new altec crane at TCI

[murphy4trees]

Big Jon said the new altec crane at TCI looked good.... 30 something ton, booms to 130'? w/o the jib, has the height wire running inside the boom so no worries about snagging in brush, and has an attachable man basket which can be operated from the basket by remote control... Sounds pretty sweet.
All for only 235K or was that 275K...

Anybody take a close look at the features there? How does the basket attach? What do you think?

I don't use a crane very often, but I believe it could give me a great competitive advantage in the future, especially as BLS is starting to decimate the red and pin oaks, which get plenty big around here.

Would probably have to rent the crane out to keep it busy and pay the bills. So that would be like starting a whole new business. I always like looking for an angle of competitive advantage. If I was to ever go this direction, maybe renting the crane and climber together as a package would provide that edge. That would open up a market of all the other tree/landscape companies that stay away from cranes cause they are scared that their climbers couldn't handle the job.

It's a year or more out anyhow, as I have more immediate plans in mind right now.... And it seems like a no-briner to me, so I Am keeping my eyes on the plan.

Your thoughts and feedback, especially on the hardware are apprecited.

Thank you.

 

[pigwot]

Yes, it looked nice. If you get one we could help /w occasional rentals. We are about an hour or so from you.

 

[diltree]

Cranes are sweet....I have a nice rear mount for sale...its posted on the trading post


www.dillontree.com

 

[John464]

for the amount of crane jobs I do. I average about 12 a year. It only makes sense to rent pay the guy $500 per half day each time I am in need of a crane. It literally costs me nothing as I bill the customer for the full amount.

The finance on a note that large is something like $3,000 a month, not including insurance, or diesel, or the extra employee you will have to pay to operate it. If you can benefit from such an expense then go for it. I would be interested in possibly renting it from you for the jobs my crane guy cant reach with his 100'. I am about a half hour away from you.


I would like a crane, but that is the last thing on my list. I would only buy one used, since you can find them for sale used with little use miles/hours.

 

[murphy4trees]

Well for me a monster chipper is first purchase....

Then might have to get a bigger truck to haul all those chips with....

Then I was thinking about a 75' bucket next, but is seems that the crane might be a better way to go, since this one can be used like a bucket.....

I just sold a 3,500- crane removal on the phone a few minutes ago and come to AS to see there are 2 contractors that would consider hiring the crane...
Do I think I smell $$$... OH YA!

New vs used is worthy of debate... The new technology sounds like it is worth the additional investment, and hopefully the added resale, productivity and prestige of a new crane would be well worth the added cost.

How does that man basket work???

 

[JohnH]

I think you'r making the rite choice. Go for the big truck and chipper first. Renting a crane is cheaper than paying for one sitting and not moving when you don't have the work for it. If you start renting ony 3-4 days a week 30 weeks out of a year then buy one. We use to rent untill we were using them all the time. Now we have 3 cranes.

 

[diltree]

Murph....your hot on that basket idea.....I don't get the need for the basket for tree removal, your gonna want to put a climber in the tree with the crane and use the crane to make picks....I don't think you will ever even use the basket. As for buying an altec crane, I would recommend buying a german crane, like a grove or a Leihbeir. When we purchased our last crane we tested out a linkbelt, National, and a Terex all of which are better then an altec(in my opinion). The Linkbelt was nice, and the National could not compare because it had no counterweight. We ended up buying the terex, which is a nice crane, but our next crane will definently be a leihber......they a a far superior crane, there are no week spots in a leihbers range, while the terex and the link belt are a little shaky picking from certain zones.


www.dillontree.com

 

[jmack]

Big Jon said the new altec crane at TCI looked good.... 30 something ton, booms to 130'? w/o the jib, has the height wire running inside the boom so no worries about snagging in brush, and has an attachable man basket which can be operated from the basket by remote control... Sounds pretty sweet.
All for only 235K or was that 275K...

Anybody take a close look at the features there? How does the basket attach? What do you think?

I don't use a crane very often, but I believe it could give me a great competitive advantage in the future, especially as BLS is starting to decimate the red and pin oaks, which get plenty big around here.

Would probably have to rent the crane out to keep it busy and pay the bills. So that would be like starting a whole new business. I always like looking for an angle of competitive advantage. If I was to ever go this direction, maybe renting the crane and climber together as a package would provide that edge. That would open up a market of all the other tree/landscape companies that stay away from cranes cause they are scared that their climbers couldn't handle the job.

It's a year or more out anyhow, as I have more immediate plans in mind right now.... And it seems like a no-briner to me, so I Am keeping my eyes on the plan.

Your thoughts and feedback, especially on the hardware are apprecited.

