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UER Forum > Archived UE Tutorials, Lessons, and Useful Info > Crane climbing, anyone? (Viewed 2016 times)
Amanita 






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Crane climbing, anyone?
< on 4/18/2005 11:14 PM >
Posted on Forum: Infiltration Forums
 
Anyone here ever climbed a crane? Got pics?
I'm just curious, I will hopefully soon be starting a Tower crane operator apprenticeship, and I love cranes. Big time.

If anyone's interested, I can post some info for the construction site fans about cranes- different types of crane, crane anatomy, and so on. I've spent a great deal of time observing cranes in their natural habitat, and I've taken the training course to prepare me for actual work, so I've got manuals and lots of neat stuff.
So, anyone want the straight dope on cranes and construction sites? If there's any interest, I will see what I can put together- I may even ask the webmasters if I can submit it as an article, perhaps with pics.

For all you crane climbers out there, check here:
http://www.craneta...ne=1000&LastLogin=
This link takes you to a section of a crane operator's message board, and several of the threads there talk about securing cranes- devices to stop people from climbing the cranes, motion sensors, alarms, and so on. Stuff that would-be climbers should be aware of. Thanks to boneheads climbing cranes to kill themselves, vandalize, or hold days-long occupation style protests, people are starting to get VERY protective of their cranes, as well as the buildings they are used to erect.

For what it's worth, I've got nothing against crane climbers who take nothing but pictures and do no harm. I've shared a security site with a huge Kroll K-154 Tower crane, it was pretty cool, both before and after the crane was dismantled. They left the dismantled Tower crane on site, their intention being to erect it again to start the next building of the project. No, I never climbed it- my site was right across from an occupied condo, and was also frequently visited by site owners checking in, and by my field officers- WAY too much risk of being seen or caught, and being caught would have meant losing my job. Immediately. No job= no money and that's a very bad thing.


Let the Tower Cranes fly..
Louie 






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Re: Crane climbing, anyone?
<Reply # 1 on 4/18/2005 11:47 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Tell me about possible security - other than guards. Like any type of electronic surveillance possibilities. Alarms or whatever is common.
[last edit 4/18/2005 11:47 PM by Louie - edited 1 times]

Fubster 


Location: Tampa Bay Area, Florida
Gender: Male


Though highly intelligent, guide dogs cannot interpret street signs.

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Re: Crane climbing, anyone?
<Reply # 2 on 4/19/2005 12:10 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Good thread on the linked forum:
http://www.craneta...4/HTML/000043.html

Sometimes, you need to march right in and demand your rights, even if you don't know what your rights are, or who it is you're talking to. Then, on your way out, slam the door.
Servo 






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Re: Crane climbing, anyone?
<Reply # 3 on 4/19/2005 12:43 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Year, there was a thread about this awhile back:

http://www.uer.ca/...d=1&threadid=15538

Amanita 






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Re: Crane climbing, anyone?
<Reply # 4 on 4/19/2005 9:43 PM >
Posted on Forum: Infiltration Forums
 
First of all, thanks for the link to that other crane climbing thread, that was cool! Love those pics.

Also, I've been thinking- There's guides for abandoned sites, boats, churches, drains, transit tunnels, and so on, but none for construction sites, which present their own unique assortment of thrills and hazards, as it were.

I've spent a fair bit of time on construction sites, thanks to my job, and my interest in construction and highrise buildings has made me very observant of all the cool things around. I'm now thinking of writing up a guide to construction sites- the unique hazards associated with exploring them, and the cool things you're likely to find in your wandering. Of course I will include a section on cranes and some of the other neat equipment to be found there as well.
Anyone have any ideas for things I can add to it?


As for Fatlouie and the other crane climbers, here's a little something to consider, in regards to crane security. Especially if you plan on making return visits.
Any good operator will give his crane a thourough check at the beginning of each shift, before so much as a 2x4 is lifted. So aspiring crane climbers must be very careful to leave no trace of their activities. Especially anything that looks like only a human could have done it.
Any sign of damage or vandalism to the crane, and the operator's likely to pitch a holy fit, and you might come back to find your favourite climbing crane decked out with a nice locked enclosure around the base of the tower, trapdoor attachments to prevent unauthourized scaling, and designed to make climbing outside the tower and around them impossible, or even worse- hidden motion detectors and alarms.
For all the paranoia surrounding crane climbers, we have some of the idiots listed on the cranetalk board to thank.
People who climb cranes to kill themselves, have sex and throw beer bottles off, or stage days-long occupations which effectively shut down the entire jobsite for the duration. In other words, crap NOT associated with the responsible practice of UE. These aforementioned idiots have made things harder for everyone.

For what it's worth, those australian crane climbers in that linked thread were lucky they didn't have to sneak past guards like me- me being the crane lover I am, I spend lots of time "looking up". NOT that I like "busting" people, quite the contrary! The extra paperwork alone is a huge pain in the ass. It will be better once I make the switch to crane operator though..Just as long as nobody hurts my crane, it'll be all good

Happy climbing everyone;)
[last edit 4/19/2005 9:51 PM by Amanita - edited 1 times]

Let the Tower Cranes fly..
Fubster 


Location: Tampa Bay Area, Florida
Gender: Male


Though highly intelligent, guide dogs cannot interpret street signs.

