wrong. $700. But, that's for the complete kit, spring and the metal part. NO way will I pay $700. I can make a spring, but, not a hydraulic swivel. So, we decided to just hone out the cylinder walls on the swivel and put a seal kit in it. $400-$500 or so, I forgot. If it doesan't work, I'll order a brand new one, and have it here before we pull the old one out. Oh yes, I'll save my home made beams for a while just in case..LOL I guess my point in this post is...Never can tell what something is going to cost. I've got three screaming Eagle HD motorcycles that cost more than I'm prepared to admit. But, I refuse to buy a $400 HD leather jacket. LOL
Cranes are the worst for parts prices . They are all over the place .
thereis no rhyme or reason for crane parts. the pricing is basicly done by lawyers, who set the product liability value on each part. also if they out source the part from a vendor, they have to decide if they mark it up 500 or 1000%. if you have any time with repairs it pays to do your homework. last swivel we did on a grove- complete kit soup to nuts, exact fit no muss no fuss 410.00 go figure. (ps always hone the barrel of the swivel with a ball hone, chamfer the internal port openings and you won't have problems with new o-ring install). we have also purchased parts that could be fabricated by any competant shop for 200.00 and they were 1000.00 from grove. regards, tom.
Spent one winter helping to rebuild the boom hoist on two machines 3900 Manitowoc , 10,000 bucks in parts alone . I thought that was off the wall outrageous . Until we started on a 518 Link belt , Parts list hit 30,000 bucks . Both are 150 crawlers but had a wild price spread for nearly the same parts .
Just an update. The hydraulic swivel isn't leaking a drop. Sometimes things work out, sometimes they don't.
That is Good , Most of the jobs we are on there is someone always ready to pitch a fit about a single drop of oil hitting the ground it seems.
Ltm 1090?
Ltm 1080-1L
Good looking crane. I gotta get back into a liebherr. I broke out in a 1200. I still dream about that machine...
Hired a guy to train 9 of us at our place for Nccco certification. Started Monday morning. Winding up today on rigger training. Took the written exams yesterday. Think I did well. Did the hands on Thursday. I aced everything until the final pass through the course. Bobbled and knocked 4 poles over and two more balls. Whadda think? Will I pass or should I retest? I wish they'd give you a clue on how well you'd done, but, they won't.
Can't hurt to retake. Just more experience ya know? I was a proctor once for the hands on test, seems as nerves always get the best of us... Take ur time, do what u know how to do. I get to renew mine in January...
I bet you passed , The scoring isn't all that bad on the balls (just minus one point) . Poles are scored at -3 points .
You should be fine as long as nothing else is deducted.
We had time left today after taking the Rigger's exams so I re-tested. Aced it with the exception of knocking one ball off. I was satisfied with that considering the wind was blowing at about 30 MPH. Actually the wind blew 5 balls pff while I was testing.
GOOD!! Now you know for certain .
http://youtu.be/x5iYD6SzLqI . A link of a project I built in 2010. It disintegrated 1-12-13. Another link will be posted as soon as it downloads.
The pile of corn (575,000 bushels) was in a grain tank the morning of 1-12 but obviously not at the time I shot the video. The overturned semi truck in the corn...it had a driver in it who saw the structure splitting open. If you notice there's a few bin sheets covering the side of the cab. He was driving around the tank when it starting splitting open. Picked the truck up and landed it on it's side. The windshield broke and he was waist deep in corn. He kicked the rest of the windshield out and managed to climb out. He was VERY lucky.
http://youtu.be/s2uinMhFN74
What causes a grain bin to bust open like that?
There's hundreds of reasons why they might. I'd rest a little better if I knew why this one failed.
Agreed. What a mess.
Holy Smoke , Never seen one do that unless some sort of explosion was involved .
Tiny's thread has a lot more pictures less reading!!! LOL . I like these 'things done at work' threads. Lets see more pictures please. LB
That's cuz I'm lazy as a pet coon
You have to remember Me and Impact are in two very different positions . I am in a unique position . As a truck driver and I spend at lot of time waiting to move the rigs to the next job . That affords me time to snap pics . It also helps that the boss promotes it . LOL , Have a little insight into what it takes to keep a rig busy and lazy is no part of it . Besides it's hard to hold a camera and pull levers at the same time .
What he's saying is...all he does is sit on his arse and take pics. :tong
Dang it Willie , No one was suppose to know
Just thought I'd put it in plain Anglish for ya.
We're starting a new project in West Tennessee. Thought I'd take a few photos for anyone interested as the job progresses. It's a grain storage tank and material handling equipment. Two things unique about the project is the size of the tank, and the speed the material handling equipment moves the product. The tank is 156' in diameter, 69' 6" at the eave, and a peak height of 112'. It holds 1.3 million bushels. There's only one corrugated steel tank in the United states any bigger. Another unique thing on this project is the ground. It's in the Mississippi River basin. There's almost no support from th ground. I think if just placed a normal foundation, the entire structure will sink into the ground. 1.3 million bushels of grain weighs about 72 million pounds. over the last month we sunk 550 or so 18" auger casts 80' deep into the ground. Last night we poured the pile cap which is basically just a 2' thick slab 160' in diameter (1500 yards of concrete.). We'll place 8' walls on top of the pile cap around the perimeter. There will also be tunnel walls placed on top. The forms will be stripped, sand or rock back fill put in 8' high, and a concrete cap placed on top for the floor. You can walk right under the tank when we're finished. We're filling this tank from three elevators at the same time. Elevator #1 can move 20,000 BPH. #2 also moves 20,000 BPH. A third elevator moves grain from a dryer at 6,000 BPH. All three will feed into a unit that blends from all three elevators into one belt conveyor moving 46,000 BPH. That's a 1,000 bushel truck in less than a minute and a half. The conveyors feeding the new tank start 200-300' away at a height of 80' or so, and incline the distance until the discharge of the last conveyor is above the new tank. A couple photos to follow.
I haven't seen Berkle in our part of the country for a long while . They did auger pile under one of the casinos in KC last I saw them . How much of the work belongs to you and your crew?
I'm the GC on the job, so all of it except electrical
1,500 yards is a tall order . How long did that take to get poured out ? 3 pumps would make it faster but that's still a lotta mud
That's a bunch of concrete. :yup
It took about 8-9 hours
Thats a huge grain tank :scool Looking good and very impressive Impact.
Meant to post photos of the job progress..but, like always, I'm to dang lazy. There are some thing to post on though. The tank foundation is complete. It's be tough with all the rain We logged 15 inches of rain since starting this project, and another one close by. I've got lots of work between now and corn harvest, so I invested...Well, more like borrowed a chitload of mola geetus and added another crane to the fleet. It's a 2006 Grove GMK5165. 197' live boom, 33 (I think) -59' hydraulic luffer and 46' of inserts. Used the luffer but not the inserts yet. Alls I know is the hydraulic luffer is sweet...At 20-40 degrees, and as long as all the boom's not poked out, I was still rated at over 15K. Not used to having that sort of capacity, especially at that height and radius. Wanted a 200 ton crane, but, just more than I felt like I could justify at this time. Have managed to get a little seat time. Hard not to compare the liebherr to the grove. The Liebherr is sweet to operate...no doubt. But, so is the Grove. The liebherr is heavier. Not sure of that's a good or bad thing. The liebherr seems to be more...hi tech maybe? But, the grove's operating system seems to more forgiving. Not sure that makes sense. The grove has 88K of CW, the liebherr 36K or so. So far we're running the Grove with 68,000 pounds. Haven't had the need for all of it. Also bought the guy's tri axle trailer. It was already rigged for this crane. By leaving a bit of CW on the rig, and the tri axle, I can get 68K to the site with one semi. The grove four wheel steers all the time. The liebherr (at least the way I'm running it) only four wheel steers if you steer the rears in low range, and you steer with push buttons. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong..Makes me wonder if the Liebherr shouldn't have a 4 wheel steering mode at lowers speeds. Sold the old 76 model TMS300LP. I am sooooooooooooooo glad that is gone. Gave $45K for it, kept it 5-6 years, spent 60-75K on it, and sold it for 45K. Most expensive piece of equipment I've ever owned. I'll need to buy a second home before buying another crane. If I by one more, I think the locks on the house will be changed and my clothes in the yard.
not many photos, but, here's one lift. 11,000 pounds..60-70 radius, 145' high. Only reason the jib was on, was we had some lifts up and over the elevator. Well, that and I wanted to.
I'm pretty tickled that you have to confidence and the bis to dive in and buy equipment . Company has two smaller groves that are hydraulic Jibs . both operators love it . I hope that the same thing we had happen will come your way . Long while back my boss wanted a larger machine . Corporate said they didn't see a market but bought it anyway . Once the word got out the customers started calling . Wound up buying a second machine the same class . Your really need to put up pictures of the tank progress Old or not . I'm nosy
Thanks Tiny. Actuallly..my thinking on this purchase was sorta like this.. The 165t isn't any more trouble to move than the 100t. Right now, and for several months, I can utilize all the cranes I have. After this push, if business slows a bit, I may put the 100t up for sale. If business stays good, I'll keep them both. Basically we have the foundation in place for the tank. It looks just like...A big round slab of concrete...LOL..but, I'll try and get some aerial photos of it. Erectors will be there later in the week to start the tank itself. We're going to need all three cranes we have to set the roof trusses. Two 150t class cranes would be the perfect size, but, I only own one. The lifts are 7,000 pounds each pair of trusses. The problem is one pair of trusses will be set say at 12:00...the next at 6:00..then a pair at 3 and 9. Basically skipping all around. I think there are 78 total pairs to set. The 165t will handle one half. The 100 t will handle 60-70% of the other half. We'll park the 60t to set the few the 100t can't reach. I think the roof alone weighs over 300,000 pounds. The entire tank was on 2 trucks. A million pounds or so.
but, here's my real pride and joy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhQXYN1OXNk
Good focus on whats really important
I did take a video from the skip box today. Figured this would be the last chance to see the foundation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0E18uQXvro
Yeah, that's up there!
That foundation dwarfs the other bins and they are pretty fair sized That big noise in the back ground when you near the top almost made me hit the panic button LOL
Hey Impact, may not make 170 feet, but you should be on the lookout for a JLG 1500SJ. 150' platform height, 8' 2" wide with axles retracted, 12' 6" extended, 48,000 lbs.
Tiny, that's just me kicking junk out from under my feet. Freaked Mrs Impact out too. Willie..Wish I had one that size. That 120 lacks some quite often. So many toys, just not enough money!
I understand that. But the way your business has grown, wouldn't surprise me to see a pic of one some day at "Impact's things done at work".
First catwalk in place. 120' high, 100' long, 25,000 pounds. err..it's upside down. How'd I do that?
Set the rafters on the roof last week. Used a 100t Liebherr, and the 165T Grove. Longest pick was 135' radius, 7500 pounds.
Photo looking up the 100T Leibherr boom, to show the deflection. I know it has to deflect. I know it's going to deflect, but, it still freaks me out to stand behind it and get this view.
Max reach and max load with the jib . Don't look , It'll make you sick to your stomach . That's a lotta iron in the roof . Any idea how much the bin it's self will weigh ?
The boom of hydrocranes of today aren't like the rigid booms of yesteryear, their more akin to a fishing rod with a large mouth bass on the other end of the line.
Just to make you laugh: Due to a dead hard drive, my only Internet access is an iPhone. When I saw your upside down pic, I turned it over to see it, but, I can't! This dang thing keeps flipping it "for" me.
I can find out, but it took 22 trucks to haul it in.
That's funny Mitch, as I have had the same thing happen - you just can't catch up with the darn phone!
Setting a 140' long 25,000 pound catwalk this morning. 55' radius. Boom has a tip height of 168'
Dayum. Why are my photos upside down?
Thought maybe you were one of the Australian boys from"down under" but noticed you are from Kentucky so the pics truely are upside down. LOL Cheers Lowbed driver
Yeah Impact, I wish you'd fix that, this iPhone drives me crazy.
...
Tip for I products, Double click your home button and you should get a little bar that opens up across the bottom. Slide that to the right and you'll see a button that's a square with a round arrow inside it, that's your orientation lock, click that and you'll be able to do what you want with the phone and it won't change. Also, that bar will have all of the programs you've opened up on that device. If you hold your finger on one they'll start to shake around with a X on one corner, if you touch the x it will close that program completely, not just leave it running in the background.
Thanks, 95 I bet getting rid of all those background programs will speed this thing up, too. This thing doesn't belong to me, it belongs to a friend who's out of the country, I'm just using it while my PC's in the shop.
Well, it's not a 1500, BUT, I've got an 08 model 120 JLG coming Monday. Sterett at Owensboro has it. I haven't even seen it yet. If I don't like it, I can just rent/lease it and send it back after I'm finished with it. Our 120 I got from you Willie is on the blink. Stripped the splines on the hydraulic pump. I need two anyhow. Plus, I think I need to bring the older 120 into the shop this winter and go through it from one end to the other. I'll be looking to you for advice on that project.
I turned my monitor upside down, looks great!
I hope the rig has served you well. And I hope the unit coming Monday is a good one as well. :drinkup
It's been a good unit. Especially considering the cost of new ones. Its starting to give some electrical problems. May be time for a re-wire
I said I'd post some photos, so, I'll try again, and see if these are right side up, unlike me.
Well, the last photo is mirrored reversed somehow..Not that anyone else would know.
This last photo...Let me explain. It's not heavy equipment. It's a picture of my American made (mostly) HD in front of my American lake house, flying an American flag on the 4th of July. Sitting in the driveway is an American made Jeep, and an American made Chevy pick up. I looked at the tag on the flag my wife bought at a local farm store...Made in Korea. Needless to say, I wasn't very happy. I'm just a simpleton, but, really?!?!?! I'm going to replace it with an American made American flag. If you need an American made American flag, this may be the only place left. http://www.usflags.com/default.aspx
When it comes to flags it was the same here . Cost more but I like it Here's another http://www.kcflag.com/us-flags/nylon/us-nylon-flag-4x6.html
Lifting a 16,000 log over my house
A project we did this year. All three cranes shown.
Does it seem like work is picking up or just holding it's own ? Lol most people would have had to cut that log up to move it
Nice work Impact . Yeah Tiny , chain saw and wood splitter on the log and stack it on the back porch for this winter in the wood stove .
I cant tell what kind of tree it is but its prolly worth ALOT more $$$$$ to a timber buyer than it would ever make as firewood
Work is holding up pretty good Tiny. Could use more. We considered selling the log, but, it had steel in it. I didn't know it but my tree guy told me if it turns blue, it has steel. It was blue. And it had steel in it.
