Ive been racking up some time in our trainer tower crane, and have enjoyed to hear some horror stories, funny stories etc etc. Id like to hear some stories from some tower crane operators out there and get some pictures on here. Open for any discussion on tower cranes! :drinkup
tower This is a great part of the job....
This might not be the kind of story you were looking for, but a few years ago there was a tower crane operator in San Antonio that used to give traffic reports via CB radio. From his vantage point he could see every freeway near the downtown area. Saved me quite a bit of lost time to traffic accidents and such.
Was going to post a pic of a tower being set up at our local hospital but could not get it to copy over. Lieberr that looked to be 150' tall. I have seen them up and watched in operation. Was my first chance to see one come off the slab, stack up the frame, hoist up the control cabin and the steeple on top.Then the short arm, then the long arm. Really an exercise in balance management. Plus the op on the lifting crane was a real pro. Just got hooked on to what they wanted next, hoisted it smoothly up to hand reach distance, then let it gently settle in the slots to pin, drop back down for the next. Crew was Diamondback Rigging and Hoist, showing phone # in LA, TX, and FL. Mobile setup crane was from Burkhalter. Very professional workers they were. (I'm a forklift man so heights up to 25 feet are duck soup- Anything in your line, I will send the ducks up.) LOL LOL
BigIron25 how did you like it up there?
Stacking hatch covers on barges in 25mph+ winds running a peccos that some of the operators would swing wide open and then jam it in the opposite direction to see how far the structure would twist. That rig was like fishing for sharks with a zebco 33. No pics,wish I had taken pics of some of those rigs back then.
I love it! Its simple to run, it has a great view, its quiet, and your all alone!
i got to run one for a week it was 220ft. up with 180ft. jib . it was pretty new and worked good, flexed like H*&l. The week I was in it the wind blew up to fifty MPH the first alarm came on at 31 MPH the second alarm came on at 49 MPH needless to say I was sure glad when the regular oper. showed up and I got the heck off of there quick !!!! Darn thing moved 6-8 ft. in every direction sitting still.
My favorite t/c project was a 2 year seat at 600 feet at NASA's V.A.B. to remove and replace 8 acres of original roof that was from the mid '60's. I will be glad to post pics and vid's but haven't fingered it out yet, and I've posted many pics and vid's on many other forums prior to joining this one. The set up to do so is just a bit different. Maybe a link to my photobucket will do instead. http://s1029.photobucket.com/albums/y355/gostr8r/My Crane Rental Corp projects/
Diamond Back Hoist and Rigging? The owner of that company has been a close personal friend of mine since '83. It's Richard Graham and he's a tower crane wizard. Did a few things with him and have the UTMOST respect for him too. We took our T/C Examiner's course together, and he showed all of us how smooth it could be done when he took his turn running the Potain Fast Tower that we had.
Tower crane with the rainbow: Love it http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg76/bluenight_lhh/Potain%20Alimak/th_DSC04769.jpg
My monkey act. I don't do this anymore so let's get that straight right now. But back in the day when I was fearless and foolish I would go out there on the tip and grease and inspect but also just to chill out and get the coolest pictures from some very unique angles and perspectives. No body harness, belt or lanyards, nor brains or better judgement either looking back at it now, but as you can see I would hang under the tip and get the view that no one else ever sees. They're in a series of shots on this photobucket link. Again tho, there's no more doing this at all now ! I did like the pics tho!!!!!!!!!! http://s1029.photobucket.com/albums...ration/?action=view¤t=Scan111410173.jpg
What you doing trying to train up and take my work? If you squint real hard you can see the arch in the last one!
Haha, no worries Keller, I dont have enough skill to take the seat from any tower crane operator right now. Maybe in a few years I could make a day on one hahaha. Awesome pictures, where is this at exactly? I almost asked if you were at the SLAM project but thats Parics job and I saw these are McCarthys cranes... looks like somewhere south of saint louis?
ghost, i looked through your pictures. YOU ARE FRIGGING INSANE!!!
The one looking g at the arch is dead west of STL at St Johns hospitial at hwy 270&40. The others are actually in IL.
Gostr8r, you got some balls of steel. haha Some of those pics on the tower/crawlers, did you climb the lacing and rope work all the way to the top? I didnt see the headache ball anywhere near you in a few pics. And I noticed you sliding down some ropework in a few pictures. looks like fun! awesome pics thanks for sharing
Oh I gotcha! Did Budrovich take those tower cranes down on that st johns project?
Yep. they pretty much do all Mccarthys towers.
