I used my Grove RT-60S for the first time today, to lower down some elevated walkway weldment about 20x10 feet. It was the first time I used any crane. That was a part of a scrap project with very little responsibility, a good way to start. Lots of stress, poor lift planning, and figuring out on the go, but it all ended well. One thing that surprised me is that the "house" was not locked or braked, and swinging load or lack of leveling would cause the house to swing. I thought that it was supposed to be locked down when not moving?
I think my RT-59S is basically the same as your machine but de-rated to 15 tons. You should have both a hydraulic and a mechanical swing brake. There should be a lock for the house when centered over the front. Gerry
I realized that I have a leftmost pedal, that is not shown in the manual, perhaps that is the swing brake, it would make sense if that is what it was.
I can't speak specifically to the Grove RT60S as I've never been in one, but as a former crane operator and one that has been in the seat of many different cranes, it depends on the way it's set up. Some cranes, mainly small cherry pickers, have automatic applied/released swing brake. Others, and more common in larger ton cranes, are designed to "free swing". This method is far more desirable doing high cycles work, such as swinging a concrete bucket, than using a boom that has an automatic swing brake, it gives the operator more of a "hands on" control of the swing of the boom/load by allowing the boom/load to drift to slow down then apply braking action by reversing with the swing lever. Yes, it requires the machine to be level, but in all honesty, a crane should be set up level under any circumstances anyway. If a crane is not set up level the load chart goes out the window. Your Grove may in fact have a pedal to apply swing brake, and it may have a toggle/rocker switch on the dash as well.
OK, that also makes sense. I know that there is a pedal that is not in the manual and some switches that are also not in the manual. I have to look at what they do. I also think that I was not perfectly level also, though I tried to be level.
Sometimes that's a trick in itself depending on the terrain, and cribbing outrigger pads properly is an art that is a required craft when setting up and operating a crane. All it takes is just one of those outriggers or the cribbing under the pads to let go and that crane will flip quicker than one can bend over and kiss ones arse good by. In my operating days, I was very picky to be overkill with my outrigger cribbing and I never lost a load or a rig by doing such. There's one thing that a crane operator must always consider, when you get that boom in the air, the protection of all persons and property underneath that boom is in your hands. Set up the rig with meticulous care, and operate it with the same.
Well said Willie. I had a boss once that always said, "if your back is not aching when you are done cribbing outriggers you did not crib big enough". He was a smart man. We always used a 4 ft level on the crane frame in both directions in addition to using the bubble and the in cab dodads when making a critical pick. Solid and level is everything.
Wind is a factor as well. If the crane takes off swinging by itself check the wind before getting to excited about level.
It was between two buildings, not too much wind.
Guys, what do you use for outrigger cribbing? I used what hardwood timbers I had (12x4) under the outrigger loaded the most, and softwood under the other ones. I was on concrete. I see a lot of plastic outrigger pads for sale, but wood seems to be more practical.
We use 3 ft square plywood mats. 5 sheets of 5/8 plywood glued and screwed together. 4x4's work just fine as well. It's just easier and quicker to throw a mat down then a bunch of 4x4s.
OK, good idea. I have a pallet of hardwood plywood 3/4 inch. I can cut it up and glue with liquid nails. Should I also use a wood sealer or something to seal it? Hydraulic oil?
It really depends on what you are setting on. Often on not so stable soil we will have a 6 to 8 ft wide bottom mat made from hardwood 4 X 4s and then lay a second layer sideways as wide as the crane pad is. We then set the pad on that. On good hardpan or concrete you can get by with less often just the 3 ft pads.
Linseed oil. And since you're new to crane ops, and I'm not sure of what part of the US you're located, be wary of asphalt in the summer time, parking lots for example. Just because you're setting up on blacktop pavement, don't lax on placing cribbing under the pads. Many times pavement of parking lots is not near as thick as highway base and the sun makes the pavement flexible, without proper load distribution (cribbing) you can make a nice pothole in pavement from the outrigger pad. Two things can happen there, 1) flip the crane, or 2) not flip the crane but have to pay for pavement repair.
"hardwood plywood" makes me suspicious, like it might be interior plywood rather than structural grade. I'd guess BC or better Fir plywood is best. Or possibly baltic birch, but birch rots so fast, unless you're an expert at wood treatments, or the pads will be kept out of the rain, then I'd go with the fir. I'd avoid green treated plywood because of corrosion and most is low quality, but you can get structural "wood foundation" grade treated plywood. Or marine grade. What do the crane guys say about plywood? For 4x4's, white oak or similar hardwoods is vastly better than softwood.
Marine plywood is best, but man it is not cheap.
OK, so I was thinking, to glue plywood to make 24x30" pads, 5" thick. Does this make sense?
Just to clarify, I didn't offer advice considering the flammable properties of Linseed Oil because we were talking about crane mats, which by nature would have little exposure to combustible situations (aside from someone cutting a piece of iron nearby with a torch). I was only attempting to say Linseed Oil, boiled or not, is a good wood preservative, repels water very well, which crane mats are exposed to. The big difference, as Delmer stated, Boiled Linseed Oil dries/cures much quicker than Raw Linseed Oil, but both are a very good treatment to wood that is constantly exposed to the elements.
