Crane flips, operator bails out

[dusty3030]

*Cheesy Russian Accent on* In Soviet Russia, crane computer for sissys... *Accent off*

As he says with the same lit cigarette in his mouth that was there when he jumped. His only regret would be if he left a bottle of vodka in the cab.

 

[Rock knocker]

If the Operator was strapped in, he may have been killed. Give me the freedom, and mobility to jump .... Government, stay outta my life!!!

I am unaware of any move to ad seat belts to cranes except for driving

 

[sparc]

I didn't see any issue with solid ground (or the lack of it). It appeared to me the back end of the crane (where truck cab is located) started lifting without the front (closest to the video-taker) not moving much if at all. Looks like not enough ballast or perhaps the front stabilizers weren't out enough - or both.

Another question: who is usually at fault in situations like this? The operator or is therUSA.n engineer that signs off on each lift or what?

The operator is the one who has the last word on making a pick or not, at least here in the usa.

That Crane looked undersized for the load at that radius. They were working off the back of the rig which is the lowest rating for a truck crane most times.

 

[sparc]

A crane comes with the counter weight it comes with. You can't add counterweight to lift more, except with the manufacturers permission or options. The blocking seem fine. A pretty simple case of booming down with too much of a load

Not sure about small truck cranes like this but there are many cranes that have provision to add additional counterweights.

 

[sparc]

We call them operating engineers. You as the operator are responsible for the lift. They can give you fake weights and distances and you are the one held responsible. You also have the right to shut the job down if you do not want to make the lift. He was booming down to get the dozer away from the wall and the distance from the center pin became to great and over she went. With the hyd. crane you can not let it free fall like you could on the old riggs that had a clutch. As noted he should have picked it up and done a test lift at the distance needed on the top side keeping the load barely off the ground- then if the crane raises up it only drops the dozer alittle. I have seen picks where the dozer was chained onto the front of the crane to give it more counter weight. All new cranes have computers that will shut the controls off when you get in a off the chart area. It is when you overide these safety devices that you as the operator go to jail for killing someone. It is a great job and pays well- for a reason.

Exactly.

 

[Rock knocker]

Not sure about small truck cranes like this but there are many cranes that have provision to add additional counterweights.

At which point you would be adding counterweight with the manufacturers permission, since it was factory supplied lumps

 

[Rock knocker]

They were working off the back of the rig which is the lowest rating for a truck crane most times.

:smiley_aafz::thumbdown:Actually completely and utterly wrong :laughing:. Working off the rear of a truck crane is your strongest configuration because you have the cab and engine up front acting as additional counterweight. On RT's, you are most stable over the front because they have the engine in the rear. Lifting over the back is safest on TC's, boom trucks and AT's.:mur:

 

[MH8675309]

I Bruno will jump one thousand feet into block of cement! On my head yet! Also said with Russian accent.

 

[Shield Arc]

I was the rig foreman who got to work with the diver to pick this 18-ton hydraulic crane out of 120-feet of water. It was setting on the bridge deck where the two guys are standing.

 

[Scooby074]

I Bruno will jump one thousand feet into block of cement! On my head yet! Also said with Russian accent.

:thumbsup: Gotta love Bugs !

 

[Rock knocker]

I was the rig foreman who got to work with the diver to pick this 18-ton hydraulic crane out of 120-feet of water. It was setting on the bridge deck where the two guys are standing.

How'd they manage to dump the rig? I don't remember hearing any skittle-butt, which is funny considering where you were.

Link HSP's belong on the bottom of the ocean.

 

[Shield Arc]

How'd they manage to dump the rig? I don't remember hearing any skittle-butt, which is funny considering where you were.

Link HSP's belong on the bottom of the ocean.

That was on the 3rd Lake Bridge. On the Mercer Island side, I was on the Seattle side when it happened. I had to pick anchors before daylight the next morning and move into position, and make the pick at daylight so the local news would not show up!
I was told an apprentice operator was running the crane. Had a skip box on the hook, boomed out flat holding the skip box while labors filled it with dried concrete over flow. I was on a different radio channel, but was told, the kid running the crane radioed the labor foreman and said "hey I think I'm getting a little light". The labor foreman replied "just a little more".