Catwalk truss lift in 2013
Well, I don't understand how to right side up photos
Have to "right click" on the picture just below the mouse pad on a lap top unit . Then on mine at the top of the list of options click on "paint" . This allows resizing , rotating , & other editing . That's impressive Impact ! We stayed pretty busy this summer with crane & fab work at several Farms . I really enjoy it .
I'm posting from an I-pad. Never had problems from a PC
Trying again.
All I did different was "preview post"
Had an interesting job last week. Removing an old water tower for the Full Throttle guys. They're going to add their logo and move it to their distillery. Just a big sign.
Another
That's one dang cool picture! Did someone know what it weighed or did you calculate the weight?
When the customer called, he told me it weighed 32,500. I was like..no disrespect but how do you know? He calculated it. His plan was for me to hook to it, then he basically cuts it loose on me. My response was, we'll calculate our own weights. We calculated 35,000. We had 4,000 of rigging counting the block. Total of 39,000 was our estimate. When we set up, we were good for 42,000. Our estimate was dead on. Much to our relief.
The pucker factor would be fairly high about the time she was clearing the base.
Nice work Impact . I cant think of the manufacturer of the tower but they are all over the country . Have several identical to the one you took down in my area . Be interesting what year they were installed . Late 1930's to maybe 1950's :beatsme
We had to take it from vertical to horizontal once it was on the ground. All I'm going tosay about that operation is nobody died, and nothing got tore up.
Hey Impact...JLG has something you need, 1850SJ, 185' platform height.
Oh my god!! You could not pay me enough to work at that height without a parachute!
Willie I'm skaird of the 110!
GD! I'm getting nervious just looking at that picture, might have to put my safty harness on sitting at my desk
I feel better him having a hard hat on
I wonder how much sway there is in that boom on a windy day. It looks like he's hanging on pretty tight.
Shoot, my hands would hang on so tight ya couldn't pop 'em loose with a 10' pry bar. That's just in-freaking-sane for a boom lift.
What worries me is... There's no chin strap on that hard hat! If he falls out of that basket, his hat might fall off before his head hits the ground. Having your bare head hit the ground from that height could be disastrous.
I'm betting there is a wind chart some where on that machine .
Could you imagine driving forward...into a pothole?
I thought I saw an article awhile back where a guy was killed on a 135ft lift. Think he was on top of a manhole and it gave way with him 135ft in the air. I'm wondering about the ground support on that. That has maybe 1 suare ft of ground contact per wheel. That's a lot of weight on 4 square ft of ground. Think I'd feel better if it had some outriggers to set on. Either way being that high on a man lift is above my pay grade.
OK- Wonder what the product liability insurance costs on each of those units? WOW!
I have been up in the 150' version of their lift!!! being up in the air does not bother me, been in a man basket 160' several times over the years... I saw that email the other day & was thinkin im getting way to old for this manlift crap!! leave it to the young guys. LOL
That's a good point, but you can bet that JLG has done their homework on their part. Having worked on a good number of aerial lift brands, I can say that JLG makes a very good and very safe product. As you pointed out, not only is liability involved, but over and above that, life first and property second is involved. Think about it, how often do you hear about an aerial lift in general or a JLG in particular involved in a tip over? Yes, it happens, but in most cases it's not a fault of the machine, but rather, most often it's an error by the user. As the saying goes, just when you make something idiot proof the world comes along and produces a better idiot. As for this machine, it weighs in around 60,000 lbs. That's 60K lbs of counterweight to support the boom in the air and a 500 lb basket load. Which is more than enough weight ratio. But it's damn sure incumbent on the operator to make certain that the ground the machine is planted on can support that load, something the machine has no sensor to account for. As with any piece of machinery, it's imperative that the operator understands and respects the machine. A loss of vision of those two aspects typically ends in bad results.
Willie is your company lookin at acquiring this lift? I think this thread needs a pic of you in the basket at full height!!! :eek2 lol I bet the view is great!!
When i started at the rental company the biggest they had at our store was an 80 foot. Well one of the sand plants had a 1250 jlg brought in from another store. I got called to come and see why it wouldnt drive when extended straight up and all the way out. Well after checking all the obvious stuff and finding nothing all i could do was take it up. Found out i didnt like it way up there. Also machine worked fine for me. I really didnt want to go up in first place but with 10 other guys standing around what are you to do other than harness up and show no fear.
Not gonna happen! Last time I was comfortable with height was when I was an iron worker back in the 70's, and I was high on weed then. :tong I only posted this machine because of the work that Impact does. His guys regularly have to work at these heights. I appreciate and wish God speed to Impact and all his crew, I hope their business continues to flourish and grow and that the day will come when they can add one of these machines to their fleet. His men have to get up in the air frequently to do their job. It's machines like this that allow them to do this, do it safely, and go home to have dinner with the family at night. That's a good day in my book.
LMAO!!! I understand willie, i wouldn't want something that big in any of the yards i work in either
I go no higher than a tomato and no lower than a potato.
Thanks for the kind words Willie. I used to climb. Started my career as a climber. Used to love it. It was hard work though. Different climbing today than in the 70's and 80's. We would rent a crane just for the major lifts. Everything else was done with ropes or block and tackles. Used to pull 8" downspouts up with a b&t. Get it raised 30-40' or so, dog it off, re-rig then get another 30-40', and repeat. Wasn't no such thing as a boom lift. Very seldom tied off. Guys today don't know how fortunate they are to have the tools and equipment we have today. I'm still not afraid of climbing. I just run out of oxygen about every 30' up. Lol
I hear ya! I love climbing and I can do something when I get there, but I don't do near as much as I used to, love sitting in the crane too much, so instead I sky dive or rock climb or white water raft. You know get that adrenilen somewhere else.
anything over 30' is most likely to kill you, just keep your head clear and plan your moves and its no more dangerous than driving down the highway
Pretty much feel the same way about it Dualie . Only ...... Working up high is probably safer than driving down the highway . Seems like for me moving equipment on road is the most likely place for an accident . HeavyEquipmentForums I'm pretty comfortable at the job site , If I don't like something about the job we just stop , regroup & fix whatever the issue is then move on with the task . The highway can be somewhat like a rodeo at time's .
I once got in a urinating match with a safety man at a refinery that wanted me to tie off at 4' so i went up to 3'11" and just pushed back and hit the ground. He didnt think it was funny
100 ton Liebherr crane. The boom extend cylinder was pouring oil. So, we pulled the boom, and cylinder. Sent it off for repairs. They called and the rod needs rechroming. So, we checked prices on a new one. Anyone care to guess the price? FOB Germany. Try $130,000.
Maybe they put the decimal point in the wrong spot
Sounds like they are pretty proud of them. I tend to not even call the manufacturer for some prices. Sometimes you don't want to know. I don't know who you use for hydraulic repairs but I've had pretty darn good luck with the guys at hydraulic specialists. They'll send a guy to pick the cylinder up and deliver it for free. And I'm four hours from them. They're in Somerset Ky.
well the STD cab for the upper on pretty much every link belt crane made in the last 30 years is $38,000 just the bare steel cab shell no glass no NOTHING doesnt even include the door
Why would water be piped up the boom?
for the hot water upper heater
Sorry for not knowing - but heat what? I'm from Ca. so I don't know much about really cold weather. You mean for the cab?
Yes, The engine is on the lower unit and all functions for the crane go thru swivels so one can turn 360 degrees. We had a subcontractor on a project a few years ago that had the same issue. They had the water shut off and a generator strapped to the counterweight with an electric heater in the cab. OSHA came by and red tagged the machine and fined them. They had to bring in another crane to finish a 4 day hoisting job.
The better option is a diesel bunk heater designed for the bunk of a tractor trailer.
I've not posted much for several months. Been busier than a cat covering up &&$%. Got the 100 ton Liebherr extend cylinder rebuilt. Only cost $35,000. Week before last, the extend cylinder on the 165 started leaking. Beating my head against the wall. Never happens whenever the rig is sitting at the shop. Bad timing as we're really busy. Got a lift next week that requires the 165 ton crane. So, on top of the expense of repairing the crane, I'll be out the expense of renting another crane.
I know how everyone likes pictures. Here's a video link. https://www.youtube.com/********=ooIHcEZGIwg Interesting project. We built the support tower you see here. 10" schedule 40 pipe columns at the bottom. 8" schedule 40 pipe columns in the middle. 6" schedule 40 pipe columns at the top. The top platform is about 160' above the ground. There are four bucket elevators inside the structure with 178' discharge height. 22' is in the ground. The lift is one of the four head sections. It weighs about 5,000 pounds. One of the 4 head sections will weigh about 7,500 pounds. The unit you see on the platform is the distributor which weighs 17,500 pounds. The earthmoving guys are helping to install stone columns to support a 1.3 million bushel grain bin. There's 675 of them in the one tank. The project has a total of 850. Listening to them beat rock all day gives me a headache.
https://www.youtube.com/********=ooIHcEZGIwg That link didn't seem to work. Try this one. Edited...Well neither does this one.
Try this one: https : //www.youtub e.com / watch ? v = ooIHcEZGIwg ```````````` REMOVE SPACES '''''''''''' Or search youtube for: ooIHcEZGIwg "Tosh Head Section" Did I get this right?
Glad your still busy Impact. Did you have the cylinder custom made or what? That's a scary number for a tele cylinder. On the bright side I guess it's good that the crane only has one of those.
Curious, because we get into a miniature version of what you do; are you saying you manufactured the support tower, or just set it up for the customer? Was wondering who designed the tower, and how they decided what size steel to use?
That's it ichudov. Thank you
No, just had to have it rechromed.
Hey GrainBinMan. I've seen your photos of your project. Nice work. I hired an engineering firm to design the support structure. If it was a 100' tall structure on a farm, I may possibly guess at the steel sizes and move on. But, four 178' elevators? I feel better knowing it's been designed. Our engineer designs it, we detail it on Cad and we fabricate the steel in our shop. WE work with the same engineering firm all the time, so we know how each other thinks.
The 165 is still in the shop. We're still behind schedule, and still in bad need of a crane. So I flew to Houston to look at a Liebherr LTM 1160. 2014 with 600 hours. Verbally bought it. Fly home tomorrow. Sign papers and make arrangements to get it home. Hopefully next Friday it will be home. Luckily my son lives here so we spent yesterda,y and all day today hanging out.
Dang impact. Movin and shakin. Congrats on that. Can I come touch it sometime. Lol consider me jealous. On second thought I'm not sure I want all your headaches and responsibilities.
I just want to say congrats Impact. :drinkup
Congrats on the new crane. So did you get a liebherr because you like your liebherr better than your Grove GMK, or just because it was available. I'd be interested to know what you like better about each one. A former boss had both GMK's and Liebherrs. I thought his GMK 165 was a little simpler than his Liebherr's, but it was older also, it was more of a full power boom, before the twin-pinning booms with only one tele cylinder. I much prefer the solid axle's on the liebherr's, vs the mega trak on the GMK's, I think they are a more robust system. I didn't care for the liebherr swage on the end of the load line, instead of a becket. It's easy to reeve, but its a pain if you need to cut off 20' b/c someone left a loop in it putting in block, or drove over it when putting in jib. I thought parts availability was similar, but some GMK's are cummins downstairs, which makes that a little easier for parts than the Mercedes, or Liebherr badged engines. I about died when they wanted $8,000 for a starter for one liebherr lower engine. It was a captured part from bosch, built by bosch, but only available from liebherr. But it did look a little silly when we were starting a 1.5 million dollar crane with a hammer rap on the side of the starter. Also was just curious if the new crane is one engine or two. Liebherr keeps going back and forth on which is better, I can about hear the engineers like a old lite beer commercial "one engine-less weight!" nein --- "two engines-less fuel cost" Nein "one engine-less engine cost!" nein "two engines- more reliable!" I always thought two engines made more sense above 100 ton, but I don't have to design and build two engines that meet tier whatever california wants either. That and it really stinks if the lower engine won't run, and you can't get at the lower engine because the boom is in the rest, and with the boom in the rest, you can't jack up the lower cab to get at the motor that won't start. All because they thought a second engine to run the upper hydraulics was just to expensive. Yes, I've been there. Look at a GMK 4080 sometime. The lower engine fuel filters are buried on top of the motor, under the cab, under the boom. Oh baby. My feeling at the end of the day was that the liebherr vs GMK, was almost a Ford-Chevy thing, each with its good and bad points. If I'm ever in that market, mine will probably be liebherr. My wife catches me cruising Machinery Trader, lusting for one of those 120 tonners with 171' of main. Anyways- good luck with the new rig- glad your busy enough to need it.
Liebherr/Grove? Ford Chevy? Good and bad points with both. I own both. Love our Grove TMS 760. Fast set up. Easy to maintain. But, limited boom and capacity. Get much larger and you're about forced into AT's. AT's are great when they're working right, but, when they're not...Like a Personal Computer. I would have been OK with a Grove. In fact, we have a good Grove AT tech guy from Nashville we work with. Whenever I decided on the Liebherr, my biggest concern was service. Liebherr is also great to work with, but, with technicians as far away as they are, it can be a problem. Timing is everything. The crane that happened to fit the bill for what we were looking for, at the time we're looking for it, happened to be a Liebherr.
Got the crane home last night about dark. What a whirlwind. Flew to Houston to kick the tires last Friday. Flew home Sunday afternoon. Went to the office and finalized the deal and worked on permits Monday. Left Tuesday afternoon about 3:00 PM for Houston in my pickup with another driver. Drove till midnight. Arrived Liebherr factory 8:30 AM Wednesday. Drove off the lot 10:30 AM. We didn't have a boom dolly for this crane as the previous owner was in Texas and they don't run dollys, at least on this crane. I was concerned with getting it home. $20-25K to have the crane hauled to me, not counting the four loads of counterweights jibs inserts etc etc. Figured I could drive it home much cheaper. Before I left for Houston on Tuesday we had permits for Texas, Mississippi, & Tennessee. Louisiana had been in the works since Monday morning. Everyone assured me I could permit Louisiana. So, when we left the plant at 10:30, we didn't have Lousiana permits. We were sitting at Beaumont Texas at 12:30, with no permits for La. My office girl had given up, saying it was impossible. I had her email me all of the documentation and contact info, and I started calling from my cell phone. Butter was dripping out of my mouth with the girl in the permit office. I was all but flirting with her. Finally got the permit and was informed at the end, you MUST have an escort and they MUST be permitted also. So, we hired an escort she recommended. Makes me wonder if they're in cahoots. The entire process is ridiculous. I do understand that if we didn't have a process to drive heavy loads down the highway, we'd all be driving 1,000,000 pounds on a single axle with 1600 tires. But they all say, you guys are wrecking our bridges with these heavy loads. THAT's WHY we have this process. So, if I give you $500-$1,000 I can drive across your entire state and wreck every bridge I cross? It's all a chess game and we're just a player on the board. It's a LONG *** way from Houston Tx to Kentucky at 50 MPH. Tuesday left Houston at 10:30. Went into Louisiana at 5:30 PM. Stopped at 7:30 PM just east of Lafayette because of the daylight/dark curfew. There is a curfew on these rigs in Baton Rouge also from 7-9:00 AM. We left at 5:30 yesterday morning to beat that curfew. Drove over 600 miles yesterday in 14 hours. Went across four scale houses and each let us pass with only a quick review of our papers. Have your paperwork right and weights right!! I'm going to have to explain to my wife WHY I hired an escort service while in Louisiana. I hope she understands. I wonder if the escort helps to get past these DOT guys? The hired escort we used was from Lake Charles LA. We hired him to take us across LA. At the last weigh station in LA, I gave him $50 cash to help us through the first weight station in Mississippi. Mississippi also requires an escort. There are rules and regulations on WHO can be an escort...blah blah..We drove from south to north through all of Mississippi unescorted. Just before we left the state, Dropped two flashing lights on the pickup and the north weigh station let us pass. This morning we drive the new crane to the job and start assembling all the pieces. We have a lift tomorrow that is 80-90% of the charts. Might as well break it in right. 45,000#, 145' boom 50' radius. We'll spend the day getting it assembled, set up and getting acclimated to the controls.
