Crazy story developing on the Buzz

I mean that my experience when working on the ground when there is a climber above, and observing the operators, three operators in particular that I have a good deal of experience with, is that they rarely if ever take their eyes off the climber. It can be quite hard to get their attention for a brief moment about something, they stay pretty much glued to what is happening above. It sure seems the best habit for those guys, maybe a rule if you will. When I am working above, obviously I can't tell, but I did have an experience where I was being lowered and got my ass caught on a branch and it was an uncomfortable situation for a moment as the hook passed by and nearly ripped me off the stick upside down. I can only deduce that the operator wasn't watching. Then there are the guys who take cell phone calls when someone is working above. Talking about another job? It shouldn't be, imo. Maybe it's being too conservative to think that?
 
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  • #27
I totally agree. The best op I work with never takes his eyes off the climber, or at least whenever I need something done with the hook etc, he's always ready, virtually never have to wait or get his attention.
 
Get his attention? from like the TV or Dinner or something?
Seems like the job is the thing going on at the moment.

Wow, Jay. That's pretty derelict to have an operator unknowingly lower a hook into your lap.
Crazy we put so much of our fate into someone else's hands.

The crazy thing is having another climber come to finish the cut to stow the crane.
Wonder what that second climber saw up there.....
 
Right, Deva, I thought someone might catch the attention interruption thing. I should have explained the justification, having to give the sign that it's about time to take a break. :D
 
The crane guys we work with have hearing protector radios for the climber and operator.
My favorite operator was a climber for years; the work flows real intuitively when working with him.
He never takes his attention away from what is happening; very calm and intensely attentive.
I have never seen him chitchat from the moment when he pulls up and starts dropping the outriggers until the crane is de-rigged and ready to go home.

On one occasion just last Spring we had multiple people on the radio.
I was in a tree behind a three story house and the operator had to set up smack up against the front of the house to make the reach.
Most of the picks were out of sight of the operator when they were happening.
He walked back and looked before each pick to double-check our agreement on how to manage the pick..
We had workers stationed at the rear corner and front corner of the house, the one could see me and the front corner person, the front corner could see him and the operator.
That way we had failsafe visual hand signal communication should a battery in a radio fail.
 
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  • #31
Bodean said:
Get his attention? from like the TV or Dinner or something?
Click to expand...

My op weighs 400 lbs, he might be opening his lunch crate.

Pigwot, walking to check every pick?? That's attentive!!
 
You guys ever see your operators yawning? It can get pretty comfortable in the cab with the air con or heater on.
 
I made some round bales this summer with a tractor with AC and tunes. I had a really hard time staying awake. Not sure if it was the tractor, the job being boring, or I was quitting tobacco at the time. Struggling to keep your eyes open is no fun at all.
 
Cory,
That is the only job I ever saw any operator leave his cab.
I expected him to eyeball the situation before each pick, since we could not see each other during the picks.

Butch,
He is very sure of his abilities, and he knows his limits; he isn't like Superman - can not see through buildings.
I'm always more comfortable when both of us see and know just how a pick should go.

He'll be along for a very large Tulip Poplar takedown tomorrow, followed on Friday with a locust and an oak, both covered with poison ivy.
 
I would have to pass. Been a lot of years since I have had any PO and I want to make it many more. I have cut some small Ash on my land that were laden and shaved the bark to salvage it for firewood. I would have to wash my ropes and tools if I did a big one infested.
 
There was that fellow at the buzz who use to run the crane with a remote control while he was in the tree and cutting it at the same time. I forgot his name, but it will come to me.
 
No, that's not it, Pete. I climbed with the fellow at a get together once at the RRR. Really bugs me to forget names. Nice enough fellow though. Had a couple of bad accidents that left him partially crippled. Unrelated to the crane. No doubt I'll probably see him at TCI
 
It seems like one big advantage of a crane with operator is controlling with exactitude how much lift you can put on a pick. The computer gives a reading that tells how much you have set. It also tells what you have available given the reach and boom angle.
 
And all that data can change in a heartbeat. Tree loads are very dynamic.
 
Since no body knows what happened, I have been wondering if there was a basket involved. Maybe climber got out into tree and operator pulled him off whilst moving the basket away?
 
I got the inside scoop from a reliable source. Tree was in the rear, they were using a runner to communcate when they weren't in visual contact. Operator got frustrated or had a brain lapse or whatever, cabled up while the climber was still attached to the pill with climbline and tree with buckstrap. His saddle failed and he fell to his death.
 
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  • #48
Brutal. By "runner" do you mean the signal- relaying guy was not in full sight of both the climber and the op at all times, he had to move from one to the other to relay the signal? If so, that is a recipe for disaster even before this accident.

What a scary way to go.
 
that really sounds horrible. im sitting here thinking of all the times ive been tied in to the ball, and fliplined into the tree. i really trust the operator we use, but accidents do happen. wow.
 
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