Thank you.

what is bls? thats a huge chunk fer a crane btw

 

[jmack]

Well for me a monster chipper is first purchase....

Then might have to get a bigger truck to haul all those chips with....

Then I was thinking about a 75' bucket next, but is seems that the crane might be a better way to go, since this one can be used like a bucket.....

I just sold a 3,500- crane removal on the phone a few minutes ago and come to AS to see there are 2 contractors that would consider hiring the crane...
Do I think I smell $$$... OH YA!

New vs used is worthy of debate... The new technology sounds like it is worth the additional investment, and hopefully the added resale, productivity and prestige of a new crane would be well worth the added cost.

How does that man basket work???

mine bolted on was not operational from the bucket and used for welders and sign mechanics you dont need this for tree work on your rental plan ya might

 

[jmack]

Cranes are sweet....I have a nice rear mount for sale...its posted on the trading post


www.dillontree.com

wow thats clean!

 

[BostonBull]

dil.....I know what you mean about the German cranes being superior. We had a 38ton National before this and you cant even compare the two! I think the farthes weve picked is 115-120 I forget exactly. And we had alost 2000lbs out there!


http://www.manitowoccranegroup.com/MCG_GRO/Products/EN/GMK3055.asp


http://mayertreeservice.com/photos.html

 

[Dadatwins]

I used a man basket a few times doing tree removal and it was a PIA. The basket really does not offer a stable workstation since it is swinging from a cable on the boom. Hard to get positioned. Much better to use the crane to pick the limbs off and work from a bucket or in the tree in my opinion. If the tree is that unstable that you can't risk having someone in it and bucket access is not possible, bring in another crane to use as a tie - in point. Light rig for the climber, heavy rig for the picking. The 75' bucket and monster chipper would be my first purchase, cranes are great tools but you need to have enough work lined up to justify the added expense and maintainence that they need. Don't forget having a good operator to run it, it is hard enough finding qualified tree climbers, finding a crane operator that will be responsible for a 200k-300k piece of equipment does not sound like fun at all.
Good luck.

 

[murphy4trees]

YA... getting the right operator on line will be a big part of the sucess... I know one that was a master operatator... he had some "problems" though, and he got fired and his new company must have got the word on him and put him to work on big sonstruction cranes... Too bad... he has a long $$$ client list..

OPH Ya and BLS is Bacterial Leaf Scorch... it is a slow and complete killer...

 

[rahtreelimbs]

Murph, I know diddly about cranes but one thing that was not mentioned was insurance.

Hows does that work if you rent the crane out?

 

[juststumps]

I used a man basket a few times doing tree removal and it was a PIA. The basket really does not offer a stable workstation since it is swinging from a cable on the boom. Hard to get positioned. Much better to use the crane to pick the limbs off and work from a bucket or in the tree in my opinion. If the tree is that unstable that you can't risk having someone in it and bucket access is not possible, bring in another crane to use as a tie - in point. Light rig for the climber, heavy rig for the picking. The 75' bucket and monster chipper would be my first purchase, cranes are great tools but you need to have enough work lined up to justify the added expense and maintainence that they need. Don't forget having a good operator to run it, it is hard enough finding qualified tree climbers, finding a crane operator that will be responsible for a 200k-300k piece of equipment does not sound like fun at all.
Good luck.

i think the basket murph is talking about, pins to the end of the boom...i had two trucks like this on the old job... a 98 ft 22t Simmons,, with a 2 piece jib to 145 ft...and a 85 ft RO 18 t, with the same type two piece jib, to 125 ft..

the man basket is a pain in the ass to put on and off!!!! it's heavy,, so you have to lift it off the bed of the truck with the boom... set it away from the truck,,, take the headache ball off,, wrap up the winch line and secure it,, line the boom up to the basket,, and drive the 2 1/2 inch pins in with a hammer... and of course in a perfect world,, this would be a piece of cake... but,, it isn't!!! nothing is level in the real world,, so when you get one pin started,, the other is off!!!! its even more fun, when you want to put it on the end of the jib!!!!

now reverse this if you want to use it as a crane!!! you set the basket on the ground that isn't level,, and the pins bind up,, more fun!!!

you lose a lot of space on the bed to haul out logs,,, unless you want to come back for the basket.....

you can't use it as a crane with the basket on.. basket interfers with the winch line...so you have to change it all the time...

its a good platform for the kind of work i used to do,, just a pain to swap over...

they finally got smart and got us 3 altec HL125's,,, so the cranes stayed cranes, and we went up in the bucket...

and one last thing!!! those trucks are big!!!! your looking at big tandems in that size range.. tall also!!!! i have trouble getting my 65 hiranger into some places,, and thats only 12' 6",, on a single axle gmc cab over...