Crane Down in Florida

[Jamin Mayer]

I don't know if y'all saw this over at the Buzz, but here ya geaux!

http://www.cfnews13.com/News/Local/2008/7/14/crane_collapses_on_altamonte_springs_home.html

[gf beranek]

That ramshackle business office is a sure clue that they were not experts.

[darkstar]

I almost cant believe the fled the scene.
I meen where did they think they are / were going?
That is crazy reminds me of my competition ) :

[Skwerl]

It happened less than a mile from my house. I posted a bunch of pictures yesterday in the 'how'd it go today' thread. I'll repost them here in a little while since you've started a separate thread.

When I went by the scene yesterday, I saw about a dozen tree guys I know (including Scotty from tree buzz) along with news vans from every station in the tri county area.

[Jamin Mayer]

Here is their web site. http://www.gatortree.com/

So, Skewrl. What do you know about them? Are they an okay outfit, or are they a "shady" tree business?

Does it surprise you that they did this?

[MasterBlaster]

http://www.gypoclimber.com/showpost.php?p=243416&postcount=8986

[Jamin Mayer]

:?

[Skwerl]

It's Florida, Jamin. The rules are different here. ;)

I'm just happy to see him actually tied in instead of working off a ladder. :|:

[Mr. Sir]

There's rules? What rules? :/:

[Jamin Mayer]

Got it!;)

[Jonseredbred]

What a bunch of scumbags

[OTGBOSTON]

When I went by the scene yesterday, I saw about a dozen tree guys I know .

I would've disguised myself as a mortician or something...........

[Frans]

When I went by the scene yesterday, I saw about a dozen tree guys I know (including Scotty from tree buzz)

Was it a lynching party? :lol:

If I did that, I sure as hell couldn't raise my head in a crowd of my peers.

[Skwerl]

We were all spectators, Frans. I do not know any of the scumbags that were involved with the accident, nor do I care to. I haven't spoken to that sleazeball Joe McLaughlin in 6-7 years.

[OTGBOSTON]

We were all spectators, Frans. .

who else would be so interested?

how far does Scotty operate from you Brian?

[Skwerl]

Not too far. I'm not sure exactly where he's located but I think he's about 10-15 miles north of me. So our work areas do overlap a little bit.

[stehansen]

Do you know if they got the crane out of there today Brian?

[Skwerl]

It was still there first thing this morning, I didn't go by this afternoon. Last I heard, they cut the boom off the crane in order to remove it.

I can go check, be back in 10 minutes. ;)

[Jamin Mayer]

Ok. Where are you?:what:

[Skwerl]

They removed the boom and the crane is now upright, the boom is laying in pieces in the front yard. 2 of the 4 outriggers have been removed. Looks like they have to remove the other two outriggers before they can tow it.

Based on the size of the holes in the ground, it looks like they didn't put pads under the outriggers. I didn't see any cribbing or padding on the truck, either. Looks like the cleanup crew brought in a half dozen sheets of plywood to lay on while working under the truck.

[stehansen]

Thanks Brian! So the whole thing could have been avoided with some pads under the outriggers. Unbelieveable.

[Skwerl]

And don't forget the bad cut, possible load shifting causing a shock load to the crane. IMO it usually takes at least two separate acts of negligence to cause a major accident like this. The pads aren't necessary unless somebody screws up on the other end of the boom. But both items combined = boom going boom on the roof.

[sawinredneck]

From what I saw in the pics, they did an excelent job of tearing the boom down. Am I wrong in thinking the crane is salvagable Brian?

One of the many news reports qouted the crane operato as saying the "gound just gave away!" Do you think that was just from the shock load?

I have seen cibbing go wrong, but that was always while picking the load, I've never seen a crane shock loaded. When pickin, it's easy to set the load and re-crib, so this is all new to me, sorry for so many questions.

[Skwerl]

If you look at the second picture from tonight, you can see that the 'socket' on the outrigger 'foot' is torn away. It looks like the outrigger bounced and tore through the side of the 'socket' on the 'foot' and then just speared the ground. How would you imagine that could happen? I'd say that the crane had a pretty good bump in order to create that much side loading (or bouncing) on the outrigger.

Those outrigger 'feet' are supposed to lock onto the bottom of the outrigger, but I've worked with many similar cranes where the locks are no longer functional and the operator simply sets the foot on the ground and then lowers the outrigger shaft on top of it. I don't see the locks on that outrigger foot.

[stehansen]

I have used a small crane once so I don't have any experience to speak of.

[sawinredneck]

I think I might have worked on three cranes (and they were new) where the pads actually locked!
Most companies liked them to "float" so they could level the crane more easily.
Not saying it's right, just saying what they liked.
BUT most of these were setup on asphalt/concrete, and picked to place, so..................

[Jonseredbred]

Was it Gator Tree's crane??