Yeah when I was with Budrovich we did a lot of tower cranes for everyone, seems pretty shakey for those Iron Workers hanging out there in space haha. Do you have to be on the crane during assembly/dissassembly? Or do you just climb it when its all erected? What about jacking procedures, does the operator oversee that operation? What kind of maintenance regimin do you follow? as far as the slewing ring and checking structure bolts on the vertical sections of the tower? Ive heard some stories about bolts gradually getting looser or just falling out all together... especially on those kangaroo? cranes at Holcim, something about the bolts were supposed to be put in, in a manner where if they sheared they were supposed to fall out onto the deck, so they could be more easily spotted during inspection... sounds like a major safety hazard if the bolt were to fall off the tower etc etc. Maybe you can dispell some of these as fact or myth?
hey gostr8r, i'm probably sure you got some safety officers fired out...
gostr8r, my heart stopped when I looked through your pictures!!! SO crazy awesome.
I resemble that remark! I like to think I have outgrown the antics in the air now tho!
Ghost, have you ever had any close calls? Or moments when you were scared out of your mind? What did it feel like being on top of those cranes?
Yes I had my son up there with me about 27 years ago and was taking big loaded boxes [on wheels] of material out of the side of a building. We had outrigger platforms for this, but it was my first day and I didn't know the idiot on the radio wasn't using them. I also didn't know the layout of the structure we were building either. He had my load lines up against the building in the blind side over the edge. He kept telling me to 'Get up on it, come on getting up, getting up!' I knew it was a fully loaded box that would be heavy so I kept hoisting. The jib dipped down pretty far and I stopped and asked what the problem was. He said' You got it op' trolley out and take it to the ground' I trolleyed out a few feet and just then he and he's partners in stupidity pushed the load off the side of the slab. They had caught my load block under the floor above the one they were working on, right as the rigging got really snug, and when the load didn't go up after a while they just pushed it out of the building. I thought my kid was going to fly out the front window in mid air because we shook so far back then forward again. And again and again before it settled down, and he then admitted his mistake like it was nothing. That was just one of the many things on that job that could have cost lives. I will include a link to a pic of another stupid mistake by these morons. It isn't obvious at first but it a deadly error! http://s1029.photobucket.com/albums...ration/?action=view¤t=Scan111410137.jpg This went out 250' over a loaded deck of workers! I took the photo and it wasn't on my hook.
Here's a link to some vids and pics on my current job. This has been a GOOD one too! Love the guys and our customer and the rig is sweet! http://s1029.photobucket.com/albums...ideo-2012-03-30-09-09-27-iPhoneBlastdoor3.mp4
Good grief Gostr8r... If it isn't my eyes playing tricks on me, I am sure glad that wasn't on my hook... Don't riggers ever test lift and then check their loads? I know silly question but WOW... Sure happy it didn't go bad!
This meat ball for brains rigger/signal man didn't do anything by the book and barely could speak at all. I should have quit that job and moved on to something else.
Can Anyone Tell Me What Make These TC's are? They were being used for the new JW Marriot Hotel here in Indianapolis a few years ago. Matt "W"
They look just like Terex SK-415's [Pecco's or Peiners to some]. The only difference I see in those and the ones we own is that our's have white mast sections not blue and ours also each all have the small Davit assist crane on the back near the hoist drums too.
Some of those look like the hospital project in Mt. Vernon, IL.
Good eye. I was on the short one for the first 4 months.
breathtaking views! it's going to be quiet up there, just you & the comms chattering on the speaker. are they allowed to use spectacles if their sight is not perfect? used to wonder how it get high up there, till i watched this video. maybe someone will find it helpful having their questions answered in this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RB91Sm-kGJ8 cheers!
you have my respect and admiration, no way on this planet could you get me up there or down a mine, Thanks for some amazing pictures
this maybe dumb question but what powers a tower crane? diesel or electric and how do they get the fuel or power up there if there always jumping sections?
Most of the ones in these shots are electric. They have electric hoist, swing and trolley motors running from a large thick power cable that comes up from the ground. It can be supplied by a large enough diesel generator which is usually setting at ground level, or by city power if you have access to it. The chord must be long enough to reach the final working height.
ghost I LOVE the pictures!!! I would have loved to have been born a few years earlier (am only 24) as I would love to have been able to have done that crazy stuff! :naughty However I would now never be allowed to look at a crane again if I even thought about trying that.:nono Thats ok though, keeps me out of trouble with my sweety! Thanks for the pictures! And thanks for this awesome site everyone I cant wait to do some more exploring!!! And good luck with the training BigIron25!
You’re welcome CABLE_UP! and welcome to the forum too.
i also really like tower cranes it's very easy to use and quite comfortable....
im not sure if ive overlooked where it might be posted, but i would really love to become a crane opperator. Does anyone have any suggestions as to a school that i might try to attend to learn and get some form of certificate. i know that getting any kind of technical job out there without one is a major pain in the ass (ive tried to get hired on with a few different firms, and they all gave me more or less the same answers. Go to school and get a certificate and then MAYBE i could get hired on as a peon). If anyone has any suggestions or information i would love to hear it. I live in New Mexico, but I honestly hate this state, and would love to move. The kind of cranes i would really like to get into using are those in ports, but i know i have to work my way up from somewhere.