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Re: Crane climbing, anyone?
<Reply # 5 on 4/19/2005 11:48 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
I think the main reason there's no guides for construction sites is because it's usually a felony to trespass on them. But if it's not posted... score one for us.

After reading the rest of that crane climbing thread, I am really inspired. There's the new Trump Tower being planned in Tampa, and it's going to be the tallest building in the South West. Hopefully, they'll bring in the cranes in droves!

But with or without cranes, construction sites are probably at the top my list of favorite sites to explore. They're like giant playgrounds that are always changing.

Sometimes, you need to march right in and demand your rights, even if you don't know what your rights are, or who it is you're talking to. Then, on your way out, slam the door.
SagSaw 


Location: Grand Haven, MI
Gender: Male




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Re: Crane climbing, anyone?
<Reply # 6 on 4/20/2005 1:12 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Bored with Crane Climbing? Too much work? Want to see the neat-o top of that there crane boom without the tedious climb? Try the all-new sport that's sweeping the nation: Crane Tipping! That's right: Without any skill, a little bit of wind, and a suitable planar shape to lift, you can tip your very own crane! Its fun for the whole family:

35862.jpg (97 kb, 800x600)
click to view

link to image


The story: The crane featured here was unloading sections of floating dock from a truck and into the water at the local coast-guard station. Somehow the crane ended up tipping over (no firsthand knowledge of this, but my money is on a gust of wind catching the large, but light, dock section.) Fortunately, the base of the crane did not fall into the water and nobody was hurt.

(If you are going to tip over a crane, this isn't a bad place to do it. You have the Coast Guard on hand to fish you out of the water and the Army Corps of Engineers next door to fish out the crane.)

[Changed image to link; it was breaking the page layout - Servo]
[Oops, sorry. Uploaded smaller image. Link is still there too. - Sagsaw]
[last edit 4/20/2005 1:21 AM by SagSaw - edited 2 times]

Amanita 






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Re: Crane climbing, anyone?
<Reply # 7 on 4/21/2005 4:57 AM >
Posted on Forum: Infiltration Forums
 
Posted by Fubster
I think the main reason there's no guides for construction sites is because it's usually a felony to trespass on them. But if it's not posted... score one for us.



I'm surpised that it would be a felony to sneak onto a construction site, but not a felony to sneak into a drain, abandoned building, or working building. Must be a quirk of florida law or something, in most places it's only a garden variety tresspass or something like that.

As for that crane tipping thing, the way it was written was hilarious..but that poor crane! That pic looks like something that needs to be sent to www.craneaccidents.com
One thing I was taught during my crane training was the effect of wind..large loads like that should NOT be handled on windy days, as they have a way of acting like sails. I'm guessing that was one dumb operator there.


Let the Tower Cranes fly..
Fubster 


Location: Tampa Bay Area, Florida
Gender: Male


Though highly intelligent, guide dogs cannot interpret street signs.

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Re: Crane climbing, anyone?
<Reply # 8 on 4/21/2005 3:40 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
No, I'm pretty sure it's a federal law. If it's posted "No Trespassing" on a construction site, it will always say "violation is a felony" in big red letters.

It probably has something to do with stealing construction equipment or sabotaging buildings.

Sometimes, you need to march right in and demand your rights, even if you don't know what your rights are, or who it is you're talking to. Then, on your way out, slam the door.
Amanita 






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Re: Crane climbing, anyone?
<Reply # 9 on 4/21/2005 9:23 PM >
Posted on Forum: Infiltration Forums
 
Must be an american thing though..welcome to the wonderful world of homeland security..
I've seen quite a number of people from other places posting here, like Canada, the UK and Australia.

If I write this guide, one of my first pointers will be "Know your local laws!"
Some places you are looking at a slap on the wrist, others more like deep doodoo.
Also, I will have to add a little disclaimer..I accept NO responsibility for any trouble, of either the physical or legal variety that you may get into as a result of practicing UE on any site, construction or otherwise. In other words, if you do this and the cops catch you and spank your pee pee, I'm not responsible. After all, YOU decided to do the deed, not I.

Sometimes I'm glad I took that highschool law class

Let the Tower Cranes fly..
duck219 






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Re: Crane climbing, anyone?
<Reply # 10 on 4/22/2005 7:51 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
O.U.U.E. climbed a crane down here in Athens. We convinced ourselves we had to as it was "temporarily" the tallest thing in town. There are some pictures of along with some of the construction site on my website if you are interested...

Whitehorse 


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Re: Crane climbing, anyone?
<Reply # 11 on 4/22/2005 11:38 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
For a while I was the guy who had to climb out there and bolt the things together. The nice thing about the job is you could just sit there and take in the view while you waited for the next section.
Do yourself a favour if you plan on climbing cranes:
Never, never, never add booze to the climb.
Get a proper harness and always tie yourself off when you stop to take pics.
Go with someone who has done it before

Amanita 






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Re: Crane climbing, anyone?
<Reply # 12 on 4/22/2005 11:48 PM >
Posted on Forum: Infiltration Forums
 
Whitehorse, you rock I've seen at least one Tower crane be dismantled, but never gotten to watch one go up. Hopefully that will all change soon, can't wait to begin my apprenticeship!