[Jamin Mayer]

Now, Colorado is a really dry place to live. And out rigger pads are still used. I couldn't imagine the amount of humidity down there and neglecting to put down pads.:what:

[rbtree]

Was it Gator Tree's crane??


Doubtful..only larger, successful, well run organized companies have cranes...usually anyhow, I'd say. Very few at that own anything larger than a 17 ton boom truck.

Probably they rent from this service before....but the same crane is pictured on their website.

Brian, I'm sure you'd know if it was a hired crane service.

[Skwerl]

Joe bought that crane a few years ago from a small crane company called Uplift. I think it was right after the hurricanes when Uplift upgraded and sold off this unit.

[Bounce]

I can't believe they tried to cut and run! I can't believe they operate a crane without pads under the outriggers! I can't believe natural selection hasn't removed these yokels from the gene pool yet!

[BostonBull]

Its illegal to run a crane without pads/cribbing/dunnage in MA, and I would assume nationwide. The soil type and load weight determine the footprint you need to have down. We go with a 40"x40" footprint on each outrigger with our cranes, minimum.
All of the cranes I have worked with, 38tons and larger, have not had LOCKING pads. The pads are called floats by the manufacturer for a reason. If they locked into place, when the outrigger comes down and there is say a 1" difference one side of the float would be up in the air and you would have pressure only on a portion of your dunnage.

Obviously not using dunnage, and a shock/swinging load could have been the 2 major accidents here. I would say that float got torn up when the crane started to go over, its pretty thin metal, and 60klbs+ on it would probably do that. I am surprised that the outriggers stayed out. Outriggers are weak when it comes to side loading. Ever see how small the piston is that pushes them out? TINY!

[Skwerl]

Today I worked with another former Gator employee. I found out a few more tidbits. The license tag on the crane was off of the stump grinder trailer. The crane was titled to a dead man (Joe's head foreman who was shot and killed last year by the Jamaican climber over a $10K winning lottery ticket).

And he confirmed that they never used any cribbing or pads under the outriggers. And the reason it wasn't registered is because nobody had a CDL license to drive it to the tag agency to get it registered.

Joe McLaughlin hasn't been seen in this town since the accident. Good riddiance, couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. :roll:

[Burnham]

Amazing, Brian...just amazing.

[MasterBlaster]

That's pretty damn lame.

[squisher]

That's crazy man. Y'all got some outlaw treemen down there.

[fallguy]

We had a some what similar incident about 12 years ago. A contractor working in Downtown St.Cloud MN hit a natural gas main with a auger drilling for a street light. They head guy on the crew called the boss across town and asked what to do? The boss said to get the truck out of there. They did not call the utility company. A neighboring business employee smelled the gas and reported it. Our gas guys got there and started evacuating the businesses. They started to look for the cause of the leak when the explosion happened. The 2 gas guys and 1 police officer were killed 2 blocks of the downtown area were destroyed. There are allot of fly by night outfits out there.

[rbtree]

Wow, what a bunch of retards!

On a similar note, ya'll have seen lots of pics of my guy, ACDeucy Crane Service, Mike, doing work for us. Heard that he lost his 23 ton crane a while back. Had it in a backyard, and it went over due to being cribbed over a septic tank. Heard he fell into the tank which mighta saved him from being crushed. Crane suffered some damage...and minor damage to the house it rested against.....

STP tipped their 17 ton rig over a few years back. Outrigger was set near a rockery which collapsed. Took two Ness Cranes to get it off the house, which aslo suffered light damage.....

moral is, find out what's under ground, I suppose....maybe do some probing...or at least preload the crane before the first pic and check everything out.

[No_Bivy]

Will dude do jail time?

[wiley_p]

Wow, what a bunch of retards!

On a similar note, ya'll have seen lots of pics of my guy, ACDeucy Crane Service, Mike, doing work for us. Heard that he lost his 23 ton crane a while back. Had it in a backyard, and it went over due to being cribbed over a septic tank. Heard he fell into the tank which mighta saved him from being crushed. Crane suffered some damage...and minor damage to the house it rested against.....

STP tipped their 17 ton rig over a few years back. Outrigger was set near a rockery which collapsed. Took two Ness Cranes to get it off the house, which aslo suffered light damage.....

moral is, find out what's under ground, I suppose....maybe do some probing...or at least preload the crane before the first pic and check everything out.

Funny you mention that Rog. Mike isn't held in high regard at all in the operator community. As to STP, that piece of shit boomtruck is STILL running the same cable from when dickweed bought the crane with Kip. How come no one comes to the obvious conclusions and makes statements about Jon in particular, like the names these clowns in Florida are being called, rightfully so I might add. That boomtruck at STP has come off the outriggersseveral times, been used as a tower for skidding logs, Had the shit shockloaded out of the boom, yet noone says a word. I guess folks around here like to wait for a fatality, then start clucking. Little hens.:evil:

[stehansen]

Here is a crane the "collapsed" I think while they were setting it up.

http://www.modbee.com/2033/story/364357.html