Sounds great Impact. Have fun with the new rig and be safe. I also think the whole oversize/weight is a racket. Here in Mo I must make 20,000/axle on my permits. I cannot buy a annual permit. Missouri only issues one time, one way permits. I buy one permit to get to the job, I have to buy a second permit to get back to the shop. Concrete pumps and well drilling rigs, can buy a annual. Lowboys can buy annuals for like loads. Cranes fall into their own category. Most other states issue annuals. I just pass the costs on to the customer as part of the bill.
The worst part of the permit process is the routes they make you take. Nothing worse then cutting through the country roads because your not allowed on certain state roads. Our 110t has 24k on each axle. We run it without the dolly but it's about a dollar per mile for the permit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaP3-oPU8E0 First lift with new machine. 45,500 pounds. 52' radius. 146' boom. Capacity was 46,400 pounds. Should have shortened the boom a bit. Would have been good for 55,000#. We were worried about boom clearance. But as long as we're within chart...Go for it.
That's a biiiiiggg hopper bin Impact. Always enjoy your pictures, congrats on the new crane.
How did you attach your lifting points to the bin? Edit: Oh yes, what are the dimensions of that bin? What diameter and how many rings or feet tall? Thanks
Great job positioning that hopper without any wild swinging. Amazing video. Thanks for posting. Got me wondering about something. I am not a big crane guy. I am a little guy with a little crane, I use my crane as a yard bird or to move industrial machinery or remove scrap metal. When people rent me with the crane and my guys (I do more than just lifting -- also dismantling or constructing industrial installations) I usually make 2-3k per day gross and I am happy. (without a crane I make less per day but the crane justifies higher $$). But for those big cranes, I would think that daily rates should be really high to justify those million dollar machines and to pay back?
I know that feeling all to well Bro ! http://www.heavytruckforums.com/showthread.php?263-Some-Holmes-750-action&p=2638&viewfull=1#post2638 Awesome work on the hopper tank set ! Looked like it went pretty smooth .:thumbsup Now hang on just a second ........ That new rig is the wrong color , you guys gonna give her a paint job . Looking good as usual Impact , keep doing what your doing . :salute With all the rain this summer looks like bins will be full with bumper crop .
It is 36' in diameter, 45 degree bottom, 22 narrow rings (32"). We had lugs bolted on the inside of the tanks, and six long 1/2" cables
Haha on the color. My initial thought was the same. Cranes are sposed to be yeller. But I have to say, the silver bird is growing on me.
Need to charge all the market or the law will allow!
Just out of curiosity,how much outside crane work do you do? Do your cranes stay pretty busy on your projects and the taxi crane work is just an added bonus or do your cranes spend most of their time on outside jobs. Also wondering if you have set prices on your cranes or if you bid crane jobs. Can't believe how much your crane fleet has grown since I registered on this forum. Starting to think I may need to follow you around and take notes on your business practices. Lol
Don't give me the big head Knepptune. I'll try and answer though. In my opinion there's not enough rental work in my area to justify the cranes I have. I don't have enough work of my own to justify the cranes I have. But, it seems that the two together makes it work for me. I'm like a kid in a toy store around cranes. They've always fascinated me. Sometimes I wonder if I let that fascination sway my decisions on whether or not to purchase a crane. As far as the rental business, to get a crane above say 50-75 tons in my area you have to search in a big circle, Nashville, Memphis, Owensboro, etc. Having these cranes here locally is a plus for business in my area. As you know, it costs big bucks to move these rigs long distances. Our 60 ton has been staying busy almost non stop. I can't seem to ever use it on my work. That can be frustrating. To rent a crane when I won 4 makes me shake my head in wonder. But if my 60 ton is on a week long job, and I rent once for a 6 hour day..my math tells me I should be making mola geetus. AS far as my work goes..These projects get bigger and bigger all the time. It continues to amaze me. I'll take some of the credit, but, I've got some really aggressive customers and they've remained faithful to me. I seem to work for the same people over and over. One advantage I've found from owning these cranes, that I didn't forecast is the customer's perception that I'm the only one who can do his project since I own the equipment to do it with. I'm not saying their perception is correct. Other contractors can rent cranes to do the project and may be just as financially successful if not more so. But, I think that is the customer's perception. I think I've picked up some extra projects due to that fact. And how do you value that?
I thought that would give you a good laugh Impact . The silver bird looks like a Champion ! Not to mention the owner knows what to do with it .:yup In my little operation we seem to hit the best with the 25 ton rigs . Have several big crane companies close so more than likely won't ever pay me to go much bigger on a crane rig . http://www.graberconstruction.com/ http://padgett-inc.com/ Crane side might be 25 % of my work load on various jobs . It varies from season to season . Although like you mention at times we will get a job because customer knows we have the iron on hand to back it up . There is some merit to that . The remainder is dirt , welding , & recovery work . I enjoy it all ! What really impressed me was when you put all the trucks , tools & yellow iron working together on a job it's amazing what can be accomplished with ease .
Truer words have never been spoken! Please add "blue" for welders in your list.
I haven't went back through all your posts to see what all you do Impact. I take it you are a millwright/dealer for GSI grain equipment? I was thinking when I first started reading your posts that you ran strictly a crane operation. That customer perception may have something to it. I can rent pretty much any crane I want. Digging and Rigging http://www.digrig.com/ aren't that far from me, plus a lot of other outfits. http://greinerindustries.com/services/mobile-crane-service/ But it does seem like the bigger grain operations really scrutinize our capabilities, when we tell them we don't have our own crane. That said, there are a lot of more profitable smaller projects for us to do.
Yeah ichudov , as you already know in your operation it takes quite a combination of tools , trucks ,& yellow iron to make a plan come together . Takes years to acquire it all & then learn what to do with it . I always get a big laugh after we set something on a project and bystanders think the crane did the whole job .LOL ! Little do they know what went on behind the scene in site prep work , prefabbing items at the shop to make it go a little quicker at the job site . Most people have no idea of it . Our gas drive welders are all " Blue " . Miller 250 trailblazer , 250 bobcat , and still running an mid 1980's Miller LE 200 on the Kenworth . I'm due for a new welder rig . Thinking about staying with a 250 bobcat . http://www.heavytruckforums.com/showthread.php?263-Some-Holmes-750-action&p=1903&viewfull=1#post1903
TD i looked at the thread you linked and the mount you welded on for the turnbuckle on that woods mower, I had the turnbuckle break on my 2715 yesterday right were it threaded in. I guess that was a few months ago for you, but i thought it was odd. You have some of the coolest old trucks btw.
I guess we're a little different. We provide a crane and operator. We do rent cranes bare as well. The market is a little saturated around here but being within an hour of Cincinnati and 45 minutes from Indianapolis there's a lot of crane work. Very rarely do we do the labor on a job. I should also add we do a lot of repair work. I guess what surprises me is how the grain handling market has changed. We used to have at least one crane on a farm somewhere 3-4 days a week. Then it went to 3-4 times a month. Now that we bought the 110t, that crane has done more work on grain handling systems then anywhere else. Unbelievable how much bigger these setups have gotten and they're still nowhere close to what Impact's working on. As far as customer perception, managing that is an art all in itself. If your good at that you have a heck of an advantage. Back to cranes. The 110t has definitely opened a lot of doors for us. Now we really need a 60-80t truck crane. Something to fill the gap. And that 110t truly is a pain to move. It's a heck of nice crane once your onsite but I can say I think I'd rather have a truck crane.
I think it's safe to say that TD is the resident Mcgyver. I'm just curious as to what jobs he actually turns down. Lol
Yeah hvy 1ton , for some reason on these newer bush hog's the manufacturer seems to do a pretty good job on the gear box & main frame and totally miss it on the landing gear . Had a service call on a 20' wide land pride mower , gear box's looked " big & bulletproof " . Landing gear no so much , lift cylinder weld mount ( if you want to call it a weld mount ) tore loose . We patched it back up & added some re enforcement . I reckon it gives the old trucks & operator something else to do , I enjoy it .
LOL! Good one Knepp . I'm still taking notes from the King Of Obsolete on his jobs . http://www.kingofobsolete.ca/
He's one of my childhood heros.
This new cane is too smart. Was on half outriggers to lift the outrugger pads. Actually was about 35%. Told the LMI I am at full outrigger. The trailer was right beside me. The screnn called me a lieing pice of $&;: and shut the crane down. So I had to stop, and go to pinned half outriggers to operate. Grumbling here.
That's a pretty good feature that it knows what you entered in was incorrect with what is actually planted . Did it shut the engine off or just lock up controls ? Our county road department just got a new wheeled Gradall with new operator ( Old one retired ) . It has some of those features as well . New operator got it stuck & leaning enough it would not allow operator to use the bucket & stick to push himself out . End result was the Old Man had to go yank them out with the Jimmy & 750 . Old Man is also retired so he needs something else to do , plus it keeps him off my jobs & other equipment . He has a little wild streak in him yet .
I'm all for electronics and safety features but I say everything needs an override switch somewhere.
I can't help it...when the screen calls you a "lying piece of $&;:", I can't help it, rolling on the floor laughing, and that would include if the screen called me a lying piece of $&;: :lmao
Sorry for rambling. We did a rental job last Saturday. Lifting a 40,000# culvert at 80' radius. They had cut the street in half to lay the culvert pipe in. Job took 102,000# of counterweights. We hauled them in on a tri axle and a tandem. Backed the crane up to the ditch and backed the first c/w trailer up to the front bumper of the crane. The first c/w lift was 26,000#. The three pieces are bolted together. It is possible to break them into three lifts but not practical. With zero c/w hanging we all but maxed out to lift the 26,000# onto the deck but, we could. The next c/w bundle was on the front of the trailer and was 35,000# at a 60' radius. We were only good for 25,000# with 26,000# hanging. So, we lift the two thing slabs off (10,000#) and set on the back of the trailer. Set the 26,000# slabs on the deck and we could then stack the two thin weights on the 26,000# giving us 36,000# of c/w. We could then lift the remaining 25,000# on the front of the trailer. Grabbed them and set them on the back of the trailer. Set the 36,000# on the deck and grab the two thing slabs and set them on the 25,000# which is on the back of the trailer, then stacked them on the 25,000# setting on the deck. Moved the tri axle out and backed the tandem trailer in with the two 21,000# cheek weights. Had to lift the 60,000# before I could reach the 21,000 cheek weight on the front of the trailer. Set that one on the back of the trailer, set the 60,000# on the deck and finished stacking the two wing weights. Sheesh...dizzy yet? After 2 hours setting the crane up, we set the culvert in 10 minutes. Then break everything back down. I hope the next job allows us to back the trailers beside the crane.
Hey I find your rambling interesting. Brings up another question. How many trailors do you own. Do you have enough trailors that you don't have to load and unload weights at the yard. We only own one semi trailor and we use it to haul equipment a fair amount. It sucks to come back to shop after a long day and have to set the crane up to unload weights because the semi has someplace to be the next morning. I guess I have two questions. Does that crane have a scale of some sort to recognize how much counter weight you have on. Or is that up to the op to be honest with crane.
Good questions, and I'm still trying to answer that for myself. Trailers: I have one trailer set up for the 100 ton crane. It carries 30-35,000# of C/W. so we TRY and leave that trailer set up for the 100T crane. But, it's an old extending trailer. Pushed up tight, it's only 35' long or so. Stretched out, it's 60' So, we find ourselves using it at times to haul funky loads. Plus the fact the 100 goes on a job and stys for long periods of time. We have two 48' flat beds that we use for everything. If we ever need the wing weights for the 165 or the new 190 T, we'll simply grab one of those. I'd guess 85% of the time, we don't need the wing weights. We have a 48' drop deck tri axle that we used with the 165T. We stripped the c/w off of it, and are using it for the new 190 ton now. I'm not sure at this point if I end up selling a crane later this fall, or keep them both. In the meantime, I intend to use the one tri axle for both the 190 and 165 Ton cranes. but, if we end up keeping both, I can see we'll need a new tri axle. We also have a 35 ton detach. I also need a dedicated drop deck for general hauling. I just bought two 20' enclosed trailers for job site tools. But, what I need more than anything, is MORE land! LOL As far as I can tell so far, this crane does not have a scale to know if you're lying to it, or programed it wrong. but, it's my understanding the newest cranes do. Another interesting thing the new ones have is called Vari-Base. If I understand it correctly, you can vary each outrigger differently, and the LMI compensates for it as you swing or increase or decrease radius.
And what I really need, is another RT crane that stays on the yard to load the wing weights. Hard to lift a 21,000# weight with a 6,000# lift truck
Ye but if you get a yard crane I'll bet you'll have a job a week later for that crane. Lol Unless you buy a crane that's rough enough you can't stand for anyone else to see it. That was our strategy on a yard forklift. So now we have a pos lull that we use around the shop that's way to rough for any rental job.
If you only had a old tms 300, wait-you used to have one, didn't you. See- you should never get rid of cranes, you might need it someday. That's what I keep telling my wife, when I have four cranes at the shop and only one out working-like today.
Me at Sturgis last year. Soooo photogenic
Brought this log over my house to the front yard. 20,000 pounds the best I remember. Everyone thought I'm crazy. I am but not because of this lift.
Took 2 buddies fishing last spring. We caught a couple crappy
The new Liebherr LTM 1160 just after driving it home from Houston. houston is a long way at 50 MPH
Sounds like quite a drive. Thanks for the pics...and cool thread!