I agree with all your safety tips, would you agree with what I've said about how an operator's likely to react if he/she finds evidence that somebody's been fooling around up there? About the harness thing, I've never seen an operator use one for regular tower climbing, or working on the counterjib where the handrails are. However, going out on the jib or up the Tower peak's another story.

Let the Tower Cranes fly..
Amanita 






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Re: Crane climbing, anyone?
<Reply # 13 on 4/23/2005 12:00 AM >
Posted on Forum: Infiltration Forums
 
Posted by duck219
O.U.U.E. climbed a crane down here in Athens. We convinced ourselves we had to as it was "temporarily" the tallest thing in town. There are some pictures of along with some of the construction site on my website if you are interested...



I couldn't find the pics on your website..lots of drains, but no cranes..where did you post them? Sounds cool


Let the Tower Cranes fly..
Whitehorse 


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Re: Crane climbing, anyone?
<Reply # 14 on 4/23/2005 12:31 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Posted by Amanita

I agree with all your safety tips, would you agree with what I've said about how an operator's likely to react if he/she finds evidence that somebody's been fooling around up there? About the harness thing, I've never seen an operator use one for regular tower climbing, or working on the counterjib where the handrails are.


I can always tell if someone has invaded my jobsite.....it's a 6th sense.
99 times out of 100 the person climbing a crane doesn't have the tools or the desire to cause any damage. As far as working without a harness....it all depends on if you're willing to pay the fine if you get caught. A lot of times a harness is more of a problem when trying to complete a task and there have been lots of times when I didn't use one. Keep in mind that it slows you down but you get to make it home each night.

Whitehorse 


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Re: Crane climbing, anyone?
<Reply # 15 on 4/23/2005 12:54 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Amanita

Here's a crane story you'll have a hard time topping:

Way back in 1975 when they were building the CN Tower in Toronto, I used to have the odd beer with the crane operator in the Commodore Tavern on Danforth Ave. just east of Woodbine Ave. He was also a skydiver and started taking bets for taking the plunge off of the end of the crane. He finally did it.... got a bit of press and got fired from the job. He didn't care because he made enough money on the bets and crane operators were in demand.

Louie 






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Re: Crane climbing, anyone?
<Reply # 16 on 4/23/2005 2:09 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Posted by Fubster
No, I'm pretty sure it's a federal law. If it's posted "No Trespassing" on a construction site, it will always say "violation is a felony" in big red letters.

It probably has something to do with stealing construction equipment or sabotaging buildings.


I always noticed that in Florida No Trespassing signs are accompanied with "IT IS A FELONY, YOU ARE A FELON," etc etc.

Not true anywhere else I've been.

Fubster 


Location: Tampa Bay Area, Florida
Gender: Male


Though highly intelligent, guide dogs cannot interpret street signs.

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Re: Crane climbing, anyone?
<Reply # 17 on 4/23/2005 3:40 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Really? Well, good. I can't wait to get out of humidland and run amok on some construction sites without fear of sodomy by a man named "Priscilla: Queen of cell block D."

Sometimes, you need to march right in and demand your rights, even if you don't know what your rights are, or who it is you're talking to. Then, on your way out, slam the door.
Plytheman 


Location: Lawrence, Massachusetts


Obey The Deer

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Re: Crane climbing, anyone?
<Reply # 18 on 4/23/2005 7:21 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
I wish I lived in the city, I'd love to climb cranes. Until then though, all I have is radio towers....

I'm achin, I'm shakin, I'm breakin, Like Humans Do!!

-Byrne
Amanita 






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Re: Crane climbing, anyone?
<Reply # 19 on 4/23/2005 7:37 PM >
Posted on Forum: Infiltration Forums
 
Posted by Whitehorse
Amanita

Here's a crane story you'll have a hard time topping:

Way back in 1975 when they were building the CN Tower in Toronto, I used to have the odd beer with the crane operator in the Commodore Tavern on Danforth Ave. just east of Woodbine Ave. He was also a skydiver and started taking bets for taking the plunge off of the end of the crane. He finally did it.... got a bit of press and got fired from the job. He didn't care because he made enough money on the bets and crane operators were in demand.


I had heard about a skydiving construction worker, but had no idea it was the crane operator! That rocks!
I'm curious about the crane used on the CN Tower, I know it was a Pecco, but not sure which model..I've also been trying to find pics of the cranes used when Simcoe Place went up in the early 90's.

As for wild construction site deeds, I've seen operators come down for coffee break with the load still hanging on the hook, and have heard of operators lifting occupied porta potties as a prank..Ouch.

I mentioned damage to the crane- Part of me worries that some less responsible types might try something incredibly stupid like try to break into the operator's cab..Ye gods. How can you tell somebody's been fooling with the crane?


Let the Tower Cranes fly..
UER Forum > Archived UE Tutorials, Lessons, and Useful Info > Crane climbing, anyone? (Viewed 2016 times)
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