Ya linseed oil is great and your crane mat isn't going to go up in flames no matter what you use. I'd use exteriour grade fur plywood epoxy them together with a layer of fiberglass mat in between and epoxy the edges and paint them.....but then I own a boat yard and buy epoxy by the gallons and could even vacuum bag the whole lay-up.
I like 3/4" concrete form plywood 2 layers of form ply - 1 layer of 1 3/4" LVL and another two layers of form ply all glued and screwed
I like wood cribbing the best . My mainstay cribbing that stays with the crane is hardwood 48" long x 14" wide & 4" thick . Use it most of the time . On black top I might slip a 4' x 4' sheet under first to keep the cribbing from creasing the surface . Then jump to 6" x 6" x 3' and 7" x 9" rail road ties when needed . Some kind of oil will help keep wood cribbing in good condition but the best is keep it under roof when not in use .
OK, thanks. Right now I am using 8x8's and some 4x12's.. They are old and look and feel like hardwood. I am too chicken to do anything near embankments.
Being a bit chicken is not a bad thing until you get some more experience with it. You will get there soon enough.
I'm the same way . Only thing that gives me the confidence is the prep work before a lift and a trailer load of wood .:thumbsup It's about like anything else , 95 % is prep work that most people are never aware of and don't see . Spend a day prepping a job so crane can set up easy . Crane works for about one hour then break everything down , pick up the wood & reclaim as needed .
Oh memories of my crane days. Set up on a site like that waterfront site, cribbing out the wazoo to level the rig, got plenty of help from the job site hands lugging all that timber. Then, once the lift is done, pull in the outriggers and rack the boom, look around, nobody, they all fell off the face of the earth, and I was left to myself to load all that lumber. Oh well, I was young back then, right.
I craned a bunch of stuff today (another 6000 gallon tank, some mezzanine/walkwway) and it was like you said, a lot more time spent climbing up and down, and setting up cribbing, than craning itself. I used a 8x8 timber for cribbing, on concrete and asphalt.
OK. I craned the total of four tanks (sizes vary 25x8 to 12x20). Did everything such as rigging, craning, pick-and-carry, and dragging. This was a lot of experiences, except, importantly, lifting anything higher than 10 feet. This was like Crane University 101. I want to say BIG THANK YOU to you guys for your advise and support.
That's cool ichudov ! Glad it all went well .
Aint that the truth willie . We use cribbing all the time on projects . It may be one of the most important tools I have . Sure comes in handy at times . http://www.heavytruckforums.com/showthread.php?263-Some-Holmes-750-action&p=1606&viewfull=1#post1606 Also works good for shoring up pipe when welding . HeavyEquipmentForums Possibilities are endless with it .
I hear you on that one Willie. We rented a lot of cranes for day work. When I had trucks waiting to get unloaded, with a crew standing around waiting, we always helped set up. If my crane quote was by the hour port to port then we helped tear down to get it out of there. If the quote was a hard money quote, we abondoned the crane and were on to work being productive to the job once the crane work was done. The poor operator was on his own to fold up, pick up, and get home. Just business I guess. It's all in how it was quoted.
Yeah, I get that, every job has its wrinkle, and it's just another wrinkle on the incorrect impression that many hands on a job have of a crane operator, which is, they think you got it made just sitting in that comfy seat pulling levers while they do the labor. Yes, the seat time is the easy part for the most part, but there are lifts that draw your arse cheeks up so tight you couldn't drive a nail between them with a sledge hammer. And they also don't consider you have to determine where to place the rig for the lift, set it up, level it, all manner of mathematics, geometry, and physics. There's actually a helluva lot of head smarts to set up a crane and make a lift that doesn't end in damage to persons or property.
Well said Willie. Many the time we spent days figuring out how to do a major lift, at what point in the project, with what crane, long before we ever got the crane to the site. More recently I had three 96,000 to 104,000 lbs truss beams 157 ft long for a basement auditorium roof that had another 5 storys of hospital going up over them. Building columns sat on these trusses. They wanted no columns in the seating area. Ended up needing a 750 ton Grove at 95% capacity for the worst case. Pads were 2 layers of 16 ft 8 x8 s with the 8 ft sq. aluminum pads on top of that all setting on a compacted and tested prepared pad. We were required to have our corporate structural engineer review any critical lift procedure before we could do it. Never had one of mine turned down but always good to have his expertise double check our plan. I have always admired a good crane operator. They can make your day, and they can save your a** if you just listen. The last few years we started drawing all our critical lifts on 3D auto-cad. It sure made Life easier when the numbers were so acurate compared to the old measuring up and over.
old-iron-habit, this is incredible, and amazing, what model crane did you use for that monster?
Its been a few years but I believe it was a Model 7750. We had to use the superlift attachment. The lifts were at the new Mayo Hospital we were building in Eau Claire, WI. Dawes was suppling the crane, but that was when they tipped there crane over ina parking lot as I mentioned earlier so they had to hire another crane company to come in to serve us. A month delay would have been quite costly on a $100 million dollar project waiting for repairs to the Dawes crane.