Stuck in Texas waiting on Louisiana permits. Ended up having to hire an escort service. That was hard to explain to my wife
First pick with the Liebherr. 45,000 pounds , 52' radius. Barely enough crane. I could easily overload a 1,000 tonner. I'd just lift more farther away
Your perfect. I never worked with a "pretty" crane operator that was worth a sh*t. Nice mess of fish to.
Nice pics. On the big hopper bottom, looks like long rigging down to the side wall on the bottom? Wind rings or a spreader inside to keep it from pulling in too much, or did it hold itself pretty round? Miss the ag-grain work.
No spreader bar. Just long cables all the way down to the bottom ring. Cables were 50' long or so. Six of them 5/8" x 50' I think
This is a 135' diameter, 34 ring tall tank we're building on a 8' tall foundation. It holds 1.3 million bushels I think. Soil capacity was excellant below 25'. It was terrible from 25' depth and up. We installed geopiers to a depth of 25' or so. Here we are setting the roof rafters with a 165 ton grove. This photo was 8 days ago. As of now it has 13 rings on it. Should have 15 or 16 by tonight if bad weather doesn't stop us
Good to see your grove back running. Decided if you're keeping both yet?
I'm keeping it at least through the busy season this fall. After that I suppose t depends on future business. If I let one go, I'm torn between the Grove and the 100T Liebherr. I keep thinking I've got all the kinks out of this Grove. This last fiasco was just an oil leak. Found the main luffing cylinder dripping too. So repaired both. But a $58K repair bill ain't cheap.
Ouch- I take it they had to dismantle the boom. It could be worse, this crane got vandalized a few years back, about a hour away from us. Crane company is from St. louis area. It looks like the grove dealer worked on it for about a year and a half (the invoices are at the bottom of the ad total repair of $414,000). You just know it was the shop project no one wanted to deal with. Completely dismantle, clean, reseal, and reassemble the hydraulic and suspension systems? don't think you could pay me enough http://www.machinerytrader.com/listings/construction-equipment/for-sale/11997943/2008-grove-gmk5275 I wouldn't give that price if it hadn't been disassembled (like I have that kind of money ), for me it would have to be discounted severely. I just feel for the crane company- missing the crane for a year and a half. I imagine their insurance paid the repair bill- think they gave them a different crane to use until it was fixed?
What kind of vandalism was that? Was it a disgruntled employee? What happened, any idea?
A news article from the time. http://www.komu.com/news/vandals-damage-heavy-construction-crane/ As far as I know, there was never a arrest, or even suspects.
It was longer ago than I thought. news article was nov 2011. 6/28/2013 was the first date on a repair invoice. Insurance co probably dragging their feet and getting bids for repair? Maybe a battle between the sub (crane company) and whoever the general was (responsible for site), and their respective insurance company's. Maybe no insurance for vandalism, so they had to make the money to repair it. I honestly don't know. Its just sad, sad that someone would do that, sad for the business, and sad because the repair probably cost all of us in increased insurance cost. And sad because they'll never get those years of production for the crane back.
Imo that crane has to be pretty much totaled. I don't know that I would ever trust it. All that work and you still don't know if there's one valve somewhere that didn't get cleaned waiting to dump some more salt into the system. I really don't know at what price I'd take a chance on it. I think it'll probably end up as a parts crane. Probably best case scenario.
OK, I am very sad about the crane owner, but wondering: what does a bag of rock salt, dumped in oil, do to the hydraulic system? I thought that salt does not dissolve in oil?
In no way an expert on the subject but just looking at the size of that crane and thinking about things it may be picking and the people near by when it is working. I don't think anyone would want to take on the liability that would come ones way if something failed. Also did not happen to see if this contamination was noticed before the machine had been started. If it had been started after the salt was discovered I could imagine that some of it would have been sucked through the pumps and then to the filters that probably have a filter by-pass valve that would have opened due to the dirt in the system. Now there would be no way to be sure what went where.
I just posted the link, trying to avoid the words, ichudov- I guess I think google can make easy trouble- I don't want anyone to get ideas. Think sand- fine tolerances on pumps- rubber seals- poppet valves.
Ok, I need ya'lls thoughts. Here is the situation. Got a call from a contractor I have worked for once before. To make some lifts of unknown amount at an ethanol plant we've worked at many times before. The guy asked for a written quote on our 100 ton crane. I supplied the quote along with basic charts describing boom lengths and basic load charts. He called and scheduled the crane for today and tomorrow. I sent the operator, rigger and crane to the site this morning. I was told we're only lifting very light materials on top of the silo roofs 150' tall. The setup spot has been used many times before, and we are very familiar with it. We get there, get the crane setup and the jib swung. We have a 158' boom plus the jib, 52' I think. We get ready to lift, and they want to lift above the elevators which are 200-220' tall. The 100 ton isn't enough crane. So myself and a driver took the 190 and a load of counterweights as the other two guys break down the 100 ton. We then drove the 100 ton back. All told with driving, setup, tear down we have about 5-6 hous work involved. I normally get a 8 hour minimum. What is fair? I say he owes me an 8 hour minimum on both cranes. What say you?
I'd try for the two at eight hours, but be ready to settle for the six if you think it could leed to a good customer.
I would bill them for strait time on the 100 ton . What ever it took to set up ,mobilize & break down . Charge 8 hour minimum on the 190 . Sounds like a little communication mix up , that stuff happens . I generally try to visit the site and "walk & talk " & eyeball what they want set to get an idea what I'm up against .
I'm the Galion 150 guy, absolutely no experience operating nor doing the wonderful work you guys do. But, I've received more business from helping people, when they make an error, than calling them on it. No one likes to eat crow, but if you take a bite with them....they'll always remember that. They might remember what you did, and sometimes what you said....but always how you made them feel. Bob
I'd send the bill for both. Getting cranes that size out there, weights on, and jib swung around isn't a small job. The cost isn't in the crane sitting there. Most of the cost is getting it there. Sounds like you saved the day. They order the wrong crane, you drop what your doing and get the right crane out there and set up that same day. And then you wonder if you should give them a discount? I'd play that card if they start squirming about the bill. Sounds easy enough over the internet. Lol
Since you submitted a quote with boom charts and lengths, however you decide to bill this...that jackweed deserves a damn good tongue lashing from you since he bumped your tip height by 70 feet above the original quote.
Got a call to be hete( the place I am sitting here waiting at) to be here 8:00 am. I get here and he says he said 10. Another contractor is doing the millwright. It 10:45 and the contractor is not here. So To save time I start setting the crane up. Keep in mind I am 59 y/o. This is a 60 ton grove crane. The hired help watched me tug on this jib by myself and climb in and out of the cab 20 times. When I got the jib done they said holler if you need help. REALLY? Should I get paid before I leave the site?
Just hold the last pick two feet in the air with your palm out.. should do it.
I'm the one that makes those wrong judgments on weights, etc. I don't have a crane so I get a crane rental company and they send me the bill. I have never yet got a discount, because I was the one that screwed up. And it's not like I don't have options with crane companies. If you will give discounts because I screw up, come on over. Can't say as I will keep you busy, but hey, your not charging right?
On the ethanol plant job, I would charge the 100 ton as actual time, plus the rigger/ counterweight load. Then charge for the full rate on the 190 ton. Just so I'm understanding also : He told you 2 days, and then the whole job only took 5-6 hrs? For both cranes? Or was the 190 there for the two days? I would probably rather get paid for the 5 actual hours on the 100 ton, and the 8 hours for the 190; otherwise if you send him the bill for the 2 full 8 hour minimums- he may be upset and try to get out of paying any of it (it sounds like he's not a regular customer). Then you've got to mess with a lawyer/ liens/ general contractor/ ethanol plant themselves/ to try to get paid. "I sent out the 100 ton crane you requested- that wasn't nearly enough crane for the job you had. I'm going to bill you for its travel, permits, and counterweight, which is 5 hours working and travel, but not the full 8 hour minimum, I can't bring it here for nothing. The 190 ton I'm going to bill you at my regular rate and permits, which is the size crane you really needed. Next time just call me- tell me what you're working on, and maybe we can avoid confusion like this in the future." I would always rather get paid enough to cover my expenses- than go to war to try to get paid full rate. Last spring I sent a 25 ton crane to set I beams, for guys from out of state, just a 4-5 hour job. Crane gets there 1,000lb beams turn into 4,800lbs beams, when his guys read the shipping ticket. I take off in the bigger crane, smaller crane comes back. I get there, pick up the first beam, its only 1,200lbs. They had misread the shipping ticket, the 4,800 was for all 4 beams. His guys misread the ticket, my guy should have looked at the beam, said "there's no way its 4,800lbs", picked it up and see the scale on the crane, only showing 1,200. I called the contractor, he was really worried of what the charges were going to be. I charged him the bigger crane rate, for the job, and just forgot that my smaller crane went out there. He was thrilled, I got paid the little higher rate (and we really didn't need that big of a crane), and I didn't have to fight to get paid. Yes, his guys messed up when they told my operator it weighed 4,800, but my guy should have known better, or at least just picked it up to see what it actually weighed. I ate some time, and it cost him a little more than he was planning on, but neither one of us lost the grocery money. But- that's me not charging for $500 for the little crane's trip ( which is really just my operators time and fuel), not a 8-hour minimum for a 100 ton crane.
Thanks for the input. We have both liberals and conservatives here I see. I run the 100 ton crane an actual 6 hours by the time we drove there and set up and drove back. Not sure how much time we run the 190 on that day, but think I will charge both cranes actual time used plus c/w charges of course. Not sure how I could be any more fair than that. And GrainBinMan give me your phone number and I will block your calls. Haha Crane operator..it was scheduled for 2 days but going to take 3
If you're going to get the three days, I wouldn't try to get the full 8 hrs for both cranes the first day, what you're doing sounds fair. The only case I could see for both 8 hrs would be if it only ended up being 5-6 hours work total, and didn't go multiple days. I don't like it when someone says they have 3 days of work, but it ends up being only one day, and I turn down other work. Can't bill them, and have already turned down other work. That makes it tough to make $.
I was in my twenties when I operated cranes, and even back then I didn't particularly like running a rig bigger than a 30 ton. I've been a scrawny 135 lbs for pretty much all my life. I hated having a 60 ton or bigger set up, set the last joist or truss, go to suck in the boom and outriggers to rack it up, then get out of the rig to find Jesus had come back and you were the only person left on the entire jobsite to pick up and pack away all the pads and cribbing. Grrrrrrrrrrr :Banghead
Crane operator, some operators like to get a 4hour minimum job per day. I like to get three 4 hour minimum job in an 8 hour shift.
Count me in on that. We really like getting two 8 hr minimums in the same day. Usually ends up being 10-12 actual hours but it is nice to work 10 and bill 16. The one job that sucked was 18 hours on site and then had to move the crane to the next site cuz we didn't have the permit to drive back to the shop. That was a long day. Luckily there was some time to nap the next day. Had 1-2 lifts and then they didn't need the crane for several hours untill they were ready to set the piece back up.
No 18 hour days and moving crane down here. Oversize over weight moves are 1/2hr before sunrise to 1/2hr after sunset, daylight only with no snow, ice, or fog. I don't mind 3-4hour minimums in a day, its just that every time I book three jobs in a day, before the day is done, I'm on the phone with someone explaining how I'm not going to get there, it never works out. Someone's truck is late, someones parts don't fit right, or a job takes three times as long as they said it would.
We didn't have much choice on that one. Turns out the city wasn't real keen on a 110t crane set up in the middle of the road overnight. Thankfully Indiana isn't real strict with their overweight laws. We don't even have to use the boom dolly here.
Since buying the 190 T crane, I've been shuffling outrigger pads around like musical chairs. I had a set of outrigger pads for the 165 T that I put with the 190T. Decided to build a set. No engineered drawings. No specs. Just gut feel. I made the pads 4' wide x 8' long. I made a grid of 1/2" x 6" flat, on edge, on 12" centers in both directions. Used 3/8" plate top and bottom. Thoughts? Too heavy? too light?
I think it would be lots heavy enough for my 32 ton:drinkup
I think 4'x8' is fine for that crane if you're on good ground. Grain elevator yard, driveway with rock etc. Where I worked in Iowa, our 120 was on a set of 4'x8', but the 175 used 2-4x8 set one direction, then another 4x8 crossways on top, making a 8'x8' pad. That was really nice on top of soft, black dirt, when making a big pick or lots of radius. We used wood mats bolted together. 8"x8" or 10x10". He had a skid loader that traveled on the base counterweight load, we used it to set the mats, rather than setting up on 1/2 outriggers and using the crane. Typically we'd drive up, get out of the dolly and unload the skid loader, then go set up the crane. It worked pretty good. I did watch the 120 ton he had on the 4'x8', on a pond bank, sink about 8" pulling a dredge. It was soft and a pretty heavy pick. We did have extra wood mats to make the 8'x8' for it also. I never saw the 8'x8' sink, but a 4'x8' can. My 70 ton I get by with a 4'x4', but I have made a larger pad in a soft spot. I have 4'x8' wood mats at the shop that I'll send out. The outfit I do some work with here, has their 200 ton on a set of 4'x8' steel mats made from 5"x5" welded together. I think its like 1/4" or 3/8" wall. I have also seen a flat 5'x5' x 3/8" thick plate, with a 3"x3" angle welded on it's perimeter, under a 150 ton crane. I probably liked those the least. No height gain, and I would think they would flex. I don't think wood mats are any lighter than steel, and the steel lasts forever. The only advantage to wood is it's less likely to leave a impression in a black top parking lot (softer edges), and probably cheaper. It's also nicer to stack up for height than steel is. I would use a piece of conveyor belting or a old mud flap between your outrigger pad and the steel mat, it makes it much less likely to slide (which I have seen). The new cranes come with a whole psi chart for ground loadings for weight and radius. You're supposed to take those figures, do a soil sample, consult the engineers, make out a 5 page proposal, then do the job with the specified support. They might do that on a nuclear plant job, but the rest of the world operates on a different level. Experience matters, as does common sense. I rolled up to a job, watched them drive a skid loader and a telehandler through the area where I was supposed to set up the crane. The ground was soup. The telehandler was leaving 3' ruts, the skid loader was dragging its belly pan the whole way. I told them there was no way I was getting in there, and the job super threw a huge hissy fit. I thought "you can throw all the hissy fits you want buddy, but that crane isn't going in there."
Crane op...you're about on par from what I've seen. 4' x 8' WILL Sink in right conditions. I've had my 165 sink on rotten soil with 4' x 8's. But, for the most part, works pretty well. I like your idea of setting two 4' x 8' with one on top for the bad spots. This will give me two sets of 4' x 8''s. I can do that now.
Lifted a Titan I missile a few weeks ago.
Wasn't a hard lift, but, it was high profile with cameras and people everywhere.