 

[Rock knocker]

That was on the 3rd Lake Bridge. On the Mercer Island side, I was on the Seattle side when it happened. I had to pick anchors before daylight the next morning and move into position, and make the pick at daylight so the local news would not show up!
I was told an apprentice operator was running the crane. Had a skip box on the hook, boomed out flat holding the skip box while labors filled it with dried concrete over flow. I was on a different radio channel, but was told, the kid running the crane radioed the labor foreman and said "hey I think I'm getting a little light". The labor foreman replied "just a little more".

That explains it. There would have been a field day for the media, just like it was a little later ( I assume ) when the bridge went down.

 

[roadhunter]

Wow. That was horrible. If they couldn't get the dozer down there without a crane how in the world will they ever get all that equipment back up. Seems they now have to build a road to get down there.

Amamzing how fast it can hit the fan.

MoKelly

Get a bigger crane.

 

[Rock knocker]

Get a bigger crane.

Yup, that's normally how they do it.

 

[Shield Arc]

That explains it. There would have been a field day for the media, just like it was a little later ( I assume ) when the bridge went down.

That was the LVM Bridge, just south of the 3rd Lake Bridge. I thought it was funny watching the LVM Bridge sink on TV:laughing:. Until about 10:00 that night when the telephone rang:shocked:. I was told to get out to the bridge and start setting temporary anchors to secure the 3rd Lake Bridge. When the LVM Bridge went down it cut 13-anchor wires on the 3rd Lake bridge. My company hired every available tractor tug in Puget Sound to push on the 3rd Lake bridge to try and save it. Then later we got the contract to build the replacement for the LVM Bridge.

 

[orezok]

:smiley_aafz::thumbdown:Actually completely and utterly wrong :laughing:. Working off the rear of a truck crane is your strongest configuration because you have the cab and engine up front acting as additional counterweight. On RT's, you are most stable over the front because they have the engine in the rear. Lifting over the back is safest on TC's, boom trucks and AT's.:mur:

I would have to disagree with the "counterweight" theory. While the cab and engine will act as a counterweight, the long moment arm of the front of the crane far exceeds the counterweight effect. It becomes a very long stabilizer and is far better at resisting overturning.

In other words you have to push the cab into the ground to overturn it just as you would have to push a stabilizer into the ground on a side lift.

 

[Rock knocker]

I would have to disagree with the "counterweight" theory. While the cab and engine will act as a counterweight, the long moment arm of the front of the crane far exceeds the counterweight effect. It becomes a very long stabilizer and is far better at resisting overturning.

In other words you have to push the cab into the ground to overturn it just as you would have to push a stabilizer into the ground on a side lift.

Are you an operator? Talk to an operator, thats not the way it works generally. Here is a load chart for a small boom truck. The chart is unrestricted except for when operating over the front.

http://www.rhodescrane.com/assets/rhodescrane/file/equipment/load-chart-28-ton-manitex-2892s.pdf

 

[Rock knocker]

An article of pertinence. While this is for RT's, it is applicable in that it demonstrate that cranes are most stable when operating opposite the engine, over the rear for boom trucks and truck cranes, over the front for all RT's I am aware of

How to Keep an RT Crane on Its Wheels | Construction Equipment

 

[aczlan]

Are you an operator? Talk to an operator, thats not the way it works generally. Here is a load chart for a small boom truck. The chart is unrestricted except for when operating over the front.
http://www.rhodescrane.com/assets/rhodescrane/file/equipment/load-chart-28-ton-manitex-2892s.pdf

Can you point me to the page that shows this restriction? The only one I see is on page 8 which says "The front tires must be on the ground when operating on this area" that makes sense as it provides a longer lever that has to be moved before the crane can tip and the front outriggers are behind the cab.

Aaron Z