In August of 2009 I photographed the demolition of a pair of cold storage warehouses in Lowell, MA for Testa Corp. They were originally going to be demolished with a wrecking ball swung from their 1971 HC238 Link Belt Truck Crane. When concern arose regarding the proximity of one of the buildings to neighbors on the right and powerlines to the rear they decided to bring their 2008 Komatsu 1250 PC with a Jewell High Reach and LaBounty Shear in as well. Although separate buildings, constructed two different ways, they shared the same footprint on the site. As machines and attachments arrived it became apparent that there would be a showdown of old school versus modern technology, The Wrecking Ball vs The High Reach. YouTube - Wrecking Ball vs. High Reach
Very cool thanks for sharing. There have been many times I have either swung or dropped wrecking balls with my excavator, very effective!
I have 2 votes for the Link Belt and 1 vote for the High Reach..... what do you guys think?
I'd say the ball looks more effective but for finesse work the high reach would probably be your best bet.
High reach was quite a bit a cleaner, I imagine quite a bit cheaper as well. (I thought crane operators got the good wages)
My vote is for the high reach, slightly biased but.... the arguments for a high reach far outweigh that of the wrecking ball. Good video btw Stephen, I like all your work.
Around here, demolition scale for an excavator operator is the same as a crane operator running less than 400 feet of boom.
Cool vid
I like the way the comparison was made. Goes to show both ways are able to get the job done. To ask which is better is a matter of perspective. Operators perspective: Komatsu is much more comfortable and less effort to run. Has to operate with a great deal of care to not damage the machine. Link belt is a workout to do this work with, but is pretty forgiving with minor mistakes. Company owners perspective: Link Belt, paid for many times over, could be replaced inexpensively, but why, it was built to last. Komatsu, probably a $2 million investment, and it would be a surprise to see it in use productively 39 years from now.
Never though of it like that excellent point. Dang now I really need to learn to run a crane. Should of done it when I had the chance.
On the late news last week or week before they showed a brick building in Lowell they said was being demoed. - a worker was hurt by bricks blowing off one of the walls. Rescue people formed a human shield until they got him to safety I am not a demo guy , but it struck me as odd the way they were doing it Three brick walls probably 5 stories high, no roof, no floors, one end wall completely gone- also did not appear to have bracing of any kind Just surprised they left the walls standing at that height with poor mortar - on building that was coming down
That's because it was a construction site, not a demolition site in Lowell. Totally unrelated to this job. Its an old mill building that was gutted by fire decades ago that is being rebuilt as affordable housing units. See attached story. Lowell Sun.com
The komatsu might well be a $2 million dollar investment, but its well worth it to the company. Think of the multiple jobs this machine can do compared to the crane- grab, dig, hammer, etc, etc. The crane is pretty much a one trick pony, the komatsu is expensive but earns much more than that crane. And high-reach resale is good.
Andy Don't get me wrong, I was not knocking the Komatsu, and it is a very versatile machine, but I was merely pointing out the long life of the simple method of the drop ball on a crane, versus the high cost of the new iron. I do stand on the doubt that the Komatsu will still be in service in 39 years, unless it were to spend a great many of those years mothballed. Is it still worth the high cost? It is as long as there is a need for the type of work it does.
pretty cool,great video,if ya had a crusher on site you could make yer own 21aa and make even more$$
Testa's Terex Crusher came in later in the process. Nothing is wasted. Everything is recycled and/or redistributed. First the building was brought to the ground. While that happened rebar was systematically removed from columns and supports with a LaBounty muncher on a 345. Then concrete was crushed while the sub-basements were dug and hammered out.
Pretty cool vid. I'll be the first to admit I know nothing of demo except the kind that comes out of the barrel of a tank cannon and what I learned in a demo (the kind that goes BOOM) course. I can see where both the crane and high reach have thier places. I just got an old JCB TLB yesterday. My first piece of construction equipment. So I'd say I'm about to learn things. Rick
A high reach is generally 50 - 100 ton machine. Not a great lot of general use on sites here in England for the larger machnes. 20 tonners are the norm, so I think a high reach would not be that versatile
Where can be found new wrecking balls today? Do you know any place?
Thx
http://www.ginnowequipment.com/ that's one I found googling, I'm sure there are others
Thats the only one i´ve found googling. Could anyone give another supplier? What material are they made with? Regards
From what I have been told you never know on the old ones. They are like finger prints no 2 are a like. We had to do some work on one of ours and while cutting a hole into it. The metal was very odd like nothing anyone at the shop had see.
nice :notworthy
I remember when they were doing that job, the company I was working for was out of Methuen and I would drive by on my way out of the yard.
That would make your neck sore after looking up all day but great video.
One of my favorite videos from Stephen. Gret work!
I saw TESTA's linkbelt crane at the Boston Herald job right before they went under. Nice old crane.
I'd love to get behind the controls of that high reach! We had several excavators with shears where I used to work and lived running them.