That's me in the bibs and the white hair. I should have been in movies. We loaded the missile on my flatbed trailer after setting the counterweights on the crane. As I'm driving down the highway, I chuckle to myself thinking they trust me with a missile. Scary if you think about it.
Wow !! That's super cool did you lay it over or did you have a tail machine? Is the missile at the end of its life or the first?
Looks good impact. Nice to see that liebherr working. Did you end up getting rid of one of your other AT's? On a side note, I was in Iowa a couple weeks ago for a nephew's wedding and most of the farmers were crying the blues of low prices, high input costs and cash rent, so I didn't know how that was affecting your business? I also like your alignment corners on your outrigger pads, I've never seen one's quite like that, most of the ones I've seen are much smaller (just a overlapping edge).
We used the 60 ton as a tail machine.
Crane op. We still have the 165 ton. We planned to sell it, but, it has been running continuously since we bought the 190. Farmers are always crying the blues. Yes prices are down, but business is still good. 2016 was the best year we ever had. This year not like last year, but, still pretty good. Of course a lot of our work is commercial graineries. We're doing another 1.3 million bushel tank with the accessories that go with it. We are also doing a 1.7 million bushel flat storage. It has 18' tall cast in place walls. 180' wide steel arch trusses with a canvas cover. Peak height is 80' or so. Yes, the alignment pieces on the pads work well. Makes it much easier for one man to stack them
Tradesman, we set the missile at a place called Discovery Park. It is sort of a museum. The missile was donated to them. They spent 1-1/2 years restoring it. Interestingly, several of these have been setup, all but one have failed or collapsed. It is designed to be light and hold fuel. Standing upright, it is suceptable to strong winds etc. caves the sides in. These people researched, and added internal stiffeners. Maybe it will hold up. Time will tell. The Titan I is one of the first ICBM. They were smart enough to remove the warhead before they let me haul it.
Beautiful.... it was only built for a one way trip, hello Moscow!
That's not something one gets to do everyday, pretty neat!
Would have been neat if you could have slipped a CO2 extinguisher in the back and set it off while going down the road. Bet any tailgaters would back off!
Instead of a wide load sign, it could say Armed and Dangerous, handle with care. You'd have the roads all to yourself!
I've been busy and haven't posted in a while. I know you guys prefer photos, but, I'm too lazy. LOL. Being in the grain business, we've been in crunch time mode lately. Two major storage projects that need to be filling with grain. Good news is, they both started filling mid week this past week. As always, just in the nick of time. The week before last, we had the 190 and the 100 ton cranes scheduled at a local ethanol plant for the entire week. Whenever they scheduled it, I KNEW we'd be in crunch time mode, and couldn't bring myself to NOT take the job. Besides, I'm greedy. A weeks rental on those two cranes is good income. The 100T had to be lifting 7:00 AM that Monday, so we set it up late Saturday afternoon after moving it from one of my jobs. The 190 was there also, but, we were basically finished with it and any heavy lifts. Our 60 ton has been out of commission and still is. ECM problems or so we thought. Still not fixed. Mechanic is thinking it got struck by lightning. I had planned it to finish up at the flat storage site. Monday morning the 100T starts to work as planned. We sent a rigger to assist in setting up the 190. They got it on the outriggers, swung the job and extended the boom. No jib or boom luffing. They retracted the boom, checked all the connections and extended again. Same thing. On phone with Liebherr Tech they figured out there is a switch on side of the boom that tells the brains that the jib is stored. The switch was bad, so the brains thought the jib was stowed, but, the wiring harness at the boom tip is telling the brains the job is installed. It went psycho. In the old days, you'd remove the cover from the switch, and either jump the two wires or disconnect them. Not in today's world. It's down until we replace the $200 switch. Found out later if you're good enough, it IS possible with a laptop to lie to the brains. But, we're not that savvy. We had to break the crane down and move it as they called a crane in from Nashville. To pour salt on a wound, I had to call my competitor and rent a 35 ton crane from him the entire week to finish the flat storage project. I suppose in the end it all works out, just not the way I'd hoped. Oh well. I don't normally post personal stuff, but, found out a few weeks ago that I had a melanoma cancer on my upper thigh. During all the crane fiasco I was dealing with that. The melanoma was the size of a nickel. Looked like a small bruise. I blew it off as nothing for the last few years. My wife has been after me for 5-7 years to see a Dermatologist. I kept saying, OK this winter. She set the appointment w/o my knowledge a few weeks ago, and took my, screaming and fussing the entire way. Good thing she did I suppose. When they called and said I had a melanoma I shrugged and thought, well, cut it out. I didn't know how dangerous they can be. More so than other types of skin cancer. Had surgery to remove it this past Tuesday. I'm cut from just above my knees up about 8" long. They took three lymph nodes from the groin area and tested them for cancer cells that may be in the blood stream. I've been holding my breath for a month or so now. But, got the report back last Friday the lymph nodes are clear and as far as they can tell, I'm cancer free. If any of you guys have a odd little spot somewhere, have it checked. It could be the difference between life or death.
OK. Here's a youtube link of the flat storage project. It is 180' wide, 324' long. The footings all have a grid of Geopiers beneath them to stabilize the soil. The footings are either 16' or 20' wide, 18" thick or 24". The walls are 18' high. and thickness varies from 18" to 24". Peak height of 79' above the footing. Grain depth of 60' or so. Holds approximately 1.7 million bushels. Belt conveyors convey grain from existing system at a rate of 40,000 BPH.
I'm glad you got your health issues straightened out.
Looking good as usual Impact ! I had to have a little Basal-cell carved off my face this spring . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basal-cell_carcinoma Just started out as a small soar that would not heal .
Office got a call last week from an Amish guy who lives 150 miles away. Office guy calls me says they want to lay it on it's side and load it on a trailer & that the weight is 55,000 pounds. My first thought is, this thing is way to wide to haul down the highway. Even if they could, I think it would collapse. Ended up there was bad communication. They simply wanted to pick it up, hold it, and start taking rings off the bottom and disassemble it. That makes sense. Guy wanted our 165. Best chart we could get on the 165 was 58,000 pounds. Guy was telling me he thought it'd weigh 50,000 pounds, but was telling me 55,000 to be safe. I refused to use the 165, but held out for the 190 which we could get 75,000 pounds out of the charts. Always makes me more nervous taking something down than putting it up. Once they kick the bolts out, you've got it whether you want it or not. Ended up weighing 45,000. Here's a link to a couple of videos
Not a crane lift, but, posting it anyhow. This is a 135' diameter grain tank we built a few years ago. The tank holds 1.11 million bushels of grain. Peak height is 115'. It's setting on a foundation 10' tall. Total weight is about 750,000 pounds. They assembled the first two top rings and roof before setting the jacks and starting to lift. Each jack is rated at 15,000 pounds I think. They start off with maybe 30 jacks and add more as it gets taller and heavier. They'll end up with 60 or so on it. The jacks are powered by electric motors, maybe 1-1/2 or 2 hp. The motors power a gear reducer which turns a Acme threaded lead screw and brass nuts. As you can see, it doesn't lift very fast.
Can ya'll tell I'm bored? This is a lift we made a couple years ago. An elevator head section. Weighs maybe 7,000 pounds and is 150' or so in the air. There was a total of 4 elevators on this job.
Thanks for the great videos. When I was watching the last one with the slow moving cloud overhead, made me think of the numerous time I've had a cloud like that scare the crap out of me when it felt like the boom was still moving with my hand off the controls. Are you in the seat for these picks or is it an employee?
No sir. Not me. It’s actually my son.
It's nice to see them grow into good men.
Maybe someone can enlighten me. Let me explain We have 3 AT cranes. Liebherr 100ton, and a 190 ton. And a Grove 165. The Liebherr can all pin each boom section at 0% 46% 92% or 100%. The Grove will pin at 0% 50% and 100%. As you can imagine there are 100’s of possibilities for boom lengths and configurations We always try and configure for the strongest chart. We measure radius and load weight. Of course required tipheight is also important. Almost always the best chart on the 190 ton is a short boom. Meaning boom angle might be 35-40 degrees to reach the required radius. Seems the other 2 AT cranes give just as strong a chart with a longer boom..maybe 60-70 degree boom angle. Why?
Saw this taking place at a neighbors place on Thursday and I thought of you and figured I share a picture. This is mostly cattle country so large grain handling facilities are rare.
So many variables on the set up . Often thought of what a cool job it would have been to work at a company like Grove back in the mid 1960's when the Hydro rigs were entering the market . You had the fellers in the engineering department designing it , welders gluing it together and some lucky guy got to go out back & run it through the course testing the limits & find out where it fails . Phone call from the test facility ….. " Hey Mable patch me though to engineering " . " Crane passed the load test OK but the boom lift cylinder rod looks a little bowed " . " Need you cat's to drop the slide rule on that one more time " LOL ! Imagine its similar today .
Well TD, I can sure tell you there's a bunch of cranes chained down to the ground at the plant. Looks like a giant playground to me. All different cranes, tons of different test weights. Big chains over the outrigger beams. As to the boom length issue, as you add more ctw does it change your optimum boom angle. I certainly don't know the answer, but that is interesting.
Know how that go's Knepp . We had a grove break loose & had to chase after him in a ford galaxie 500 . Caught up to him and he was settin an antenna again . Come on home old Boy . LOL !
Adding c/w doesn’t seem to increse boom angle any. Interesting photo Tradesman. Find myselfcounting rings on the bins and elevator trunking sections. Lol
On your big crane, the boom itself is so heavy that the less you put out, the less it hurts your chart. Plus its a lot stronger boom, so it doesn't mind being laid down flat with a big load. The smaller cranes like having more boom out, higher boom angle = less tipping pressure. Their booms are a lot smaller physically, so theres a lot more folding pressure on them also. Kind of like comparing a hydro and lattice boom, the lattice is so much stronger because it is so much bigger for the same weight. A lot of grove and link belt hydraulic truck cranes had two extension modes- A and B. In A mode, you could run with less counterweight, it would throw out the tip sections first, all the way, then bigger and bigger sections. but it wouldn't have as good of a chart up close, or when running with more counterweight. B mode staggered extensions between the two big sections, and gave you a better chart up close, but needed more counterweight to offset the heavier boom being thrown out. I always found it interesting to compare the charts and where each was better. A lot of the newer boom trucks are the same way, you can get better chart with more boom out. Also that's quite the grain setup, all new. Someone spent the $ there. I wondered why they had the 3 sheets all out on the bottom of the one in the middle. Must be left open for getting the jacks out and putting the floor in?
And I am trying tofigure out which Grove crane model that is. I have a Tms760E. It is bigger than that. 80 ton, 90 ton or the 110 ton.
The grove tms 870 that I ran had A and B mode extension. It is the older series than yours, still with the trapezoid boom. 1994 I think was the year of the one I ran. The Link belt 8660-8665-8670-8675 truck cranes have a and b mode also.
The tms/tts 870 with A and B mode are only the 138' booms. I don't think the 110' main had the separate modes. https://freecranespecs.com/Grove/TMS870 The first pdf- look down through to the 138' boom, and at the bottom they show a and b mode.
Looks like a tms900e to me. 90 ton. Lower just like a tms700. Gmk upper. The tms9000e had the rounder boom and updated cab.
I would like to have to 90 or the 110 ton Grove. Could run it with less c/w as a 60 ton or haul morec/w to it andcharge it out as a 110/90 ton. Or the 4 axles Ltm 1070 would be sweet. So many toys tochoose from, so little mola geetus
I couldn’t read the name on it I was too far away but if it is who I suspect it is it is a 900e, the company around hear that has a few groves has a 900e with a hydraulic off set-able jib like the one in the picture.
We might all be wrong when I look again I think it might be a TM 250
My other hobby
Very nice ! Is that street king ( glide) my son has the same bike not dolled up as nice as yours but pretty nice. I’m a bmw guy, been riding since 1981 I’ve had them all Honda,Yamaha, Harley, I’m now on my second bmw, but I have rode my sons street king a few times and it’s a really nice riding bike, but I’ve always enjoyed being the odd man out I’ve got the only bmw for 25 miles around.
It is a Street Glide that has been customized. It has the HD 120r engine, custom paint and road king seat and tank. So I call it a Street King. Lol. My next bime will be a BMW
One more hobby.
Had a simple two hour job Wednesday with the 165T. Load a round cylindrical vessel onto a flat bed. 11’ x 40’ 30,000 pounds. Was told could get right beside it. At least that part was right. 60T wouldwork, but it was booked elsewhere. We keep a single sheave block on the unit. Normally it has a 2 part line, good for 31,000 or so. I 3 parted it before making the lift. Start lifting. Get 30,000 on it, 35, 40, at 48’000 it alarms and winch stops. Boom up a bit till there is 51,000 on it, and stop. I have a 5 sheave block, but, not with me. We regrouped, and rerigged with a 30,000# lift truck on one end, me on the other. Get it lifted, then the driver says he cant haul it. More delays and phone calls. In the end (about 4 in the afternoon) we used the big block, and set it on his trailer. He had another tag axle coming for the rear tandems. It was a stretchable detach trailer stretched out as far as it would go. When we set the load on it, the frame touched the ground in the middle. Driver was lost. I eventually talked him to 3 chains and boomers over the top lifting the frame beams. Cleared the ground 6”. I hope he made it to PA.
Oh and while there (a nasty dirty rendering plant) I washed my hands with GoJo. Ended up loosing my wedding band. Didnt notice for 2 days. Luckily remembered the GoJo. Called the plant and they had found it.
Out for a little tour with my son this weekend
For you Harley guys ! Where this picture is taken is called the deer trail loop it’s about 150 km. Of twists hills a river valley and a whole lot of rock faces and only a couple building near the end. They say speed kills, but what a way to go. My pegs are to high to scape but I sure tried!!!
Havent posted here in quite some time. Sorry no photos. I was forced to take the 190 out a couple times this week. First job was a freebie for family. Lifted a 1800# boiler through the roof. 30’ radius. Took zero c/w and didnt use any pads under the riggers. That always makes me nervous. All theother cranes were busy on other jobs. Second job would have been perfect for the 60 ton, but again everything was booked so took the 190 again. Got paid for the 60 ton. If the 60 ton was used would have been a 100’ radius. But couldnt get the 190 in that hole. Was a 135’ radius with the 190. Pads of courseand 60,000# of c/w. 1500# roof over a floating dock. Been learning to fly lately. Flying a cherokee 140. 12 hours training so far. Can almost land w/o killing myself.
Good to hear you're doing well Impact. I had similar happen to me before, sign company requested a boom truck to set a light weight sign, all rigs were out except a T750 P&H so off I go. When I rolled up in that 75 ton the guy's eyes popped out. "Don't worry...you're just paying for a boom truck". And yeah, didn't bother with cribbing under the pads either.
