Anyone here run a crane for a living?

Agreed! Very awesome!

In reply to z31maniac:

No problem.

I am more than happy to have someone smarter than me correct me when I say something dumb.

SVreX wrote: In reply to z31maniac: No problem. I am more than happy to have someone smarter than me correct me when I say something dumb.

Don't know about smarter, just what I work with everyday the last 3.5+ years.

In reply to z31maniac:

Maybe consultant work?

TRoglodyte wrote: In reply to z31maniac: Maybe consultant work?

Not sure what I would consult on.

I'd really like to become one of our field techs. Unfortunately I'm in the position that they don't have anyone to replace me so I can't move on.

In reply to z31maniac:

So, you are considering leaving the company?

Sounds like they are going to have to figure out how to replace you regardless of whether you stay or go.

If you like the company, and see a job you would like (field tech), ask for it.

Yes.

I already did when they posted it last year, but it was basically "You can't be replaced yet, so you won't get the position."

I'm in no hurry to make a move either way. Just trying to consider all options.

Wally wrote: In reply to JG Pasterjak: Not cranes but it still looks like fun. http://www.diggerlandusa.com/

That looks seriously awesome.

Although—much like the Large Hadron Collider—that place is one simply typo away from a public relations disaster.

I run 10 ton overhead cranes in a factory every day, have run small, mobile cranes, and have extensive experience signalling Boom truck operators. Crane Maintenance strikes me as lucrative. That, or some of the big jobs listed above. Maybe hi-rise, or working at ports.

Easy inputs, and easing out of actions are paramount. Tube locking, or getting the swing are scary. Its also one of those things where you really have to separate yourself from your emotions. I always thought drummers would do well at this sort of thing-what with limb separation and all.

I only have to deal with crane operators once in a while, usually when we install box culverts ( giant concrete boxes laid under a road for storm sewer). The ones I have worked with usually are running like a chicken with their heads cutoff. We just used PandG in December and they had just had a mast snap on their bigger crane lifting a silo that was supposed to be cleaned. Someone forgot a few ton of powder and when the operator lightly touched a concrete block with a leg of the silo, well , he needed to clean his shorts. Definitely a dangerous job, and like someone said before, it's the operators responsibility for everyone's safety. Running a hoe all day, I do a head count constantly while working. Plus worring about trench safety and swinging pipe and utilities underground and overhead. We do move our loads around a lot quicker than cranes but theirs are usually heavier and they don't have our sight lines. In reply to Datsun310Guy:

JG Pasterjak wrote: Is "...for a living?" redundant in that post title? Like, is there any situation you would be running a crane where it wasn't your job? I was under the impression that anyone in the cab of a crane had to be a trained pro, and not just the guy who paid for the rental. [note: if the latter, i know EXACTLY what I'm doing this weekend].

My father owns this crane (technically a drag line). When he build his garage mahal, he used it to dig gravel out of our gravel pit. Then he used it to raise the trusses.

What, didn't everybody grow up on a farm with a gravel pit and excavating equipment?

z31maniac wrote: Yes. I already did when they posted it last year, but it was basically "You can't be replaced yet, so you won't get the position." I'm in no hurry to make a move either way. Just trying to consider all options.

That's a pretty short-sighted stance to take on their part. Unless the 'yet' actually means it and means it in a timely fashion. It's a great way to end up looking to fill both positions.

In reply to Kramer:

Your father lives outside Romney, IN on highway 28? I recognize the crane.

I'll just leave this here:

HiTempguy wrote: Also requires you to work/communicate extremely well with others, as most spotting is done verbally.

This blows my mind. I feel like a couple of cameras out near the end of the crane with a feed back to the driver would be super easy and highly effective. And maybe one or two on the ground as well.

I worked as an oiler at a crane yard when I was young, the plan was to try and get hired on as an apprentice operator and get into the union school. The cranes they used at the yard were dilapidated and safety equipment was disabled, and yard operators were inexperienced. During my time there there were two incidents where I was nearly killed or dismembered. One involved the crane I was spotting the load on tipped over, causing a Michael bay style event where it was raining crane parts and I saved my self by hiding beneath a flatbed trailer which was tiddlywinked by the boom of the crane and I held onto the landing gear and went for the ride. I received fairly minor cuts and bruises, I quit that day. I'm generally pretty brave as far as that stuff goes but I was all set with that place.

