Crane Operations/TD

[MasterBlaster]

Awhile back someone asked me about standard TD's involving a crane. This is what I told him, but I'm sure ya'll could add to it.

So add away!

So it ain't nothing to it. Talk to the operator and work out a plan - which lead first, which lead second, ect. The plan doesn't have to be written in stone, it can be modified as you go.

The three main ways you'll do it are Buttheavy, Balanced, and StandItUp.
BH is easy. Just choke it off, come down far enough to be BH, and cut straight through.
Bal is harder, and works best with two straps. Just rig 'em to balance. If you start to make your cut, and the rigging don't look right, don't be shy about stopping and re-rigging it.
StandItUp is easy but kinda tricky. The operator has to know what he's doing, and so do you. DON'T cut through your holding wood prematurely.
StandItUp can usually be replaced with Balance. BH is the best way when you can do it.

Theres more than this, I'm tired of pecking.

 

[Tom Dunlap]

Head/Tip/Top
Belly/Gut/Balanced
Foot/Butt

Other terms that I've heard for tieing limbs.

Tom

 

[Matt Follett]

Yeah MB, that about sums it up, but I posted this question awhile ago to which I think there was little reply...

My favorite opperator, who is INCREADIBLE... generally shortens up on the piece when doing crown work, so there is very little cable between the stick and the pick (hey that's funny)... anyway this way he can manipulate the pick very easily with the boom, this way, that way etc, with very little swinging.

This summer we did a job where we needed 200' of stick, so his biggest machine couldn't quite reach...

The guy that came from the local 'Big' company scared me all day! It was partly due to poor straightline vis to the tree etc. but he kept the stick way up there, when stuff came free, even stand it up stuff, it bounced all over the place, scare the you know what out of me. Maybe it was just the long reach, I don't know, but what ever it was it was a crazy day.

So the question is short cable or long?

 

[MasterBlaster]

Short!

 

[Matt Follett]

Yeah MB, that's what I thought,
Most of my crane experiance has been with this same guy, when I started, he ran the show... We've since tackled some impressive stuff together, but generally dead, and every time I call him he groans, "don't tell me Matt, another dead oak, wires, houses, traffic, oh and yeah it's huge..."
This is the sort of guy that the whole area is going to miss, he retires soon, and there's no real replacement coming along. There are other operators, but this guy was the bomb!

 

[Matt Follett]

Yeah Rocky, when things drift away from you in beautiful clean sweeps it's magic... When you guys notch up, do you open the notch up so that you leave hinge wood there till the piece is vertical, then go back and cut it, or try and set the notch so that it closes and snaps?
Often I like to slide back out and nip the last bit, it seems to jump around less, as long as I can be in a comfy position to do so.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I never cut it all the way through until the crane has the lead in an optimum position.
Never any kind of backcut, or notch.

 

[Matt Follett]

Ah your one of those.... My crane guy tells me all the time, "just cut it... forget the notch... I'll look after it" but old persistant me, make his little notch, back cut, moves out of the way, signals up, makes sure the bla bla bla

once and a while I'll just cut straight up, but there is something cool about watching the hinge in real slow motion.

 

[MasterBlaster]

This is the final cut, to leave a snag. Its about three feet thick where I'm cutting, no backcut.

 

[Matt Follett]

There MB I wouldn't notch either... I might bypass cut though, so I can get everything cut, then move out of the way (lean back at least) and let the piece break free

LEAN back image

Big though my computor crashes for some reason every time I try to shink a pic.

 

[Matt Follett]

here's one this fall

All the following are small jpegs, but again the image itself is big, any hints on shrinking?

Were's Matty

Hint just above the two cuts, look close, there's my arm!

 

[Matt Follett]

getting there, almost lunch time

 

[Matt Follett]

Beam me up

 

[Matt Follett]

don't drop it!

 

[Matt Follett]

Getting dark, Dec. early night fall, we got it finished though,
between the crane guy and I, we figure somewhere around 30 tons of tree, dbh was 5'

Quercus macrocarpa, Bur Oak, 250+ yrs, houses are on piles, no basement... But tree died last summer, well almost, one limb apperently leafed out this spring, and dried up within a week.
I'm gald we did it now and didn't wait till spring, pieces were still dropping!

 

[MasterBlaster]

The pics are cool, Matt!

I like to strap something like this a tad higher, so the butt doesn't kick back so much. Lotsa crane operators don't like it, they think the strap will slip, after awhile they learn.

IME, it ain't nothing to reach out and stop/steady the fresh-cut snag.

Nice pics!

 

[MasterBlaster]

Heres some reduction - MATT! Learn this!

 

[MasterBlaster]

 

[MasterBlaster]

 

[MasterBlaster]