This is not the worst type of two blocking. Because the block was only pulled by rope and not by hydraulic Force or hoisting.
Cherokees are great little planes to learn to fly in. I owned one for 13years. once you get going don't stop till you get your license. its way easier to just grind it out and get it done than start and stop. best of luck.
I've been thinking about doing that also- it was my dream as a kid to be a fighter pilot. Model planes, all my doodling in school was plane battles. My eyesight meant no airforce, but I've never really gotten the bug out of my system. My concern- I've set up too many planes for guys that learned late, and its easy for us to get distracted with other issues. I know personally of 3 good businessmen, who when they finally had the means to get their plane, got in a hurry and didn't make it. I've also set up quite a few planes at our little runway here in town, no deaths on the ones I've set up, but it still makes you pause. It doesn't mean I haven't quit kind of shopping for a plane on the side. Glad you're having fun learning impact. When you get ready, fly on over here and I'll get you at the airport for lunch.
Right now fighting my way through the FAA medical process. Gotta prove I am healthy as a 40 y/o. I am 61. Haha
Since the plane I fly, and the kind of flying I prefer, due mostly to my home strip's challanges, is elgible for the LSA (light sport) catagory, and even though I had held a full blown private pilot single engine land/SEL ticket for a lot of years, I switched over to the LSA system. NO physicals, ever! I still have a plane I can cruise at 100 mph in (though rarely do, mostly 85), that has a 6-700 mile range, that can carry one passenger and a small amount of gear (or just me and a LOT of gear). I can't night fly (don't want to anyway), or have a plane that grosses out at more then 1320 lbs., or fly faster then 138 mph. The thing is, if you fail a 3 rd class medical, it is a pain to get it back. And if you do fail one, it then TOO LATE to go LSA. So realizing my kind of flying, low and slow, was the way I wanted to aviate long term, I opted out before any health issues. If I for some reason want to trade on up to a Bonanza or any plane that requires a SEL, I can still do so, I'm not locked in the LSA catagory forever. I did this the same year Idaho changed the CDL physical check up requirements, for some years I was having to get a phys for the FAA, AND one for the CDL! In Idaho anyway, there are many rigs that require a CDL, but not a bi annual physical:farm trucks, tow trucks, big well drilling rigs, etc., boom trucks or cranes were not specifically listed, but I managed to get them to add them to the phys exempt ruling.
I had a MRI brain scan and a stress test Thursday. MRI was to prove I don’t have cancer in the brain, due to the Melanoma that was removed last year. No cancer, but they said I have a pea sized brain. Lol. The stress test..I couldnt finish it. Could be the end of my chances to get a medical. I’m not sure. Going to follow up with a cardiologist 1-2-19. Natman, I considered that route (LSA) but doesn’t really fulfill my goal which is to fly longer distances quicker.
Craneop, we’ll do that lunch whether I get my PPL or not.
Sorry to hear about the stress test. Maybe they caught something early, could be a blessing in disguise. And if lunch doesn't work, I'm always up for some ribs for supper!
Impact, Hope the stress test helps find something they can fix. If I was going for a brain scan I might have to make appointment with a Proctologist! Good luck! Dang I need to find a reason to visit crane operator if he's buying supper!
Specially if it's Ribs!!!
Happy New Years to my friends at Heavy Equipment Forums!
No pictures, sorry. I wasn't even on the site. Got a call from a grain elevator and they had a loaded rail car derail. They tried to pull it back onto the tracks unsuccessfully. We took the 190 down, and lifted one end of the car back onto the tracks. The rail company chained the axles to the car for us. they guesstimated the weight of the entire loaded car at 270,000# making one end roughly 135,000#. We rigged the crane for 11 parts of line and were good for right at 200,000#. The 135,000# was right on target. But we ended up having to raise the end higher than level and it increased the weight to 162,000#. To my knowledge, that is the heaviest thing we've ever lifted.
I've got a good one for ya'll. Sorry No pics. We're taking a bucket elevator down in Tennessee. It's 130' or so tall, but, we're having to reach 125' or so because it's surrounded by other structures. We're running our LTM-1080-1L crane, a 100 AT crane. It has a 157' main. We have the 62' jib installed offset to reach up and over. Operator tells me all of a sudden it starts giving error messages and bells whistles and alarms going off. And it caught on fire. Seems a wiring harness that controls the engine arced off against an oil line, and oil was squirting everywhere hence how the fire started. We managed to disconnect the batteries and get the fire out pretty quick. No fire damage that we can tell, but the wiring harness is toast. I'm told the harness is as big around as my wrist and full of severed wires. There is no splicing it back in. This happened Tuesday morning. Luckily there was no load on the hook. Main boom is up about 75 degrees. Counter weights are over the engine compartment. As of this morning the boom is still up. We ordered a new harness and expect it to be in our hands Tuesday. I expect 2-3 days to get it rewired and all sorted out. I've talked to Liebherr technicians and other AT crane mechanics. While yes it is possible to power the hydraulics from a 2nd crane, it's a very complex and length procedure. Pin and latch boom system. Talked with crane operator and he mentioned taking a large crane, cracking the luffing boom cylinder valves and laying the boom on the ground. We're surrounded by other structures and high voltage power lines so that isn't practical. I've decided to just leave the boom up until we get the crane running under it's own power. Was hoping good weather would continue but it appears a system is moving through this weekend and Sunday's winds could be pretty high. I'm simply going to keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best. What a fiasco
Wow......
Congrats on learning to fly the 140. You made me smile. I had one, sold it in the mid 90’s. It remains a great memory.
I am still learning. 21 hours into the training. I can still say I almost dont kill myself on landings. Haha
I'm glad your operator caught the fire early. Any landing you can walk away from, right?
This is a project we did in 2016-2017 and maybe into 2018. The storage tank that is already erected was built in 2016. The new foundation is for a tank we built in 2017. The tanks are 135' in diameter Eave height is 91'. Each tank holds 1.25 Million bushels of corn. Total weight of the tank is 900,000 pounds. the foundation is elevated about 10' above grade. There is a walk through tunnel 6' wide beneath it with 6' 6" of head clearance. The tunnel house a conveyor that moves grain at 20,000 BPH back to the elevator and onto trucks or pumped into the feed mill to make hog feed. The conveyor system on top is also 20,000 BPH.
Don't blame me for the cluster of tank and equipment. I didn't design it. LOL. They had a 600,000 storage tank collapse and demolished a lot of equipment. We installed four elevators in one steel structure. One is for receiving grain. One is for reclaiming grain. One is to move dry grain from the grain dryer. One is to put wet grain into the dryer. All 4 can operate at one time moving grain in different directions at the same time.
The crane in these pictures is a Grove 165 ton. It has 197' main and a luffing jib. I forget the length of the jib but should be 70' or so.
Got the boom retracted on the 100T yesterday! Finally.
Good to hear. Another weather system today
What did you do to get it in?
Tiny! Welcome back my friend
https://wgem.com/2019/03/11/grain-b...opa0fxRSdPaMyQZWw4bp2jlC9wOhAIvMuSAlsxKvUGMQk Seen this. Made me think of you and the projects you work on. Are grain bin sizes growing faster then the technology or engineering to keep them together. Kinda leads me to another question. How thick are the walls on a bin that size. 850,000 bushel is a good size. I can’t imagine how much pressure is on those walls at the bottom. There are several Bunge locations not far from where I’m at and it seems they’re always adding on and building even bigger bins.
I just read about that failure this morning. Being in the business first thing I wanted to know is what brand is it? That site is owned by Bunge. That wasn’t a typical corrugated tank. It was a welded tank originally designed for oil stoarge. It had smooth sidewalls. From what I have heard these tanks have steel welded floors also and no foundation. Compacted rock base. Or at least that is what I was told. Bunge used a lot of this style tanks years ago. Typically painted white
I have to wonder if the failure could have been a dust explosion? I know that things like flour can explode from just a spark. But would expect to see a little black soot if that was the cause.
There are many reasons a grain tank like that can fail. If it is unloaded off center is one way. They could fill it, partially unload it, refill numerous times and cause it to fail. Differential settlement could cause it. Dust explosion. I have seen several fail and 100% have been in winter. Expansion/contraction? The big tank I built a few years ago busted. There must have been 50 engineers investigate it. No conclusions. But every local farmer that has aivkup truck knows why it failed.
I heard some speculation that the reason the tank at Bunge failed was because they had put a skid loader door in the side just last year.
Another bad day. Had a lift for the 165 ton but we took the 190 ton. 70,000# precast concrete shelter going in an electrical substation. We were to be ready to lift at 10:00 am. Crane left with 1 load of c/w following. 15 minutes later I get a call. The crane blew a tire. $4,300.00. So I sent a guy to help the operator take care of the crane. Told him to have the truck driver come back and swap c/w trailers. We would take the 165 to do the lift. Called the customer letting him know we’d be a little late. He told me the precast building was going to be an hour early. Figures A few minutes later the c/w truck driver called. Off in a ditch. Great. I drove the 60 ton down to unstick him. Had to offload the weight before we could lift the trailer. We finally make it back, and of course the 165 needed fueling up. All the spreader bars and rigging had to switch to the other trailer. We left at 10:00. We get to within a mile of the substation and flashing lights everywhere. The truck with the precast is in the ditch. Very narrow road, so I drove the 165 as far over as possible to let traffic pass. Took an hour for the tow truck to unstick the trailer. We then get our c/w trailer around the tight turn uneventfully. So I jump back in the 165 to ease off. It had broke thru the edge if the blacktop and sunk. Very nice looking front yard there, with the homeowner watching the fiasco. The more I wiggled the more it sunk. Finally got all the differentials and axles locked in, and it powered out. The clutch was smoking hot, but it came out. Right over the edge of the guys pretty concrete driveway. Of course it crumbled. Apologized and gave him my card, and assured him, I would take care of it. I would guess $10,000 or more in damages. So, $10K driveway plus $5K tire. The job paid $3,600. Yipeeee
Geeez! If you could see into the future you would’ve been better in bed bothering the wife. Glad you made it out with no injury
Holy Smoke .. I hope it was at least a steady customer .
That's not a great day. Sometimes I just hope to get through the day without tearing anything up.
Not a crane but here is my latest purchase. Now to just learn to fly it. Dang thing has two brake pedals and no accelerator pedal. And the steering wheel isn’t a wheel at all. It has the biggest cooling fan I ever seen too.
That cooling fan is the most important thing. When it stops turning the pilot immediately starts sweating badly.
NICE!
Is that a brand new Bonanza? Beautiful aircraft!
First plane out of flight school is a Bonanza!? Wow, talk about diving in at the deep end. Beautiful plane, many happy flights! Rick
It’s a 1999.
Well done
Beautiful! Enjoy it well. Took a few hours of instruction in high school, stopped for some reason. I believe you'll enjoy this more than anything diesel powered, and for me that's hard to do. You know, my shop looked like that, for about 2 days after the construction stopped...... Before I moved in.
A flying buddy in Arizona who is also in the craning biz, just last week was saying the Bonanza's, the older ones in particular, were a great bang for the flying buck. Not particularly cheap to operate, but very reasonable to buy, and of course, FAST. Great choice, even though a bit of a hot rod for a low time pilot, your a crane op so are of course more adept then the average person! Seriously, sort of, a crane op is at least making hand/eye decisions all day, depth perception, etc., and is used to paying attention and dealing with equipment that can potentially kill himself and others. As opposed to someone who pushes computer keys or paper all day. Flying makes me a better operator, and the other way around also.
I agree Natman. I know and agree this is a lot of plane for my experience level. I have about a total of 65 hours flying, 16 in the Bo. Not ready to solo yet but feel I am close. Pray for me. Lol
Ha! Yeah you can get into trouble faster, my slow bird, 85 mph, gives me more time to think about things, like bad weather ahead, plus I can land about anywhere. But when it comes to actually getting somewhere fast, you have the right aircraft. No work today yet, if the phone doesn't ring in another few minutes, I'm jumping in the plane to fly to Afton Wyoming, for breakfast, landing on a 8600' ridge on the way, and couple others on the way back.
We were hired to lift several tanks for Turner Dairy. They are shutting down the local plant and auctioned off these tanks. We needed both the 190 crane and the 165 to make it happen. The 165 was only used to swing a man basket and tail the tanks from vertical to horizontal. There simply wasn't room to get a smaller crane or boom lift close enough to lift personnel. I think we were at a 135' radius. Two of the tanks were 30,000# and 75' tall. They were the easiest Two were a much farther working radius and were supposed to be 29,000# but ended up being 37,000#. The closer of those two maxed out the 190 with 100,000# of C/W. The second tank was 20' farther away. Everybody I had on the job site was freaking about how we were going to do it. I kept telling them we'd move tank 1 first then walk tank 2 to where tank 1 was originally setting. I don't think they ever understood. There were 4 lifting eyes on the top of each tank. Instead of attaching to all 4, we attached to 2 and spun the tank. We'd then hook to the other two lugs and spin the other side. Within an hour or so we had it close enough. Our competition quoted a 300 ton and a 150 ton for the man basket. Most people aren't used to trying to lift something with minimal equipment. It is sickening to see the boom on a maximum capacity lift bend like a cane fishing pole. We were running a 116' boom at a 80' radius. I think the boom deflected 7-8'.
It was amazing to me when setting a big load down just how far you had to boom a crane down in order to keep the block over the top , That boom IS like a fly rod .
damn the flak and the torpedos full speed ahead
You will be fine with your experience operating equipment . All those years of hand and foot coordination on job sites will pay off when you decide to lift the Bonanza on you own .
don't be doin any strafing runs on your buddies, them damn crane booms get in the way
5 hours in the National 30 ton today on two different jobs, then a quick .6 hour flight across the valley to check out a new LZ at 8,000', then I finished up the day running my Kubota mini excavator (using it's thumb to move some boulders, the little 3 banger diesel 3 ton unit kicks butt )and my Kubota tractor on a retaining wall project I'm doing at home. There's something about sitting in a small cab/cockpit, and moving levers and making things happen that I can't seem to get enough of. Flying is just more of the same, and I mean that in a good way!
a young flyin farmer friend just got his IR a week ago. hes proud as punch
I soloed the new to me plane a week last Monday. I have been flying and practicing maneuvers everyday this week. Checkride is tomorrow morning. I am sick of burning fuel and going in circles
Congratulations on the solo! Might be just my sick mind but I would be thinking of changing your screen name here. It just does not sound good to me for a new pilot!
Haha kshansen. Thats funny. Some people think Impact means I am full of myself and will make a huge Impact on others. Actually I chose it because of my work history building grain bins. We used 1/2” drive electric Impacts. We gave more of a workout on the impacts in one day than most people would in a lifetime.