Moral of the story, be careful who you work for and with in that industry, there's a lot at stake out there.

Hand signals were the industry standard, virtually no verbal communication back then iirc.

Hand signals are still the industry standard. But radios are common, and always used with bigger cranes.

ProDarwin wrote:

HiTempguy wrote: Also requires you to work/communicate extremely well with others, as most spotting is done verbally.

This blows my mind. I feel like a couple of cameras out near the end of the crane with a feed back to the driver would be super easy and highly effective. And maybe one or two on the ground as well.

Cameras could help, but would never work entirely.

1- They can't see through their load.

2- They can't hear audible warnings.

3- They can't read depth easily.

4- They won't replace spotters if Unions have any say in the matter.

5- They can't holler a warning to anyone.

6- They probably don't have good enough resolution to show small (important) issues, like rigging errors, failing support structure, a cat running under it, etc. If they DID have good enough resolution, the operator would be busy zooming in and out instead of operating the crane.

7- They can't see multiple things at once. If they are focused on the load, they can't see the cable. If they are focused onthe cable, they can't see they change in wind condition, or the pedestrian who just got in the way.

8- The crane operator needs a ground man. Otherwise, he would have to be responsible for more than could be reasonably handled (like rigging errors).

9- OSHA will NEVER have any part of that.

The crane operator is not a Foreman, Supervisor, etc. He is an operator. His job is to listen and do what someone else wants, not to make determinations himself.

That's like asking the pit crew chief to drive the car remotely.

ProDarwin wrote: This blows my mind. I feel like a couple of cameras out near the end of the crane with a feed back to the driver would be super easy and highly effective. And maybe one or two on the ground as well.

Svrex answers the reasons why :)

SVreX wrote: Hand signals are still the industry standard. But radios are common, and always used with bigger cranes.

Oh for sure, my experience is with bigger cranes. You just physically can't see some guy very well who is 300 feet away (vertically) from you, while trying to drop a 3" diameter tube into a 8" diameter hole. I can't even begin to imagine how they used to do it without radios

I wasn't suggesting they replace people, but a simple and powerful addition. You'd need audio/visual instructions/approval and whatnot, but the actual placement of the payload could be controlled much easier.

Hell, a 360deg HD camera + Oculus rift = crane operator could virtually hang right from the end of the cable as he is operating. Sure, visual and verbal signals would still be there, but it would become quite easy to align a 3" tube with an 8" hole.

petegossett wrote: In reply to Kramer: Your father lives outside Romney, IN on highway 28? I recognize the crane.

Nope. In Ohio. There are (were) a million of those little Insley drag lines made. We used to have another, years ago. My grandfather's excavating company built two miles of I70, using gravel from our pit. We still have many of the machines. I once parked one of our bulldozers on top of a used-up demo derby car. My dad was amused.

There's a boom on the back of a 5 ton 6 wheel for sale down the road from me. I've never run a crane, or driven a bigass truck, but I've considered it several times.

ProDarwin wrote: I wasn't suggesting they replace people, but a simple and powerful addition. You'd need audio/visual instructions/approval and whatnot, but the actual placement of the payload could be controlled much easier. Hell, a 360deg HD camera + Oculus rift = crane operator could virtually hang right from the end of the cable as he is operating. Sure, visual and verbal signals would still be there, but it would become quite easy to align a 3" tube with an 8" hole.

But why spend the money if it is not going to save any cost? It can't replace a person- it is a wasted expense.

And no, it would not be easy to align a 3" tube in an 8" hole. You are forgetting that all cranes have a hook, weight, or block which is bigger than 8". A camera mounted on the boom could not see through it's own block and cabling.

Plus, it's a really weird perspective. The thing is swinging, and you are trying to look down the cable to see the target. The boom sways one way (with the camera), while the cable swings the opposite way.

It's not a small amount either. The boom can sway several feet, while the load swings 10' or more.

It's not like a crosshairs on a gun sight.

Crane operators are not trying to hit a target. They are trying to counter the movement of the load. So, even if a camera could focus on the target, it would be looking at the wrong thing.

Cranes lift loads of many tons, and place them in very specific locations- sometimes with a tolerance of 1/4" or less. I don't want to have to teach the operator exactly how we are building something so he knows what to watch for in his camera. That's my job, not his. I want to direct him with industry standard signals, while he runs his machine.

It's not the operator's job to know how to build. It's his job to know how to operate.