+1
I have a crane with a bucket coming this week to do some repair work at
90'. It does cost, but the job will be done safely and quickly. .
Rich - N5ZC
On 10/15/2012 11:27 AM, Howard Hoyt wrote:
I just read:
The time saved and pain avoidance vs
climbing/tramming/hoisting and from retrieving
forgotten tools or dropped nuts was huge for
me and I felt much safer.
and I second that! If you take care to site the tires, and position
the machine base as close to the tower base as possible (within
articulation limits), it is far safer than climbing, especially on
some towers like the HBX series. Another couple advantages of a
man-lift:
1) The ability to take a fully-assembled Force 12 C4XL down by merely
raising the bucket until it was a couple of inches under the CG of the
beam, then releasing the mast clamps and just sitting it on the lift
basket. A couple of nuts and a coax, and you merely swing the beam
away, and down to the ground. No muss, no fuss.
2) Use of the hydraulics of the basket to help separate tower
sections. To take a tower down, I take the bolts out of the top
section, then chain the basket to the section just above the section
CG. If a gentle upward pressure using the bucket controls won't
convince the sections to separate, then light maintained pressure
while vibrating the joint will. Once it is separated, the section
stays chained to the basket and is easy to lower to the ground.
Rinse, lather, repeat. Of course, maximum load for combined
operator+tools+tower section must be observed, but the lifts I have
used are all 300lbs capacity or more, so it is not a problem for me
(yet!). I disassembled a 60ft HBX down to the ground in less than 2
hours this way.
Strain and stress (and gravity, of course) on the person is the
biggest risk in tower work, and the lift takes almost all of this,
allowing maximum concentration while working which maximizes safety.
I have used lifts for years and feel comfortable with the capability
and controls at height, if someone is not then the advantage of a lift
is understandably less.
Just my $0.02 worth
Howie - WA4PSC
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