Yesterday was my check ride. For you non pilots, that is the final step in getting a license. Wow, that was intense. The oral portion lasted 3 hours. I got through it, but I was mentally and physically drained. The examiner even commented I looked tired. I have spent the last week totally consumed with being prepared. I was struggling a bit with short field landings and steep turns. I nailed those. I didn't work on soft field landings any, as those should be easy, right? Guess which one I bombed? I have plenty of excuses. Wind was brutal as was the thermals. The plane was being bounced around terribly. My approach was off, when I chopped the power and flared it floated then sit down hard. At that point I gave up. If I would had just kept the nose wheel light, I still would have passed it. But I quit. At one point the examiner had me divert to a different airport. (Common practice). I had never landed there, and as I was coming in, I notice tall steel support towers with transmission lines right in the path of my landing pattern. They had the big orange balls on them. Am sure I would clear them but I didn’t like it. The Bonanza comes in so fast there is not much time to make a decision. I finally said I am not landing there. Knowing that would be an F I was disappointed. The examiner was like...oh why not? I explained and we left. After we got back, he told me I made the right decision. If I wasn’t comfortable don’t do it. Period. Wow The whole deal lasted from 8:30 till 3:00 pm. Exhausting! I have a couple of things to brush up on and reschedule this coming week. Do not have to start over. Just show him I corrected my mistakes. Should be one short flight and sign me off. This has been one intense year of training. Will be so happy to just fly when I want
Having to redo welding tests to get your pressure tickets is frustrating. Having to redo your check ride is better than attempting it if you aren't comfortable or the weather isn't the best. It will be worth it in the long run. You don't usually get do overs if something goes terribly wrong in a plane. Sounds like you had a smart examiner.
Great call. In business and construction especially, we get trained into making whatever we want to happen, will happen. We roll the dice a lot and figure we can find a way out of it. I used to talk a lot with a guy who flew airliners. He said its the greatest danger with older guys who become pilots late. Generally, they are guys that have been successful enough in whatever they do, to be able to get a plane and ticket, and its a dream of theirs. Those type of people aren't used to not doing what they want to , when they want to do it. Marginal conditions, unfamiliar terrain, outside mental distractions, etc, means they are a little too bold, a little too sure of their skills, and end up doing things they shouldn't do. Its hard for those type of people, to say No, good for you to realize when you were behind the game. Good luck finishing up getting your ticket. Its hard to be evaluated like that, in a pressure situation.
The Bonanza's nickname is "the doctor killer", you ain't one so you'll be fine! This morning I landed a new ridge site, that had a lot of embedded sharp and narrow rocks, 8 to 10" high, I can't believe my bushwheel tires (29" Airstreaks) handled them, no sweat! Then I flew home and an hour later, working on a new retaining wall I'm building for the shop, got excited when the phone rang (work) and in my rush to turn the blaring radio off, got caught up in a dry line I had stretched tight. I went down hard, no biggie, but my left hand came down on a rock just right, to break my FU finger, it was at a 45 degree angle, it's not supposed to do that! Got lucky and a local hand doc made time for me immediately , and turns out it was just dislocated, he popped it back into place and I made my job on time, an hour later! Moral of the story, stuff happens, may as well fly and have some fun. Note: no pain killers were taken, so I was OK to "run heavy equipment!"
Rescheduled the checkride for this morning. It will be nice to actually go somewhere when burning $4.25 AV fuel. Sick of always taking off and landing at the same airport. CFI did sign me off for a cross country Monday to Nashville. Had a Dr appointment. Turned a 3-1/2 hour drive into a 40 minute flight. That was nice.
I don't buy or use any AV gas, but do pay attention to the pricing, and $4.25 is dirt cheap, if that's any consolation!
Impact, PPL. Thats all
Congrats. There's three airports within a 15 minute drive from my place, I'm expecting a visit.
Be careful what you wish for.
I am actually operating today
Why are my photos catty wompus
Sitting here bored. Been flying a lot since getting my PPL. Flew to Gulf Shores and back one Saturday just for seafood. One trip to Ocala Fl and back. One trip over the Appalacian mountains into NC. Flew to Branson Mo last weekend. Flying to Houston this coming weekend. One thing I have learned weather is a big issue. Thunderstorms haven’t been a problem yet my visibility and clouds are! I need my IFR ticket
Doing barrel roles in a crane is impressive.
Operating cranes is a necessary evil to support my flying habit. I have a problem investing way too much money on depreciating assets
Precast concrete bleachers at UTM. We will get a dozen or so down today, the first day. Should get 20-24 a day hereafter. 200 & something in total to remove. 7500 pounds each
My daughter graduated from UTM
At least you haven't turned it up to let the pups suck
This is a photo of our new rig still sitting in Germany. It is supposed to be delivered Monday. It is a LTM 1055
2
That sure looks nice. Same color too as the 180ton.
HOLY! A brand new Liebherr. I have now words to express my excitement. Did you go to Germany and touch it?
Glad that you said the pictures are catty wompus, I first thought you had laid your crane over onto it's side
No. It is scheduled to be at the office Monday morning.
We have been with a Liebherr Tech all week. Some good stuff came out of it. But this is our third Liebherr. 1-2 days would have been enough. We are getting everything rigged to suit us. Order some plastic outrigger pads. Building storage boxes etc. it is pretty sweet. I dread the first dent. In 4 wheel steer it was turn twice as short as my pickup!
Will your son be running it? if I had that Mrs. tradesman would have to bring my meals to it for me
I have a different operator in mind. My son typically is on one of my projects and we have a different crane we leave on the job site long term. This new crane will be primarily custom rental or a taxi crane
Congratulations
LOOKIN GOOD
The rental outfit I worked for had a 3 axle krupp about the same size . It was the busiest rig there . Who ever is on it better like lots of hours . Once your customer base see's what it can do I predict it will be a money maker .
That new crane has more stickers on it than a old ironworkers hard hat. Does it cause cancer in the state of california too? Or is it just the standard "Don't be stupid because you'll get hurt" in german, french, english, dutch, flemish, and hieroglyphics?
lets hear the dimensions: Boom length, jib, capacity at 20' radius for unloading a truck, and 100' radius for setting a truss, HVAC unit, or steel out there. And did you run it first? Or let the new operator of the machine get the maiden voyage? Just leave the lid open on that back aluminum box and spin around and rip the lid off with the counterweight, get the first accident out of the way. Looks like it would be more roomy for mounting counterweights on the deck than most liebherrs, with that narrow counterweight and the distance between the cab and the upper deck. The 1100 liebherr I was around- the counterweight was right on the cab stacking weights.
C/W 26,500 Boom length: 131.2' Jib: 31.2' or 52.5' Best capacity at 20' is 69,000# Best capacity at 100' R is 5,900# Best capacity at 100' R with 31.2' Jib 0 degree offset is 5,900# Best capacity at 100'R with 31.2' jib at 20 degree offset is 6,500# 40 degree offset is 6,300# Best capacity with 52.5' jib at 0 degree offset is (I'm missing that page) 20 degree offset is 5,600# 40 degree offset is 5,300# Greatest radius found in the charts is 155' Actually the crane hasn't left the yard yet. We've all run it a bit. I bought this crane to mimic our 60T Grove. Newer crane. Second crane of similar size etc. Info on the 60T below for comparison C/W 16,500 Boom length: 110 Jib 33' or 56' Best capacity at 20' is 68,250 or Best capacity at 100' is 3,600# off the main Best capacity at 100R with 33' jib 0 degrees is 4,350, 25 degrees is 4840, 45 degrees is 4,950 Best capacity at 100R with 56' jib at 0 degrees is 4,320, 25 degrees is 3830 and 45 degrees is 3,260 Greatest radius found in the charts is 145' Another interesting comparison is running a shorter boom n the 1055 to compare against the 60T Grove with full live boom. I'll use the 112.1' boom for the Liebherr. 20'R on the Grove is 24,000# 20'R on the Liebherr is 36,400# 50R on the Grove is 16,000# 50R on the Lierbherr is 18,200# 75'R on the Grove is 7,800# 75'R on the Liebherr is 10,100#. 100'R on the Grove is 3,600# 100' R on the Liebherr is 5,900# An interesting side note on the pin and latch (I'm familiar with this as we run other P&L systems. Take the 112' boom. They show 2 ways to achieve it, starting with section 1 (next to the base section) #1-92%-92%-92%-46% OR #2- 46%-92%-92%-92%. Configuration #1 is the best choice for up to 40' R. At a 40' R they are both rated at 23,000# Configuration #2 is the best choice for anything greater than a 40' R. Personally I think it has to do with keeping the heavier boom sections closer to the C/L of the crane at higher radiuses. As a matter of course we typically set the crane up as close as possible, measure the radius, determine the minimum boom length needed then look for the best chart. If weight is No problem at all, we may go to the next boom length to assure we don't run out of boom clearance. On several occasions I compare different cranes we run with different C/W packages. C/W seems to be the biggest factor in capacity. For instance, our 165T we can run 62,800# with one load. The second load of C/W consists of two 12,800# cheek weights. Our 190T we can only run 60,400# of C/W with one load. The second load consists of two 21,000# cheek weights. Most times our 165 T will out perform the 190 with one load of C/W. But of course the 190 with 2 loads will always out perform the 165 with 2 loads. One thing I'm not sure I like is the winch pull. Only 10,000#. As of now we intend to use the single sheave block at most times. That will allow us a 3 part line, or max pick of 30,000#. The 60T has a 16,000# winch pull, and we also run a single sheave block on it most times. We do have a 3 sheave block for the new Liebherr. Next problem is finding a place to store in on board. Not much room left. I love this ****.
I love how compact that thing is, and combined with it's chart, wow! It'd fit right in my current building just fine.
Nothing to add
So where do the Koehring and P&H operators fit in that bunch?
I bet crane op would put boom truck operators in a class of their own
Oh- I've got one of those P oor & H ungry' s . Beggars can't be choosers. Right now I'm settling for things that run. Actually, if its got a engine and levers, I'm game for taking a run at it, as long as it has a seat. I ain't one for those stand up and operate rigs. It taxes my concentration levels. Kinda like trying to walk and chew gum at the same time. A guy has to know his limitations.
Been working on a box to store our outrigger pads
If that is a one man machine , Whoever is on it will love that .
I am terrible about getting photos but I did manage to get some today. We have three cranes running today, a Sunday. We're changing out head bearings on this elevator for Bunge.
First time we've installed the jib. This unit only has a 10K winch pull. Boom was good for 14,000# if we shortened up a couple sections to 92%. I didn't check to see if we could in fact double part the line off this jib. We'll check that out next time the boom is laid down.
Keep those engines up on the plane. https://www.ky3.com/content/news/Small-plane-lands-on-I-470-in-Kansas-City-suburb-570602321.html
That's a real busy highway to be down that long at the height of rush hour
I always thought a 2 engine plane could fly on 1 engine in an emergency to get back to an airport.
Out of fuel, (?, don't know) doesn't matter much how many engines! Running out of fuel in a perfectly good aircraft if still way up there in accident causes.
Maybe? I would think fuel is one of the 1st things you check before taking off.
If I understand it correctly, most twins are going down if one engine quits, but with a much better glide rate than a single engine. I like the idea of a twin, but doubt I ever fly one. Twins are very hard to fly on one engine also.
I admit it. I’m spoiled
NICE!
I have flown a few twins, and a good pilot will loose some altitude, when you loose an engine, but the airplane can fly on. Probably won't be able to gain any altitude. It is very tiring holding so much pressure on the one rudder pedal. But doable and can land, but you only get one chance.
900# lift on a Saturday. 195’ radius. 181’ of main, 72’ jib offset 21 degrees. 100,000# of C/W First time I run the 190 in a while. Made me nervous as I extended the boom straight up at 78 degrees. I can barely see that far.
A lift we made today. Steel A-frame weighting 20,000#. 135’ tall. 16’ wide base. 12’ wide at the top. Columns are W18x50# beams. 210’ of catwalk Set on top of that. Then a 40,000 BPH high speed enclosed belt on top of that
Nice video, those new drones are amazing.
Tension or compression?
yes both
And this is why I don't like running cranes.
That's kind of a big droop to the dangle. Makes me nervous looking at it
Squirt booms do that, not like Lattice booms where most pressure in straight down those masts. You ought to ride a Lineman 80' Scissor Boom man lift, they use Fiberglass Tubes for the Mast, swing and sway, bow like a Recurve nocked up for a shot!! The 110' "Elevator" models were a blast as went Over Center at Full Up!!! ALL and ANY Slack all revealed itself to the guy in the Basket!! EYE Opening butthole puckering!
That has to be a dam big trout on the end of that fishing line
Err no thanks
Was a mechanic for Union Electric When replaced the rotary bearing and chain on the bigger Altec units it was the guy that assembled it that tested it!! 110’ elevators were NO fun They as conventional cranes had anemometers to gauge wind speeds Over 6mph and it would first warn then lock out all up travels.
That is the method the Army used to fix problems with the parachute packers in WW2. All done packing chutes for the day? I'll pick one you packed and we are going for a jump.
This is a later version of what I am referring to: The tube sections are engineered fiberglass mast for Dielectric integrity, use two hydraulic cylinders on a link affair we called a chain to rotate/extend the upper booms.
I have never been afraid of heights. Climbed all my life, although I'm too old to be good at it any more. But scariest thing I ever done is get in our 120' JLG man lift!
Must be water sloshing out of the bucket , thought the guy might be squirting with a high pucker factor until i saw that no one was in the bucket
Basket has the supplied cover water collector over it That entire assembly can stand straight up Are controls at truck and in basket as to how being operated Line crews would take basic 60 and 80 footers run them over-center to get maximum reach of them sideways. Fiberglass sections are not truly fastener afixed to the steel pieces The use of two part epoxy injected into the space between was typical Would pop and bang as shrank and lost adhesion Would buy 8-10 lincoln grease gun mix epoxy fill a gun where used lube fitting to re-inject and re attach them Usually at around the five year mark. Guns were junk when done.
Highest Ive been is 60 feet to the tail of a 777, using an 80 ft JLG. I once had a 60 ft JLG topped out inspecting a 767 tail and that was no fun. Now we have 125 ft JLG with the extending axles and to that machine 60 ft is nothing.
We had our 165 ton set up on a job a few years ago. 197’ of boom out with the jib on..72’ I think. We were only working 100’ high or so but had a really long reach up and over. At lunch time a buddy and his friend stopped by to meet me for lunch. My buddy calls asking where was I. Look up. Myself and the crew were in a man basket headed down. My buddy was freaked but his friend was intrigued. All he talked about over lunch was how fun it looked. So after lunch had the operator drop the basket to give us both a lift up. We passed the crew at 100’ and kept going up. I was talking to the operator on the radio. The guy was gripping the side rails until his fingers turned white. His arm was touching mine..125’ 150’ 200’ 250’..up until it two blocked at about 275’ high. His arm was shaking bad...I radioed down for the operator to swing us 360 around the lot...The guy said NO...please No, lets go down. Haha ok.
Spoke with the guy that repaired the plant Cooling Tower lights, took an hour and a half to climb the ladder works to the top. Took LOTS of breaks!! I stood atop the Turbine Building as had to do fire extinguisher checks up there in Stairway Ports 140'. and ALL Stairs to get there. Been to the top of the dome i the can(Round or Reactor Building) at the plant, touched the pivot for the inspection basket the crane pushed around, 180' to top inside. and the tallest Elevator truck I over centered in the basket was a 110' unit, impressive when can no longer tell if truck is still running(Noise goes away)!!
At the big crane show in Vegas 6 (?) years ago, they had some man lifts with 300' of up. Pretty sure I have that right, they had a schedule listed as to when they would give rides, I wanted to watch others, no way for me, I'll stick with an airplane to get that high.
I won a raffle for trip to the top of the Mackinac Bridge, deck is 200 feet above water, top of the tower is 552. So you take a 2 man elevator (with 3 of us in it, me my daughter and the bridge guy) up 300 feet and climb vertical ladder about 30 feet with a couple resting landings. I do not like heights but it was on my bucket list I'd seen photos, the top of the tower cross "beam" is 15 feet wide with the 1950's 2 or 3 tube railing. Shouldn't be a problem staying in the middle. Bridge guy goes 1st to open the hatch, I'm second, daughter last. I get to the top of the ladder and figure the hatch will be in the middle. Nope, I'm facing south and the edge of the "beam" is about a foot from the hatch. I climbed up about waist high to the bean and realize I'm 550 feet above the water, 350 feet above the roadway. Did I mention, there is no tie off on the top? My breath is taken away and I'm almost paralyzed. He can't really help me out with the hatch lid right behind me and I'm up against the"rail". I can't reach the mid level tube. I can't lean forward to leverage myself up. I finally get my breathing back LOL, get enough leverage to lean sideways and rotate enough to lay my upper torso on the beam and wiggle my body onto the"beam". My daughter pops right up and out. I stay sitting right in the middle and really enjoy the view. My daughter and the bridge guy are visiting and leaning on the railing. He's one of the bridge workers and we are both civil engineers. He says I really should take you back down but I'm really enjoying talking with you 2 engineers so you tell me when you want to go down. It was supposed to be 20 minutes but we spent about 45. He was telling us about when they took the covering off the cables and did a in depth wire inspection as well as all the different tasks keeping the bridge maintained. 2 years ago my daughter won a silent auction to the top of the International Bridge in Sault St Marie. "Trip" for up to 6. So myself, daughter, SIL SIL's father and my nephew. That one 220 feet up and you end up ver the Locks. They are all concerned about me since I don't like heights.I have to admit I was concerned I might bail. But you are tied off to a railing at all times and it's a gradual (but steep) "walk" up the top of one of the 2 built up trusses. Maybe 18 inches wide. Bridge guy first, SIL father next since heights don't bother him, SIL, daughter, me, nephew and bridge guy. Nephew goes last since he's young and nimble to get around me if I bail out. It really doesn't bother me I'm tied off and I don't look down past the beam. I realize my nephew isn't behind me. Bridge guy says he took 2 steps on the girder and quit. It was really neat up there, had a ship go into the locks below us. Although I do not like heights at all, I am thrilled that i could make both these "trips"
Had a girlfriend many years ago whos father used to help paint the mighty Mac.....would take a week or 2 of his vacation time every summer to go there and dangle in a chair with a paint gun. No thank you very much. Ed
Spooks me just reading about it.
Well i just learned im not the only wimp afraid of heights
Yea I was looking for my fall protection a couple times reading this thread and my office is in basement! Often wonder about the time back in 1968 when working on assembling the tower that holds up the surge pile belt at the quarry and the guys hooking the support cables for the conveyor needed a hammer to drive in some pins. They called down and asked me to hand them a hammer. So I grabbed the hammer and climbed the lattice boom of the Bucyrus Erie crane to the top, believe it had 100 feet of boom on it for that part of the project. Only "fall protection" we had back then was two hands and two feet! Now days if you want to pick the basket of a manlift a foot off the ground to move it two feet they expect you to have the lanyard connected!
Being afraid of heights is a reminder of our arboreal ancestors. Falling out of a tree at great heights or even a low branch into the jaws of a tiger is anti survival. Those not so afflicted are missing an essential survival mechanism
Raildudes dad, Thanks for taking the time to share that. It was a cool read. I'm an arborist so I end up at heights. I'm also our crane operator so a lot of the time I'm in the crane. I climbed to around 85 ft Tuesday into the top of a large pine tree. Has to take the tops on rope. Nothing quite like taking the ride of catching a top. The tree was probably moving 3 feet or more there I was tied in.
I've flown over this thing several times over the years, getting right close and looking down into it, pretty freaky. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaconda_Smelter_Stack I flew by a tower monkey the other day who was up in a cell tower, that's also a little disorienting for some reason for me.
A lift from back in the summer. Your’s truly running the 65T
This was a test lift for a motorized cantalever. The way it was explained to me..used on high rise buildings mainly on glass curtain walls. I forget the load on our hook but well over 100,000 the best I remembet
I am smoother with a crane than I am landing at night
Do you do a lot of square downspout? I never installed any, but had seen it at large elevators.
Most all commercial locations use square. Everything seems to be switching from urethane liners to tile.
Birds don't fly at night, I don't either! Since I switched over to the Light Sport Category a few years ago, I can't anyway, not allowed, fine with me!
You must not live close to where the Canadian Geese have a flyway. Here in the midwest they are flying all hours of the night. The familiar honking as they are flying along, covering many miles a day if the weather has changed fast.
Impact, need to change the seat cushion in that machine!!
Looks like it has seen lots of puckering
I have bounced worse than that in the daylight. Have not flown in 35 years or so now. I miss it.
Guys at the airport grade everybody's landings. So there's never any pressure
I have nothing to add to this thread today. Carry on
Scheduled to lift two HVAC units here in an hour or so. Job is 3 miles away. I just went by to scope it out beforehand. It's the local High School. the set up area is roped off and ready for me. Taking the Grove 60T. The 50' radius went to 250'. My 190 won't do that. I did happen to find a place to set up that the radius should be 75-100'. It's not over 4-5' out of level. This should be fun.
We're changing out two elevators at a ethanol plant this week. huge elevators. 25,000 BPH 200' Discharge height. We're running our 190 and the 165. One crew on each of the legs. We started last Thursday with demo. Demo was done by Saturday afternoon. Started stacking the new ones Sunday morning. Set the head sections Monday afternoon. Today, Tuesday, setting the top drums, drives and motors. Planned to pull the belts in tomorrow but weather will be a factor. We should be operational by this weekend. The 60 ton is just now repaired and operational. Setting HVAC units with it directly. The 65 T is headed to a job. Got another 65 ordered. Expect it to be delivered May/June. 100T has a windshield busted out. Don't ask. Boom truck is broke. That will be 7 cranes. We have only 4 operators.
The jib on the left looks like a luffer coming out of the structure on the platform, LOL!
If the elevator your referring to is a elevator belt I've change a few from the ground very carefully. I still hate them.
Brand new 2022 Liebherr LTM-1055. Just like the other one. It's coming across the great waters as I type this. Expect the ship to dock in Savannah port 7-17.
Impact should make a new thread called, “Dumb things Impact did at work”.
My grandson 10, posted the previous message. He was poking around reading over my shoulder so I just gave him the phone saying, you probably won’t understand all that’s said but you can get the drift of the conversation….plus, he enjoys the pics! I do also. Now we have more questions about cranes. Particularly, Impact’s 100T crane. Is it considered a twenty part line when using a ten shive pulley? What’s the total length of the main cable wound on the winch? What determines the size of the crane? Are the winches hydraulic or gear driven? How often is it necessary to restring fresh wire rope? We assume both winches are not the same strength. Thanks for the informative reading. Happy 4th to all!
Good for you. I hope its as good of a machine as your other 65 is. How are you progressing on the storm damaged facilities?
I had a really sweet night landing in Rapid City. We were returning from a cross country flight from Washington state to Washington DC and back, and I had my mom and aunt along. It was a warm summer night with a hot runway well after dark, and I got that little bubble float just as I was touching down. It barely kissed and I was airborne again. My auntie said " nice landing!" and I said, "let's see how this next one is" as I started feeling for the pavement again
Now we have more questions about cranes. Particularly, Impact’s 100T crane. Is it considered a twenty part line when using a ten shive pulley? Yes What’s the total length of the main cable wound on the winch? Differs between cranes but I'd start with 750' or so What determines the size of the crane? Maximum that it could lift in the most optimum conditions. 4' -5' radius or so. Problem is, in the real world you can never find that heavy of a lift at that tight a radius. I've always said if you lift half of the crane's rated capacity, you've got a HUGE load. Are the winches hydraulic or gear driven? hydraulic How often is it necessary to restring fresh wire rope? Lasts a long time unless the operator does stupid things. We assume both winches are not the same strength. Yes and no. Thanks for the informative reading. Happy 4th to all!
I had two projects this year due to the tornado. One is a grain company with a total of 5 million of storage. They have emptied the product from the tanks. We did just enough work to get unloading equipment operating. No rebuilding this season. They are still dickering with insurance. The second project is a farm operation. We've got all the tanks repaired and new equipment ordered. Equipment was ordered in January. Looking like it'll be mid September before we receive it. Their excuses: Covid Broken Supply Chain Getting and keeping employees Oh and they got hacked. Evidently that's a thing this year. Attacking American Agriculture.
I traded airplanes and took possession of her yesterday. Haven't flown in 3 weeks. Bought the same plane I had just newer with fewer hours. Everything felt totally different. I made the god awfulest landing since the beginning of my training. It was embarrassing.
Ha! The type of flying I do, off airport and/or from my own strip, it's very rare for someone to eyeball my landings, no one around. I do have a neighbor a 1/2 mile down the mountain, who was a Nam era Lurp (LRRP) with lots of Huey inserts in rough country, who will occasionally text me after a unusually snappy approach and landing, maybe in a strong X wind like last week, I appreciate his comments. Big paved airports are actually harder for me to land, too big.....kinda messes with my depth perception or something, short and narrow is easier to eyeball, keeps me focused. Back to Impact's new crane.....
I just found this thread and my hat is off to you impact. Love your name by the way lol. There is nothing worse than a brand new socket when putting up bins. Used to work for a local GSI distributor years ago. My ears are still ringing from running 3 impacts inside a beer can. Biggest bin we put up though was 60' diameter and don't remember how many rings. What part of KY are you in. You may have done some lifts for us over the years
I'm 65 Y/O and deaf now from "Impacts" running inside of beer cans. GSI is the brand I typically sell. We're in far SW Ky. West and South of Paducah a bit. Small town of Clinton. We've done bins up to 156' in diameter. Anymore we sub contract almost everything out as far as erection. I was raised punching bolts. But, as hard as labor is to get we find it better sub contracting that part out.
Hmmm! Clinton. What a small world. The company I worked for services the IGA there. Watched the progress on a good size bin go up there couple years back (maybe a little longer), right against the road. Your work is impressive.
I know right where you are. I used to do a lot of work for a fairbanks contractor and have done a few scales down there. I remember one in Hickman that the scale set on top of a truck hoist. For the radius it took 100ton rig to pull the old scale and frame and set the new one in place and it had no problems with that part but maxed out trying to pull the cylinder for the hoist. Op hit the override and kept going for a bit but still wouldn't come out of the hole. He still had tension on it and we were talking trying to see what to do next when it popped lose. Scared the **** out of all of us lol
i remember that story
Were you the one who wound up taking that cylinder? I remember i was told not to cut it up because it was sold to someone but I don't remember who. Was always curious if it ever got used or just cut up later.
I don’t remember that part. I just remember one of my operators talking about the cylinder and how much force was on it
I was the guy in the hole with the torch. I remember the gal in charge of safety at that Cargill was a Pita. They required an engineered lift for anything over 10% of crane capacity. We pulled the cylinder while she was out to lunch lol. Of all the Cargills I was in that was the worst. She made it miserable. We did a lot of scales on mine sites and dealt with msha and she made them look like preschool teachers.
Another new 1055 Liebherr
The first 1055 is a couple years old. Everyone seems to love it. It stays so busy I can never use it on my work. I’ll probably sell the Grove TMS700 as it’s starting to show her age. Who knows, I may just keep it too
that's a sweet little package!
Nice compact units but EXPENSIVE!!! Don't know that could sell a machine just as getting tired, as is always a need for a spare of some type.
We had a crane job lifting trusses Thursday. All our other operators were busy so it was up to me. Thought I’d break in the new crane. Was backing it down the drive and it alarmed. All 5 steering modes were flashing green. It went into a limp mode only driving 20 mph. Shut it down to let it reboot. Finally gave up and took the old 60 ton Grove. Luckily a Liebherr tech was coming by for final paper work, so I called him. When he got there all the alarms were gone. History said it was a steering sector.
At least this way you didn't put the first scratch on it.
May 15th I went into the office after being gone on vaca..err a business trip. They handed me a stack of bills, papers etc that needed my attention. I gave the stack to my partner to handle and told him I quit. I retired. It was 2 days before my 66th birthday. So far I’ve done some maintence crap around the house. Rest of the time I spend bugging my better half. She may force me back to work before it’s over
Congratulations. I wish you the best in retirement.
Right on. Enjoy you're retirement
Sometimes it feels great to fire the company instead of putting up with their BS.
Well played sir. Congratulations on your retirement!
My own wife is now regretting her pressure to get me working!! Not much getting done except on weekends where her time is now coordinated with mine to get House and Life stuff done. Have DR Visits coming up, will be easy enough to use as excuse to CEASE Working, again. Will continue on possibly thru summer, then calling it.
I have a two story house. The stairway is circular which makes it tough to carry luggage up. So I bought a harbor freight electric winch with a 400# capacity. That is the only crane I’ve operated since retiring. I let my certificate lapse. I hope they don’t fine me.
Congrats on your retirement! It is the best choice I ever made, No more dealing with people who don't want to work, just pick up a paycheck or managers who know "better".
At 75, it seems I get asked about my retirement fairly often, especially as almost everyone else I know my age, friends etc., ARE retired. I just tell them I'll retire when I can't find the keys for the Mack. Being parked in my secure locked building right next to the Sheriff Dept., I never take the keys out of the ignition.....
I used to get asked when I was going to retire. My response was usually "When someone pi$$es me off enough". Then one day it happened.
New company bought the bus company and the mechanic boss came thru the shop . explaining how they did bis . i told him "if you make my job harder to do , I'm out" . that came a month later . Never looked back .